# Just back from the Mayan (Palace) Regency in Mazatlan - Long Post



## pittle (Feb 18, 2008)

Arrival & Check-in

We arrived at the Mazatlan airport about an hour late on 1/26/08.  We were pleased that the transportation van to the Mayan Palace was waiting for us when we cleared customs.  When I emailed the concierge that we would be arriving and would like the free transportation to the resort, I received a reply that I could also arrange return transportation for $9 pp.  We did not do that, but probably should have as the taxi was $30 from the resort to the airport.

Our check-in was unusual in that they would not let us put 2 credit cards on file and would only give us 2 keys for 2 couples in the 2-bedroom unit.  We did manage to get an additional key on Sunday with the help of the concierge – we never did get a 4th room key.  I later talked to one of the desk supervisors and was assured that they were working on both of these issues.  They have not had lock-out unit rooms before and have generally only issued 2 keys per unit.

Of course they wanted us to take the update tour.  The girl insisted that it was NOT as sales presentation.  We were in the process of declining when she said they were changing exchange companies and we needed to hear about the new one.  That got our attention, so we agreed.  

Update/”Non-Sales” Tour

We took the tour on Sunday morning.  We explained that we were happy with what we had and came only to learn about what was new with exchanges.  After breakfast, the gal walked us towards the sales area, stopping at the on-site model of a Grand Mayan unit.  She said they had bought some adjacent land and were going to build some GM units there.

She immediately started telling us about the Grand Luxxe – 2800 SF 2-bedroom units.  We told them we were not interested, so then she started in on Grand Mayan units – we told her we already owned 2 weeks and were not interested in any more.  So, she started telling us about the Mayan Regency – they are going to build and additional tower in the parking lot.  I specifically asked the difference in the Mayan Palace units and the Mayan Regency units.  The units are the exact same ones, but the “benefits” are what makes them different.  The Mayan Regency has the RCI Excellence Program, golf, and rental program.  Since I was staying in the new Mayan Regency Tower building, I knew that I could not tell the difference from the other MP units that I have stayed in.  The kitchen area is the same, but has granite countertops.  

I reminded the gal that we came because we were told that they were not using RCI.  I was told that the RCI Excellence Program was far superior and came with Mayan Regency and Grand Mayan upgrades/purchases.  I told her that I already had that and had not found any superior benefits.  I was then told about SFX and a new option with them (SLH).  I did not quite understand it because I told her I was already a platinum member of SFX.  FYI - they still use RCI.

Our sales gal and her manager sure did want us to upgrade our MP contracts to GM ones.  She was quite befuddled by our multiple contracts. (She obviously did not know about re-sales on eBay.)  Her manager wanted to take our 3 MP weeks and convert them to 2 GM weeks + $$$$$.  We said no thanks.  It took us just about 90 minutes including breakfast to do the whole thing.  Some people said they were there for hours.

Now for our observations and comments on the resort itself….

The resort is entirely too small for them to build Grand Mayan and Grand Luxxe buildings.  The entire resort – including pools, parking, buildings, and vacant land is in a space less than 10 acres.  They say they are going to tear down some of the Sea Garden buildings

The beach area is extremely small and crowed – 200 feet at the most.  My husband referred to it as the “seal” beach.  He said it looked like a bunch of seals sunning themselves.  There were 21 palapas on the beach – these were on 3 rows of 7 and there was about 8 inches between the thatch from one to the next.  They had a lot of chaise lounges just lined up side by side on the sand in front of the palapas.  The chaise lounges are not in very good condition.  The beach vendors are persistent – they certainly try to take advantage of a concentrated group of potential buyers.

They have 3 pools.  The larger one is nice, but was quite cold.  It had chaise lounges jammed very close together all around the pool.  The medium sized pool was nice and was quieter than the other one.  There is one small pool that is covered by one of the Sea Garden buildings that is heated.  They have the aerobics in that pool each day at noon.  We did not see any shallow areas for kids.

There is a small playground area near the building over the warm pool.

The gym is very small.

