Grand Mayan Riviera Maya Questions

[MLR]

Is it preferable to tip in Peso's or dollars? hurnik - menu/pricing would be great. Just trying to help our son budget for the trip.

All tips and suggestions very much appreciated.

 

[hurnik]

Is it preferable to tip in Peso's or dollars? hurnik - menu/pricing would be great. Just trying to help our son budget for the trip.

All tips and suggestions very much appreciated.

I had a bunch of $1 bills that I brought for tipping, although when paying for say, the taxi in Pesos, I tipped in Pesos (but tried to "even" it out to US dollars).

When we went, it was just the two of us. For all our meals and anything else (EVERYTHING at the GM is charged to the room, including the "store" there) I want to say it came to $800 US. (at the time I think it was around $12,000 PESOS).

That was for 7 nights/8 days.

That also included snorkeling trip to Puerto Morales for the 2 of us. It did NOT include my Xcaret tickets (I bought those separately) and it did not include our dinner in Playa Del Carmen, one evening (we ate at La Parilla). We did splurge at the buffet 3 times, and also at the one restaurant for "lobster" night.

You could eat at the more reasonable (if you will) restaurants, and we just bought cereals/eggs and pancake mix and made our own breakfasts. When we were at the resort in the day, we'd splurge on the 2 for 1 drinks and then we split a light lunch. I think one of the places (they brought us our lunch next to the pool) we had like a large club sandwich and fries and it was enough for both of us (considering by then I'd had like 4 frozen margaritas-haha).

I'll dig up my packet and see if I snagged anything and if so, I will definitely post it.

I'm not sure what the current exchange rate is.

Also, if you have a Capital One credit card, I think they don't charge foreign exchange fees (My Amex does and did). GM did not take Discover at the time.

 

[curtbrown]

Mexico passed a law last summer that limits the daily and monthly exchange amounts when converting Dollars to Pesos. Some banks in Mexico now won't do it unless you have an account with them. Since most prices are in Pesos (other than around the cruise ports) you will get a better deal by using Pesos anyway. While the exchange rate is usually around 12+:1, many restaurants and stores will only give you 10:1.

Your son would get the best bang for his buck if he used an ATM to withdraw money from his bank back at home. The ATM will dispense Pesos. Have him check with his bank to see if they have a "sister" bank in Mexico. If so, quite often there won't be a withdrawl charge, and often they will waive the conversion fee as well.

As far as tipping, I'd also recommend tipping in Pesos too. The dollar bills can't be spent locally by the person you are tipping and requires them to go to their bank or to a local cambio and pay an exchange fee to convert them to Pesos. I carry a lot of ten peso coins and 20 peso bills just for tipping the valet, bellman, etc. If he needs to get small bills, he can always go to the cashier at the hotel and break his larger bills for no charge.

Curt

 

[kenie]

We just spent a week at the Grand Luxxe R/Maya, and we found the on-site store to be on the expensive side. It was definately worth the trip to Walmart.
-The shuttle is $4 US each way per person, but we just gave the driver 100 pesos including tip.
-The breakfast buffet was 240 pesos each and includes coffee and juce. We skipped that other than the free? one for sitting through the sales pitch. People had recomended the breakfast buffet at the GreenBreak but they have discontinued that right now as it wasn't busy enough.
-The main dinner buffet was also not available at this time of year?.
Your dinner and drinks will run a minimum $20 each and they include the 15% tip on the bill.
We found the restaurants to be on the pricy side but we had spent the 2 weeks before that just outside Playa so had a lot more choice.
The exchange rate was 12-1.

 

[Catira]

Late checkout?

Our return flight is at 10 p.m. Wondering if it is possible to pay for a late checkout?

 

[kenie]

At the Luxxe we were told the late check-out fee was about $250US for check-out after 10:am.
I'm not sure what their policy is on storing luggage after you check out.
I know at the Royals you can check out, store your luggage and then use the pool or whatever until your flight leaves.

 

[rpennisi]

At the Luxxe we were told the late check-out fee was about $250US for check-out after 10:am.
I'm not sure what their policy is on storing luggage after you check out.
I know at the Royals you can check out, store your luggage and then use the pool or whatever until your flight leaves.

Yes, they will do this as well..store your luggage and you can the facilities until you leave.

 

[richontug]

They also made a reservation for 30 minutes in an empty room so that we could freshen up and change clothes before leaving for airport. You need to book it at concierge.

Rich

 

[Catira]

They also made a reservation for 30 minutes in an empty room so that we could freshen up and change clothes before leaving for airport. You need to book it at concierge.

Rich

Thank you for your post. I called GMRM and was told we could use the hospitality room for 30 mins. This will give us another day to enjoy the resort and not have to be at airport all day until our 10 pm departure.