If you have a list of destination you want to go before you die, then Xpu-Ha Palace is one of them. This is by far the best of all my vacations: from this vacation, not only did I get to experience and appreciate the Mayan cultures and hospitalities, but also had my parents talk about coming back to Xpu-Ha Palace in the future, which is very impressive for they never want to return to the same vacation destination.

Two weeks prior to my booking of this trip, I stayed up late almost every night researching and debating among many resorts. I didn’t want to take my vacation at another all-inclusive resort overly packed with squeamish tourists who insist on staying in their hotels binge-drinking cheap cocktails while vegetating on the beach. So after two weeks of sleep deprivation, I finally decided on Xpu-Ha Palace, and I had to say I was very happy about my decision.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted with a smile and were offered welcome drinks and ice-cold towels to cool ourselves off from the heat. I had to say the service and accommodation were outstanding. Every staff greeted us with a smile and a wave, and all of them work beyond the professional standards. The staffs never turned down our requests and went all the way to assist us even with bringing my breakfast plate to my table. I almost felt guilty for being treated like royalty. In terms of dining, the food was wonderful and the best in quality. The chefs try their best to keep their food as authentic and local as possible, yet offer some selections suitable for the squeamish tourists. All the foods are fresh; I enjoyed their local fruits and vegetables. If you get the chance, you have to try their chaya juice, because it is refreshing and helps you cope with the heat. At one time, I asked my waiter if I may have an avocado sliced, and shortly after he brought me a plate of the local avocado. I cannot see myself eating at American chain restaurants after eating the food at Xpu-Ha.

Xpu-Ha Palace Resort is located in the middle of the jungle, so guests can interact with nature while enjoying the five-star, air-conditioned comfort in their bungalow-styled rooms. It was so beautifully done, and I almost felt like I was in Ewok’s village from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. While we were there, there were only few families, but we felt like we were the only ones in the resort. At night, you can enjoy the night skies within your comfortable room; and in the morning, the birds will act as your natural morning call. I didn’t have to use the alarm clock. The overall atmosphere was very peaceful and meditating, and after spending a week there, I have become a completely different person.

The resort, as mentioned before, is incorporated with the natural habitat, and is dedicated to preserve the surrounding ecosystem; this is my favorite aspect of the resort. The leftover foods and used tissues, for example, are recycled as compost to feed the plants, and the resort utilizes reverse osmosis to recycle the water. I felt very satisfied, knowing that the resort is doing something good for Mother Nature. This is very important these days for everyone who likes to travel. I highly recommend the ecology tours: the animals and plants are in great health and the staffs are dedicated to maintain their well-beings. Take a tour with Gabriel, he is very knowledgeable of the local plants and animals, and is currently writing a book about Mayan medicinal plants.


I was also very impressed by the maintenance of hotel, because the custodial staffs are constantly cleaning the property spotless. The custodial staffs make the room once or twice on the daily basis and re-stock your beverages. Likewise, the landscapers maintain the appearance of the jungle and remove any dead leaf for compost on the daily basis.

To the beach-goers, unfortunately Xpu-Ha’s beach got destroyed by the hurricane, but you can always walk to Barcelo Resort to your left and enjoy its gorgeous, sandy beach; and don’t forget to go snorkeling or kayaking at the Xpu-Ha’s cenote. For those adventure seekers (I included), Xpu-Ha Palace’s all-inclusive provide free tours to Coba, Chichen-Itza, Tulu’um, Paradise Snorkeling, Isla Mujeres, and Holkan zipline adventure. If you like Mayan histories and cultures, then you have to take this opportunity to visit these Mayan cities. If you love water sports, I would recommend spending extra money to go to Xcaret and Xel-ha, both are exceptional natural wonders that one must see at least once in his life.

To conclude my review of the resort, let me give you the pros & cons to staying at Xpu-Ha Palace Resort.

The Pros
-the resort is all about ecological preservation, so rest-assured your stay will no doubt help Mother Nature. You can interact with nature, yet enjoy the five-star luxury.
-the resort hires many staffs who are Mayans, and you can take the opportunity to learn about their culture by interacting with them.
-the staffs are very professional and take pride in their work, very important.
-among the Palace Resorts, Xpu-Ha is located closest to all the Mayan ruins.
-Xpu-Ha offers unlimited tours to particular destinations, and guests can take advantage of that.
-the service is personalized and guests can feel like they’re at their private estate.
-Xpu-Ha is close to Xcaret and Xel-ha, both excellent ecological parks. A must-go.
The Cons:
-among the Palace Resorts, Xpu-Ha is located farthest from the Cancun International Airport, so takes an hour-and-a-half to get to the hotel; rent a car.
-the beach is rocky, but you can always walk to Barcelo Resort.
-mosquitoes, but if I realized sooner, I would’ve asked the chefs for some citrus fruit peels and use the peels’ oil as natural repellent.

