Hi there, it's Ernest from Trip Astute. In this video, we're reviewing an incredible
place -- the Andaz Mayakoba near Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
(light chiming music)
The Andaz Mayakoba resort
is located in Riviera Maya, which is about 30 minutes south of Cancun Airport
and just north of Playa del Carmen. I've been a big fan of Hyatt for a long time,
and I've stayed in a number of Andaz resorts. Each resort offers a boutique
hotel feel without sacrificing on the amenities of a larger resort. Mayakoba
is one of the newest additions to the Andaz family, as it opened in December
2016. In our recent trip to Mexico, we had to change hotels at the last minute.
Check out our timeshare and vacation club video for more information on the
story. I have to say though, we couldn't have been happier with our decision to
come to the Andaz Mayakoba. The hotel is based in the beautiful Mayakoba resort,
which includes a collection of high-end hotels, a golf course,
many restaurants, a village square, cooking school, adventure camp, and even
has it's own cenote, which are natural underground waterways found in the area.
When we arrived at the resort, we walked into the lobby, which is also known as the
sanctuary. It's really an incredible experience. It's designed to make you
feel like you are in a sacred cenote with high circular walls and a large
opening on top, allowing light to shine down into the pool of water at the
center of the room. We were welcomed with a refreshing cocktail and given an
overview of the resort. At the end of our welcome, we joined a Mayan ritual of
throwing a stone into the pool, which was a nice touch to the experience. We were
then given a tour of the resort by golf cart before being taken to our room.
While we could go on for hours about our experience, we tried to come up with our
top 10 things that we love about the Andaz Mayakoba resort.
So, here they are. Number 1: Cycling around the resort. One of our favorite
activities at the Andaz was cycling around the area. Bikes are placed
throughout the resort for guests to use as transport. You can cycle from the
lagoon to the beach in just under 15 minutes,
passing through mangroves and lots of wildlife. We even did this one evening
and the path was well lit the whole way. It was a really nice way to work off
our dinner. Number 2: The beach. The Andaz has a private beach and also has the
option of beach view rooms. We opted for a lagoon view room, so we didn't actually
see the inside of the oceanfront rooms, but we can only imagine how nice the
views were from these rooms. The beach is located on the Caribbean ocean with
crystal-clear bright blue water and white soft sand. There are two
restaurants in the beach area: Olla Taco and Olla Ceviche, which fit the casual
style of a beach area and are great places to get lunch or an evening meal.
Number 3: Casa Amate. This cozy restaurant is based on the story of a
world traveling couple and is themed to be like a residence. There are four
themed rooms with an Amate tree as a courtyard centerpiece. The food was a mix
of various Latin American tastes and flavors. We loved this place so much that
we actually ate here two of the three nights that we stayed at the Andaz. Number 4:
Eco boat tour and wildlife. The resort offers a free eco tour by boat which
takes you through the nature reserves that surround the Mayakoba properties.
It's well worth taking up this free tour, as you'll get to appreciate the various
bird species that live in or around the resort. There are even crocodiles in the
water. Number 5: Mayakoba resort. Mayakoba
offers many activities and places to explore. There's a camp which offers
activities like archery and kayaking, a cooking school, a weekly farmers market
at El Pueblito (the village square), a world-class golf course, bike trails, and
even its own cenote. You're also able to sample the
restaurants at the other hotels on the resort including the Banyan Tree and the
Fairmont. There's enough to do in the resort itself to make you not want to
leave. Number 6: Easy tour pick-up. We had arranged a day tour to Tulum and Coba
during our stay, and the hotel staff were really helpful at arranging
door-to-door pickup service from the hotel reception area. The reason we
highlight this as being such a benefit is due to our experience at the previous
hotel. At that hotel, we had to allow an additional 45 minutes to get from our
room to the front gate of a huge resort for our whale shark tour, which was not
ideal at 7 a.m. Number 7: Complimentary local snacks and
refreshments. Each Andaz resort offers complimentary
locally sourced snacks these are topped off every day, which
meant that we didn't have to worry about finding our own afternoon refreshments.
We loved trying the assortment of snacks, and the fact that they were free was a
really nice touch. Number 8: The views from the room. Waking
up each morning with a view of the blue waters of the lagoon and the wildlife
roaming around right outside of our window was magical. One morning, we even
spotted turtles right by our room. There are so many different room options with
varying views, including the beachfront ones. But from what we could see, they
were all equally spectacular. Number 9: Family-friendly environment. While we
don't have kids, we did notice that the Andaz has a Kids Club right on the
property, making it easy for parents to take a well-earned break. It was also a
safe place for older kids to ride around on bikes, and the beaches and pools were
always guarded, making it a family-friendly environment. Number 10:
The ambience. From our welcome right through to our departure, we enjoyed
every aspect of the ambience offered by the Andaz. The staff couldn't have been
more welcoming, and the attention to detail throughout the resort made for a
really special experience. We couldn't have been happier with our experience at
Mayakoba, and would highly recommend the resort for
your next trip. We booked the stay using our Chase Ultimate Rewards at 20,000 Hyatt
points per night, which we felt was an excellent value for our money. In fact, if
you're planning to visit Cancun or Playa del Carmen, you should definitely check
out the Andaz. Have you been to the Andaz Mayakoba resort? We'd love to hear about
your experience in the comments section below. If you enjoyed this video or found
it useful, please hit the "like" button and consider subscribing. Also, visit our
website and subscribe to our newsletter for travel articles, updates, and contests.
Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.