Dining costs at Vidanta- Mayan Palace, Luxxe etc

[VanX]

Hi,

In Mexico we are more familiar with all inclusive so while we consider buying in with Vidanta for Mayan Palace, or their other resorts, we are curious about daily costs for dining and drinks.

Is $200 USD per day average for 2 people for meals, pool snacks, and a few drinks, including wine with dinner? Or is it considerably higher.

Also curious about mitigating costs with the cooking facilities in units like the Master suit. Is the kitchen a good set up?

Thanks in advance for any current advice you can share.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

.....Is $200 USD per day average for 2 people for meals, pool snacks, and a few drinks, including wine with dinner? Or is it considerably higher.
Also curious about mitigating costs with the cooking facilities in units like the Master suit. Is the kitchen a good set up?
Thanks in advance for any current advice you can share.

That sounds pretty high / $100 pp/pd.

I would think we average under $50

Mayan Palace kitchenettes work well - if you understand how to use efficiently .

Will post more details latter .

 

[cooperrose54]

Eating in restaurants can be expensive and tiresome, so we like having a kitchen and generally prefer to cook our meals rather than dine out. If you can saute, pan-fry, steam or boil, you are good to go. The Plaza market offers reasonably priced meat but not a wide selection, however, we seem to make do without needing to shop outside the resort. The produce section, too, seems adequate. Tacos and fajitas (just vary the protein) are quick, easy entrees, add some beans, rice, and salad, and you have your Mexi-meal.
For dessert, go to the frozen yogurt stand.

Dining suggestion: The Taco Shack cafe is one of our favorite spots, especially with kids. It offers hearty, flavorful, yet inexpensive plates, and the servers are very attentive.

 

[Eric B]

We typically spend about $50 per day, similar to @T-Dot-Traveller. Usually make our own breakfast, have lunch & drinks by pool, and eat about half the time in the room. Spend about another $50 at OXXO or somewhere else on groceries.

That’s for two of us.

 

[Eric B]

Hi,

In Mexico we are more familiar with all inclusive so while we consider buying in with Vidanta for Mayan Palace, or their other resorts, we are curious about daily costs for dining and drinks.

Is $200 USD per day average for 2 people for meals, pool snacks, and a few drinks, including wine with dinner? Or is it considerably higher.

Also curious about mitigating costs with the cooking facilities in units like the Master suit. Is the kitchen a good set up?

Thanks in advance for any current advice you can share.

One other piece of advice - don't buy in unless you're picking up a resale contract that is fairly old and has reasonable transfer fees. There are two on the TUG marketplace; I've agreed to take one of the contracts over; the other is advertised at https://tug2.com/timeshare-classifi...px?For-Sale-Mexico&ResortArea=8&ForSale=True#. The only good reason to buy a Vidanta contract is to use it in February or March, which would probably make sense for someone from Vancouver. Otherwise, you're better off exchanging in through RCI, II, SFX or whatever exchange you use; Vidanta makes an awful lot of inventory available through those and it is typically less expensive to do that than it is to own and pay a direct usage fee. If you want to stay at Mayan Palace, and you plan far enough in advance, you can get the high season as well through exchanges. Your other option is to contact someone that already owns there and ask if they would make a reservation for you, either as a direct exchange for a week you own or as a rental. Vidanta has resorts that are quite nice and the people staffing them are wonderful, but it can be expensive to buy in to their system and they have an aggressive sales system that includes major restrictions on resale unless you can find an older contract like the two Mayan Palace ones I mentioned. Lots of good advice on TUG for work arounds for Vidanta to address the faults in their system.

 

[VanX]

Thanks Eric,

Yes if anything we are looking to an older contract pre August 2002 with our specific interest in use for the 2nd phase of 25 years in the 100 year lifespan, staying in a 2 bedroom master suite lock-off with vacation fair week. Preferring the 3% cap rate on MF vs 5%.

We do have RCI now and use it actively but it’s linked to RTU memberships which expire at 25 years with only 13 years remaining.

It’s no rush for us to find the unit we are looking for but hope to acquire one rather than see owners just choose not to renew at the end of the first 25 years.

We will most certainly do our first stay with RCI rather than as resale owners but definitely wanting to know in advance what all costs look like before we travel and or buy in.

Cheers !

