Mahekal Beach Resort

Proceed with CAUTION: Resort Fee Services Not Delivered and additional charges not clearly advertised- The $300+ extra resort fee claims to include various “wellness perks,” many of which were consistently not delivered: -No welcome drink on arrival -“Unlimited bicycle access” unavailable throughout the stay. -Towels repeatedly ran out at the pool and beach, requiring frequent requests and delays. -Towels were often had yellow stains. -Bottled water was repeatedly denied and treated as a chargeable extra, despite being listed as included under the resort fee. We had to repeatedly show the hotel their own website to receive bottled water in extreme heat. Hotel Room Issues Our room had numerous issues inconsistent with a 5* hotel: -Human blood stains were found on the bed sheets. -Bathroom smelled strongly of urine on arrival. -Cold water and poor shower pressure. -No robes or slippers provided. -Sink did not drain water properly. -Periodic sewage smells. -Dimmable lights malfunctioned and flickered. -Housekeeping was inconsistent; towels were once left outside instead of bathroom. Racism & Discrimination We experienced clear racial discrimination at the resort. At Fuego Restaurant, my sister (wearing trousers and a bikini top) was asked to cover up. Shortly after, a white woman wearing only a bikini was allowed to dine without challenge. Only after my sister raised the issue was the white guest approached. On multiple subsequent days, white guests were permitted to dine in swimwear without issue. The hotel manager, Nathalia, confirmed that Fuego does not require cover-ups at lunch. Experiencing such overt discrimination in 2025 was deeply upsetting and permanently tainted the holiday. Hotel management are rude and dismissive when you raise problems.

Mahekal is an upscale tropical beach resort located in a foreign (for most) country. As such it can only be compared with its peers. While some visitors have given a 1 and many a 5, I believe that 4 is a fair ranking. Many people we met have come back to that resort multiple times so this is a good sign. The location is very nice if you like to be near/inside the city and don't want to be locked into a remote resort. The drawback of being in a city is that there is noise that the resort cannot control. This is why you get complimentary earplugs in the room. Note that the most desirable rooms (such as upstairs or beach front) are often noisier than more remote/downstairs rooms. Our family had side by side rooms, one downstairs was acceptable, the one upstairs was too noisy. If you stay in or walk by the jungle, you will see many cute animals. The check-in process is a bit complicated and we noted a lot of discrepancies between what arriving guests were expecting and what they were offered. This happened often enough that there are likely problems in that area. We booked 2 queen beds and were offered one king and one sofa bed. That was OK for us but not for all. All the staff is extremely friendly (more on this below) and the resort is overall clean and well maintained but here and there you will see stuff that is broken. The beach is nice but not amazing. It is a public beach so the resort area is behind a rope line that is very well monitored by security guards, In the busy season it is not always easy to find lounge chairs. There is no beach activity available at or in front of the resort but there are some on the beaches near by. The food is of decent quality but extremely boring. These resorts have to go with the lowest common denominator so the food does not taste anything. I asked a waiter if a dish marked as "spicy" was spicy and he said "not spicy". I said: "but it is marked as spicy" and he said "no spicy" and yes, it was not spicy at all. The Fuego restaurant is a slightly better choice. The dinner buffet has rotating themes but 80% of the food is the same from one night to the other. If you go with the all inclusive package, you will face two problems. First is what I already mentioned, after a few days, the food will be very boring. The second issue is tipping. Upon checking in, you will be charged a $15 / person / day surcharge for tips. Despite that, every time you eat or drink, you will have to sign a $0 bill showing the suggested tip based on what has been consumed. The standard tip in Mexico used to be 10% so the $15 would account for a daily allowance of $150 worth of food. Another issue is that the very friendly waiters want you to consume a lot to increase the potential tip. For example, at breakfast, they spontaneously bring (and charge) bottled mineral water to every guest. They also invite you to order from the breakfast menu in top of the breakfast buffet under the pretext that "it is included". Yes, the bill will still be zero but the suggested tip will be increased. The good news about the food is that there are dozens of restaurants within walking distance of the resort so it is easy to escape the monotony of the resort food. We tried a few and they were all good. Finally, there are other small hiccups (such as the bicycles that are advertised but do not exist) , management (or an AI bot!) seems to review and respond to many of these reviews but does not seem to be interested to address the issues that other have reported. We overall enjoyed our stay at Mahekal.

So many issues during our stay made the experience very regrettable and negative. From not getting the reserved room to not having running water in the room and other issues.

While the resort was beautiful and the staff very friendly, the beach clubs located right outside the property made for sleepless (maddening) nights. I live in NYC and am used to constant noise. But the crazy loud music and heavy bass shook our room past 1 am - absolutely ruining our family vacation. (Although I should have suspected something was up as soon as I saw the earplugs in the rooms) When I told the resort manager (at 1 am), the response was only that “they can’t control the night clubs or whatever noise people make outside the walls”. I get it - but I wish I knew about this before I stayed here with my wife and 2 kids. Avoid this place, but If you do end up staying here — be aware of rooms 25 and 26 (or any room near the edges of the property).

This is our 2nd time visiting this property and it’s absolutely amazing! The atmosphere and bungalows are such a unique experience. The staff is absolutely amazing. They are so caring and thoughtful always making you the priority. Love this property a ton!