My husband and I stayed at Xpu-Ha from June 26 - July 3. Our room was immaculate and the mini-fridge was stocked daily. The porch outside our room was private and perfect. As was posted in other reviews, the beach (or lack thereof) is a big disappointment; but the staff makes you forget all of the shortcomings of this resort. The guest relations staff (Betti and Elias), the lifeguard (Hector), all 6 of the entertainment staff, the restaurant staff (Veronique and Ishmael) were all extraordinary. There is a bit of walking to get around, but the food is so good that you need a walk to work off the calories. (Shuttles are frequent and plentiful if needed) The bartenders will make anything you want and we never passed an employee without them smiling and greeting us.

I was disappointed that there was some debris and litter out the back of our bungalow and elsewhere in the resort, but I blame this on the resort being understaffed not under efficient. The staff was always working and they work 6 day weeks. It is a shame that Palace Resorts has let this gem be relegated to second-class status while they develop other properties.

I would highly recommend this resort to anyone who wants a quiet, private resort where you will be pampered and waited on. It's a bit like Cheers - when we left, everyone knew our name!

This was our second trip to the Mayan and our first stay at a Palace Resort. We booked our own private shuttle from the airport, which was wonderful, since it shortened the length of commute from the airport since we didn't have to drop anybody else off at their hotels. My husband and I travelled with my 10 year old daughter and my sister and we all had a great, relaxing vacation. The rooms are beautiful, yet authentic. Our daughter really enjoyed doing laps in the jacuzzi tub! Last year we stayed at another hotel and I was really ill from a food-borne illness, but didn't have any worries about that this time around. The chef and staff in the restaurant were top notch and very accommodating. The breakfast and lunch buffets had a large variety of top quality dishes and were very clean - nothing looked suspicious and the chef was constantly hovering and checking the buffet dishes. Another couple we met had food allergies and were accommodated at every meal, which impressed us all. Even though there is only one restaurant for dinner, there is enough variety that we were never disappointed, and they changed the menu halfway through our stay.
The on-site animal park and tours are exceptional and exactly what we wanted to experience during this trip. The tour staff are very knowledgeable and the animals are very well cared for. They even care for animals that are dumped off. My daughter bonded with the stray cats, who are spayed/neutered and given their shots. We also enjoyed being in the middle of a jungle atmosphere and how the hotel is incorporated into the natural habitat.
The pools are great, but there isn't much of a beach, if you like to swim in the ocean. We couldn't snorkel off the beach while we were there, because the surf was too rough, although my husband and daughter did a lot of exploring in the reef close to shore and spotted many interesting sea creatures.
Xpu-Ha is close to Tulum and a reasonable distance from Coba, Valiodid and Chichen-Itza. All of these tours are not to be missed if you are interested in Mayan history.
We are not big resort people, so this was the perfect spot for us. I would definitely recommend (and already have many times over!) this hotel.

Just back from a week at Xpu-Ha and we can't say enough good things about it. We stayed Monday to Monday and although we're glad to be back home, we wish we could go right back next week. This is a wonderful place to stay to bond with your significant other for a quiet relaxing pampered vacation. This is not the place to stay if you're looking for a very active night life. The place was kept in great shape, the staff was very pleasant and the food was some of the best we have had at any resort. We tried many time to talk ourselves into going shopping in Playa Del Carmen. I think we made the right choice in staying put. I would go again without hesitation.

Bring: Water shoes. Sandals or slip ons that are comfortable for walking.

We stayed during a very quiet portion of the slow season (bonus for us!). There were only a handful of people there, but the service and food didn't suffer at all. Later in our stay more people arrived.

The staff is just world class. Always friendly with a wave and a smile, always willing to answer questions or take a picture or offer information. Always willing to tolerate my poor attempts at Spanish. :-) They'll go out of their way to get you what you want or need. Outstanding!

