Mahekal Beach Resort - European Plan

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4273 reviews

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  Wonderful Property, Front Desk Staff Did Not Honor Booking

  Overall, the property is wonderful: palapas by the beach, great pools, walkable to town, good food. We truly enjoyed our stay and wish we could 100% count this as a property to which we would definitely return. However, the behavior of some of the front desk staff means we may not ever go back. They tried to do a "bait and switch" and were rude and dishonest. Eventually, other front desk staff learned what happened and gave us an upgrade but the whole thing left us shaken. Here is what happened: we booked an Ocean Front King Bed directly with the resort. The booking confirms it comes with a King Bed. The listing photo shows tons of space and light and a couch, and two sinks in the bathroom. See the attached photos from the listing. When we go to the resort, they told us that this room was not available because the A/C broke down and therefore they would be placing us in an Oceanfront Double. I asked them if there were any other options (could we move to a King later in our stay? Could they comp us?) and they said no, and that "They did not owe us anything" because they "did not guarantee bed type" only the kind of room, and insisted the two rooms were equal. They were very rude, like we were bothering them by asking them to honor our booking. The room they gave us was very small and windowless, and totally different from what the website showed. See the attached photos, which looks nothing like what we booked -- it was *not* just a difference in bed kind. I reviewed the confirmation and there is nothing about getting a room that is much smaller or has different beds. The next day, I went back to the front desk and got someone else who said: "We 100% guarantee the kind of room if you book with us directly" and was completely apologetic. She got us an upgrade for the last two days to a room with a plunge pool. Ironically, she also said that our original booking -- a King Ocean Front room -- WAS available for our last few days, which the first front desk rep assured me was not the case. So did the original person just lie about the whole thing? The whole thing left us very nervous to return and whether we can trust their management. Even if you do not book directly, the hotel should honor their bookings and try and help their guests. I've checked out the other reviews and it seems like this is not a one-off thing. I don't know that I can give them money again if I don't trust I will get what I paid for.

  Apr 01, 2025
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  Go there!

  I mean, the whole place was amazing! Views and accommodations were beautiful. All the employees made us feel so welcome at the buffet was particularly amazing. It’s tough to pull off the good buffet, but they did it! I recommend finding Kimberly as your evening waitress. She was precious!

  Apr 01, 2025
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  Great resort, amazing service!

  Mahekal was an amazing experience for me and my fiance. Room - we got one of the more basic rooms and were really happy with it. It was clean, the air conditioning worked well, and the cleaning staff did a great job every day. Amenities - the pools are shallow but the two main pools which we stayed in were both clean and the water temperature was very nice considering how hot it is. The spa was very relaxing, we got the couples relaxing experience and were very pleased with the massage and service. Food/Bar - the only reason this review is not 5 stars is the restaurants were a bit disappointing. We did not get the all inclusive package as we wanted to eat at local restaurants more and were glad we did not opt for it. We had dinner at Fuego the first night we arrived and the majority of the meal was decent, but the scallops were extremely overcooked unfortunately. We got small snacks later in our trip from the other restaurant when spending the day at the pool, and were underwhelmed. The bar is great though, many a pina colada was enjoyed! Service - this is where I think Mahekal truly shined. The service was really great at this resort. We interacted with two concierge staff that deserve special recognition: Corinna (Cori) - we first reached out to her for help finding some good local restaurants. Her recommendations were helpful and we enjoyed two of the restaurants she listed. She also found out it was our honeymoon and sent a small gift to us unprompted. Daniel - the remainder of our trip we mainly stayed in contact with Daniel. He was prompt to respond, very respectful, and extremely friendly. He helped us numerous times with getting reservations, providing useful information about the area, booking transportation, and anything else we needed. Thanks to both of these amazing staff members, we are planning to return to Mahekal next year.

  Mar 31, 2025
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  Un hermoso lugar con excelente personal , en especial Corinna la guest service nos atendió excelente!

  Todo excelente la atención de Corinna la Guest service fue increíble , nos ayudó muchísimo en todo lo que necesitamos mi esposo y yo, nos vamos muy satisfechos y con ganas de volver pronto! El hotel es hermoso y único , la comida del rest, fuego es deliciosa !! Gracias por todo ! Sra, Cano Room #49

  Mar 31, 2025
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  Maybe Average?

  Let me start out by saying that the staff was fantastic and the pools are great. But the photos of the property are misleading, to say the least. The property abuts the beach, but it is a public beach. We paid for an oceanfront room, which meant that starting from early in the morning until sundown we had people constantly walking straight past our porch. No privacy. No quiet. Think about the movie "Summer Rental" and you get the idea. The food was average at best, with the high point being dinner at Fuego (the best items were an extra chage), and the low point being dinner at Olas (really sub-par). Lastly, we paid for the full all inclusive, which on the website says it includes mini-bar, but at checkout I was charged for a bag of peanuts and a bag of potato chips that we took out of the mini bar. I was told that despite what the website says, 'mini-bar' only includes drinks, not other items that are actually contained in the mini-bar. Felt like some cheap nickel and diming.

  Mar 30, 2025