 

[jules54]

We have stayed at all the V resorts at Riveria Mays location. We cook breakfast in our condo. Buying the food at the small market on site. We bring our own coffee and supplies with us. We eat a few lunches in the deli which is good,fresh, and reasonably priced. We order room service. What you spends also depends on how much alcohol your drinking. There are a lot of happy hours to cover that. We used to go into Playa to grocery shop taking the bus on the highway in and a cab back. We have become to lazy to do that the last few trips. In May we stay at the Grand Luxe on a II points exchange. We only needed 4 days of the week as we were moving to Playa for a week. With the 252.00 resort fee and meals, drinks and groceries we spent 454.00 looks like that would be 202.00 for 4 days for 2 persons.
I doubt I would ever purchase a contract of any type with Vidante unless someone gave it to me. Even then the yearly maintenance fees are more than most rental fees. All exchange agencies seem to have lots of inventory and getaways or rentals(SFX).
Don't get me wrong the resorts are huge and absolutely gorgeous. No fighting over Oceanvies rooms as there aren't any. The Grand Luxe and Grand Bliss have access to the beach club and it is super cool.
There is so much out there for rent in Mexico. I know being an owner is fun, but crunch the numbers first. Don't worry about a contract expiring after 10 or 15 years as a lot of things can change over the years and you might possibly be more than ready for the contract to expire lol.
There are only a few resorts in the Playa Del Carmen area that don't require all inclusive fees. Which is huge plus for myself. I own several contracts at another resort in Playa Del Carmen that does not require owners or guests of owners(renters) to take the all inclusive. It is an option if you prefer and very reasonable compared to other resorts. Sunset Fishermens Resort and Spa. Let me know if anyone ever wants to try it out. I've never had anyone stay there that hasn't wanted to return.

 

[jules54]

Go for the Grand Luxe,Grand Bliss,Grand Mayan. One bedrooms the studios at Grand Mayan hv no kitchen. I believe the Grand Luxe has only 1 bedroom condos and they are fantastic. We are pretty spoiled so some things that would impress others do not mean much to us. We also travel a lot so I hv to save money whenever possible. Get the most for the least.

 

[VanX]

Go for the Grand Luxe,Grand Bliss,Grand Mayan. One bedrooms the studios at Grand Mayan hv no kitchen. I believe the Grand Luxe has only 1 bedroom condos and they are fantastic. We are pretty spoiled so some things that would impress others do not mean much to us. We also travel a lot so I hv to save money whenever possible. Get the most for the least.

Thanks Jules54,

Yes I think we are doing exactly as you’ve recommended with getting more for less. Vidanta has Mayan Palace resorts nicely sprinkled around Mexico in many destinations which we hope to have extended stays in over the next 30 years.

We’ve priced out RCI exchanges into Mayan Palace and found it is actually more expensive than owning “an older contract” if you can buy in low for the extended stay options that we are seeking to escape Canada’s cold winters.

Definitely want to spend more winter time in RM and Playa Del Carmen area as a type of base camp with short trips south of Playa so likely we’ll be in touch as we plan trips into the area to get a view of more destination resort options in the region.

Cheers !

 

[pittle]

We always do breakfast in our unit and generally most other meals too. We do not go there to eat, we go for the pools and beach. That is why we bought units with a kitchen - even if there are only 2 burners.

We usually go to the Mega or La Comer on our 1st day and buy what we think we will eat for the time we are there. Same with beverages. It is amazing what you can do with a rotisserie chicken! We especially like to make tostadas. When at the grocery we get quite a few items at the deli - rice, beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, etc. They can zip up a meal. We also use SS 30oz cups for whatever beverage we are drinking. Sometimes it is water and other times not. Even when I buy a beverage from the staff, I pour it into the cup to keep it cool. (Last year at an !I place the beach waiters just started taking my cup and bringing it back full. )

We sometimes do share lunch at the beach or pool and buy happy hour drinks. Room service is a bargain if you share your meal. We do not like to eat late and most restaurants open at 7, so we opt for late lunch if we are going to eat at a restaurant. But, we generally just fix something in our room when we come back from the beach/pool around 4.

So, we do not spend any more on vacation for food than we do when we are home.

 

[VanX]

Thanks @pittle ,

Yes our approach is similar for extended stays. We treat them like living vs a holiday. Holidays are expensive and include splurges which can quickly get very expensive.

Even when we stayed in Austin texas and Scottsdale Arizona this year for a week at a time we had a kitchen unit and had most meals in - like home. Occasional lunches out and I think 2 very nice dinners out was a splurge enough over a week.

We of course will still do the all inclusive trips elsewhere and enjoy some splurges but for our planned 2–>4 week trips per year we do need to normalize our consumption or our clothes won’t fit.

Saw a documentary on a family that travels for years at a time and they said the secret is to live in different places like normal but don’t treat it like holidays or you will soon run out of money.

The adventure for them is about getting to be a resident in new areas, learning about local favs and making friends in new places. Sounds far more attainable than attempting to be living the high life while globe trotting.