Viva Wyndham Maya

The Malibu of Mexico is what they tell me. Hmmm…
Upon first entry into the area I was slightly skeptical, security entry, residential area, huh? What is this?
The resort is located in Playacar, or Playa del Car or Playa del Carmen whichever you prefer. There are several resorts within a one mile radius.
This location is run by Viva, which is a European based vacation entity which partnered with the Wyndham name. What you get in my humble opinion is the best of both. The European vacation experience and the Wyndham name and services.
Check in was a breeze, no worries or problems there, everything was explained in detail regarding the buffets, and reservations for the restaurants. I understand the concerns of some of the other reviewers, having one or two places to eat; however this was not a concern of mine as I was able to eat from all restaurants, including those of the sister resort, the Azteca. The experiences that I had at all of the restaurants were pretty good.
My issue with the process was having to make the reservation before three, the limited amount given per stay, and the fact that most of the restaurants were virtually empty. Rather, were the reservations needed? In asking about this specifically, staff reported that they didn’t want to have guest waiting. Cool, I get it.
The rooms, initially I was slightly underwhelmed, as they were very… white. Not much color going on here folks, they were nice though. They were cool, and they each had nice patios, or balcony’s. Depending on your locale, there were awesome views of the ocean, the jungle like resort or if you were on the quieter side, the garden.
The staff itself, were extremely helpful, whenever there was a concern they were there to help, from concerns to the room to where to go to eat and to party. There were many activities throughout the day, from exercising, to pool activities and games. Nightly there were themed shows on the stage. They had awesome water activities, from kayaking, catamarans, and scuba. Staff kept you involved.
Free wi-​fi was spotty at best, and was only located in the lobby area, unless a fee was paid for the «premium» service for one device. Can’t say it was worth it. A daily fee was also incurred for use of the in room safe. Didn’t quite get that.
All in all, I loved my experience, the open, airy feel of the lobby, the jungle like feel of the resort, the lush trees, the awesome staff and the activities. We were there for five days but totally missed out on all that is included in the all inclusive fee.
I’ve got to back to try that trapeze. Yes, there is a trapeze!

My review is for 2 stars because of several reasons… The check in staff and the customer service staff were not friendly and accommodating at first. We arrived at our resort after an hour taxi ride and was looking forward to checking in when we got there. We arrived at 1:30 PM and was told we can’t get our keys until 3 PM. We also can’t reserve any restaurants until 3 PM as well. They did give us wrist bands and we went to eat at 2PM. Food wasn’t the best. How do they not know how to make pizza? How about lunch meat other than ham? How come we can’t find taco shells? Another complaint… It’s so stinking hot in the buffet restaurant as there is no a/​c. We went back to check in at 3 PM and they said our rooms aren’t ready until 4PM. We were not happy about having to wait until 4PM and let them know about it. They told us there was nothing they can do except put us in 2 rooms that were kinda close. We put up a fight and got the manager involved and they gave us 2 rooms together. The clerk called us liars the whole time. After we checked in, we went to book 4 reservations for the restaurants at night and was told we can only book 2 nights of the 4 nights as that’s the policy on the website in 4 different languages and we should’ve known that. We checked the website and it doesn’t say that. They did say we can come back between 2 – 3 the day of to see if there we openings and they would try and «squeeze us in». We did show up between 2 – 3 and they did squeeze us in… But each time we went to the restaurant is was practically empty, so I’m not sure why they lie to us and say they will squeeze us in. Next complaint… They tell u they have free wifi in the lobby, but it sucks bad! Good luck trying to use it. Instead, walk your butt ¼ mile to Starbucks if you want a good signal. The employees at the hotel use it as well. The first morning we woke up to someone calling us at 9AM saying they have a gift for us in the lobby. We went to the lobby and told him all our complaints as we thought he was somebody, but he was a salesman trying to get us to become members. His gift was a Mayan calendar coaster that we threw away. Beach was filled with seaweed as they are too lazy to rake it up. Compliments… Restaurant staff, bar staff, etc were very nice. Pool was nice, but it’s hard to see the ocean from it. Rooms were ok… Nothing special, but no complaints. Next time we are going back to Cancun where we are treated better.

Recently stayed at this resort. Wish there was more than the one buffet we can eat at for every meal… the snack bar by the pool hardly counts. The 2 nights we were allowed to eat at the restaurants on site were great. Lots of mosquitos in our room. Missing towels on our first day there. Great location, beautiful beach. Overall average.

Recently stayed here for my honeymoon. Fantastic resort! Great location on the beach, beautiful grounds, great food and restaurants and excellent staff. It’s in a private resort so expect to be checking in and out at the gate. The beach/​pool towels r admistered thru towel cards which u may exchange daily. Buffet is open all day, snack bar all day n night. Like a reviewer stated earlier, make your reservation early on for one of their a la carte restaurants. We went to Don Diego n it was amazing! Would definitely stay here again

I upgraded my review to 2 Stars because Wyndham agreed to reimburse me the difference between the rate of the room we booked, and the one we got at the resort.

I Am here on vacation. The place is nice for the money. Very clean and staff is friendly. Many speak English except the cleaning people. I’m a vip. member so my room is nicer than a room someone would get if they booked it through a discounted website service. Food is good and freash. Only problem is the vip rooms are not Ocean view. Not good if your wanting ghis.