They do not have a spa.  One of our “gifts” was 20% off on massages, but you had to go into town to get them.  I was told that they used to have one, but no one used it, so they just make arrangements with a place in town.

We stayed in the new Mayan Regency Tower.  It has 10 floors.  There are two 2-bedroom units and three 1-bedroom units on each floor.  The units with odd numbers have ocean view and the units with even numbers have roadside view.  The ocean view side has two 1-bedroom units and one 2-bedroom unit.  There is an ice machine on each floor.  I saw quite a few RCI armbands on people in the Mayan Regency Tower.  I met other MP owners who were in the tower, so you do not have to own Mayan Regency or Grand Mayan.  Some RCI people had ocean view rooms too.  We had an ocean view room on the 3rd floor for our first two weeks and were moved to a 1-bedroom ocean view room on the 7th floor for our last week.

They are still finishing up some rooms.  We saw them polishing marble and painting some rooms while we were there. The 2-bedroom unit we stayed in had a new paint smell was really strong.  We just opened the windows and propped open the door for a couple of hours.  After a couple of days doing this, it was fine.  

Something new for the MP is that when you open the sliding doors, the A/C turns off.  We also discovered that there is a sensor between rooms and you need to close the bedroom door for the A/C to work in the bedroom.  We have been to other resorts that do this, and thought it was a good way to save energy.  The A/C should not be on if you have the sliding glass doors open.

They do not have wireless internet available.  They do have an internet room and two stations that you can plug your laptop into – they will even supply the cable.  They also have 4 computers that you can use.  The cost for any of these is $4 for 60 minutes.  My husband asked about additional capacity for laptops and was told to check with the Concierge.

TV is not so great.  Only 7 stations are in English.  We basically watched only the American Network and FOX News to find out what was going on in the states.

They do bring chocolates at night, but generally just have you put out your hand and pour some in.  On our last two nights (of 21), the girl did go into the bedroom and turn down the bed and put chocolates on the bed.  They did not empty trash or bring fresh towels.

The main restaurant is typical MP – just so-so and too expensive.  We did eat the breakfast buffet with our update tour and the Prime Rib night.  You can eat a lot of places for less money elsewhere.  

It costs $4.50 to get a load of laundry done.  They fold and bag your laundry for you.

The Sun Market has a pretty good selection and the prices are not astronomical.  We bought milk, eggs, bread and Diet Coke there.  Beer was $1.20 a bottle/can, so we went across the street where you could buy it for $.88 a bottle/can.  It is $.80 at the OXXO store in town, but you need transportation.  At the pool bar, beer is $11.00 for a bucket of 4 ($2.75).

There is a bus stop at the gate.  Most everyone takes the bus into town.  The big green bus Sabalo/Central costs $.80 and will take you all the way to the big church and Mercado market downtown.  The last stop for the big green Sabalo/Central bus is just past the Sea Garden at the little grocery. The white bus that says Gran Plaza costs $.61 and will take you to the Gran Plaza mall.  Just before you get to it, you can get off at the new Mega store.  Mega is across the street from Sam’s.   The white bus that says Centro will take you downtown for $.45-.55 (the prices seemed to be different all the time).  Basically - $1 for 2 people.  You can take any white bus that says Cerritos to get back to the resort.  You can also take the Cerritos bus to the end of the route and there are some good restaurants down at the Cerritos Beach area.  Playa Bruha, Last Drop, Los Cerritos, and about halfway between those and the Sea Garden is the Cerritos Resort restaurant (you have to walk through the neighborhood to the beach – they have free WIFI there and 2-4-1 beer all day.   You can negotiate cheap or even free Pulmonia or truck taxi rides to Playa Bruha (they get paid for bringing you).

I must say, this was not our typical Mayan Palace experience.  The unit was the same, but the service, great pools, and beaches were not up to what we consider MP standards.  The staff will need to improve service if they want the current Mayan Palace, Mayan Regency, and Grand Mayan owners to come there.

To see photos - go to www.snapfish.com    Use pittle@hotmail.com for the email address and pittle for the password


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