The food was the best that we've had anywhere. Breakfast was our favorite, then dinner. Both are ala carte and the selection was large and varied. I really don't understand some of the previous posts of people getting tired of the menu. We never had the same thing twice and I was only disappointed once (rib eye on the Italian menu). My husband asked for one "custom" meal and was served some excellent calamari "Mexican Style". The waiters are all wonderful. The restaurant is wonderfully appointed and there is no dress code. My husband was thrilled to be able to wear shorts to dinner. On our anniversary night we had a special dinner with a custom menu and everything was wonderful. Lunches are buffet with a wide selection of food - plus they're really make anything you want. We ate lunch in the restaurant once, and the rest of the time came and got a to-go box and ate at the pool or the beach. Room service is always available. We had one great happy hour on our balcony with smoked salmon, and a cheese and fruit plate.

The pool area is wonderful. The water was warmer than the air but still refreshing. Tons of chairs and there are areas of shade available. There was no need to reserve a place early in the morning.

The beach in front of the resort is very small and rocky but great for snorkeling, and for exploring the rocks when the tide goes out. There are only 8-10 chairs at the beach but we loved camping out there to read, drink and watch the waves. There's a nice sandy beach at the Barcelo resort next door. Every morning we walked the beach before breakfast. Heavenly.

We had a second floor room in Villa 6 that looked out over greenery. The room is fabulous. The Jacuzzi was a wonderful option to have while we hid from the "hoards" (the people bused in from the other palace resorts). We hung out on the huge balcony and relaxed with drinks in the afternoon and coffee in the morning. Check out the pictures of the room and balcony on the website. The shower and toilet area is a bit small, but the rest of the room more than makes up for that. The second floor rooms have a thatched roof that lets in all the bird song throughout the day - and yes, early in the morning.

There was some activity every night but we didn't join in any of them. We were there to bond with each other and were usually too tired to attend. We were up at ~6 every morning with the birds and by 9pm we were toast!

There is a TON of walking to do at this place, which we loved because we worked off all the food and drinks and because there's so much to look at. The scenery changes every day. We watched a few orchids bloom while we were there. There's a lot of wildlife in the bushes or mangroves along the path - birds, iguana, various mammals. All fascinating.

There are golf cart taxis that run all over the place, but they're not always consistent. Plan on a lot of walking. If you have small kids, bring a stroller or plan on carrying them a lot. The taxi drivers all have phones so if you really need one, just have one of the staff call for one and they'll come get you.

We discovered the plant nursery and the cenote there on our last day. Wish we had known about them sooner. The nursery is impressive and obviously well cared for. They compost and recycle everything! Very impressive for a resort. There's a cenote in the nursery that's the best (and probably least visited) on the property. Drop some food (provided) in the water and watch the box and wood turtles come from all points! We counted 20 during our evening visit.

There's a nature path with trees and plants identified. We always took that path on the way to and from our room. We watched a turtle dig a hole in preparation for egg laying. There are orchids and bromeliads growing all over. It was wonderful and quiet. We saw a sea turtle in the estuary twice during our visit.

We took an eco tour of the aviary and the deer park. It was worth the time. We loved the aviary (bring bug repellant for the tour - it was the only time on our stay when we needed it).

The walk from our villa to the restaurant and pools took us by the enclosures for the crocodiles, turtles, flamingos (goofy birds - I loved them) and the aviary. Every trip down the path was a unique experience. The whole place is alive!

Ok, it can't all be perfect. 5 times a week they bus people in from the other Palace resorts to enjoy Xpu-Ha. We called them the hoards. I'm sure that there were some nice people in these groups, but the majority were loud, drunk, inconsiderate and rude. They came about 1pm. We couldn't wait for them to leave at 4. On two days the hoard was large, on the other two days the hoard was relatively small. Luckily they don't bring in the hoards on Sunday so we enjoyed our last day in peace and quiet.

Yes, the resort is less than half its pre-hurricane size. Big deal. We loved the small resort feel and much prefer the resort this way. Yes, there is a big fence sectioning off the pool area from area now owned by the bank. Big deal. The pool area is beautiful and after the second day we really didn't even see the fence anymore. It was just part of the scenery.

I'm a mosquito magnet, but didn't have any problems except on the eco tour through the aviary. That was the only time I wore bug spray.

Biggest plusses: Quality of food, service, staff, the grounds, and the wild life. All totally wonderful!

Minor annoyances: Palace and tour people kept wanting to convince us that we should leave the property and check out other places. They should spend more time promoting the features of Xpu-Ha instead of trying to ship us out. We wasted about 2 hours of our precious vacation time listening to these people. The second time someone corralled us, I wouldn't even sit down. Next time I will politely decline to speak with any "vacation planner".

Biggest drawbacks: The obnoxious people that are bused in from the other Palace resorts (we learned to hide while they were there and had a celebration drink when they left). The bed was hard.