ANDAZ MAYAKOBA Playa del Carmen, Mexico 🇲🇽【4K Resort Tour & Review】What’s Going On?!

ANDAZ MAYAKOBA Playa del Carmen, Mexico 🇲🇽【4K Resort Tour & Review】What’s Going On?!

Riddle me this. What do you call a luxury beach  resort that cordoned off the resort and forgot   about the luxury? Correct! Andaz Mayakoba. This  experience was unlike anything else I’ve ever   presented on the channel and we are going to take  a deep deep dive. Welcome to Playa del Carmen. 

For any of you that are new here, welcome  to the channel and sorry we needed to meet   for such an extraordinary review. My name  is Kevin and I am the Flip Flop Traveller  I’m here to give you honest  content about flights, hotels,  

Trains and cruises- but mostly the first  two. I paid for this trip out of pocket   and the price I paid is in the description  below. Andaz had no knowledge I’d be filming   today and I didn’t receive any compensation  from them for creating this video. Everything  

Coming up is my personal opinion based on  my very very unique experience. The rest,   I’ll let speak for itself. Let’s get into it. (“Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall   never be disappointed.” -Alexander Pope) I’m now riding through Playa del Carmen  

Towards the luxury resort enclave of Mayakoba.  Think of Mayakoba as the most exclusive gated   country club of the Yucatan resort scene. Before we get started with the tour and the   stories, there are a couple things I want to  quickly mention first. I stayed here in late  

September. I booked directly through Hyatt  and had a rate which could be refunded up   until 7 days prior to arrival. Three days  prior to arrival, at 22:59 local time,   I received an email detailing four “services”  which would be closed for three days, including  

The time I was there for maintenance. These  included two restaurants, the kid’s club which   was to be relocated and the spa which was to be  relocated. I was not happy about this, especially   since the email was sent after my cancellation  window was closed already- but I was in the middle  

Of a busy trip and did not feel like opening  the ‘make an exception for my cancellation’   can of worms- that plus the fact that the email  didn’t sound that bad, besides the fact that the   Mexican restaurant would be closed, which I was  really looking forward to. So, I obviously went. 

You know already, it was not a good stay- way  beyond that, it was a blatantly unacceptable   experience for a brand like Andaz, frankly for  a Holiday Inn Express it would be unacceptable.   The experience here at the Andaz Mayakoba is  THE hotel which inspired my penalty scoring  

System. The scoring system, everything that  was wrong, my thoughts about it and what Andaz   did about it I will detail later in the video.  First, I want you to see the parts were open,   as I saw them. If you’re considering a stay  here, you definitely want to watch this. 

Last thing for now, I’ll reiterate that it brings  me absolutely no pleasure in handing out scores   this low. This is my 270th video and my 5th ever  score at or below 50/100. If I was doing this for  

Views, these videos would be making up more  than 1.8% of my total library, I assure you.  We are now entering the lobby and reception  area which they refer to as The Sanctuary.   Upon check in, I was told I’d be upgraded to  an Oceanview room. That was great news which  

Honestly shocked me since I thought  it was due to my low Discoverist   status. Turns out that wasn’t the reason. The Sanctuary sets the tone for the resort.   Laid back, breezy, modern and tropical. On one side there is a small coffee shop  

Which was not one of the things closed during my  stay, but I also never saw it open, just saying.  Andaz for better or worse is always  trying to be a bit clever and so the   traditional welcome drink has been replaced by  a popsicle- something I wasn’t mad at one bit. 

My room wasn’t ready yet so I hung around the  area and around 40 minutes later was driven to   my room. Now is a good time to look at the  map and talk about the location so you can   understand why my room is literally  a mile away from the reception area. 

The Yucatan Peninsula has many different  neighborhoods and areas in between Cancun   to the north and Tulum to the south. You’ll  likely be flying into Cancun, though Tulum   does have a new airport and I suppose Cozumel  is an option as well if you enjoy swimming. 

The private enclave of Mayakoba is around 5 miles  north of the center of Playa del Carmen. This is   Mayakoba. It is an 18 hole golf course, four  resorts and a whole lot of nature. Each of the  

Four resorts here is split between their land side  and their beach side areas and you can get an idea   of why you need to drive a mile within the resort,  this is one part I really didn’t understand fully   before arriving- specifically that the resorts  are intertwined. The majority of the Rosewood is  

Literally in between the two parts of the Andaz. So let’s focus on Andaz and I need   to point out why I take issue with their resort  map. I understand they would cut the Rosewood   area out of the map, but they’re making the  beach side look larger than their lagoon side,  

When in reality, it’s very much the other way  around. The lagoon area is more than double   the size of the beach area- around 60000m2  compared to 25000m2 and the majority of the   resorts facilities are on the lagoon size. So, can you guess why I was upgraded? The  

Entire lagoon side of the resort and  all of it’s facilities was closed.  Let’s explore the beachside of the resort. There are plenty of bicycles available   to use on your own as well. This is the pool area. It is a   beautiful area and is dotted with multiple  types of lounging and seating options. 

Throughout the day this area will have  deep house and lounge music playing to   set the tone- something which will fall into  the love it or hate it category for most.  This Andaz opened in 2016. Hyatt describes  the Andaz brand as “Global in scale while  

Local in perspective, Andaz hotels  weave the sights, sounds and tastes of   their surroundings into each property for an  experience that truly immerses guests in the   eclectic culture of each local destination.” To set the tone for the resort as we continue  

Onto the stunning beach area, I’m going to  use their own words, because I can see how   they would normally be accurate and it will  also give you a sense of what I was expecting.  The newest addition to idyllic Mayakoba, Andaz  Mayakoba Resort Rivera Maya in Mexico introduces  

Guests to a hidden paradise – a place where  style meets nature in an innovative hospitality   experience. The resort’s breathtaking design  reflects the native Mayan culture and features   214 alluring, open layout guestrooms and  suites overlooking crystal clear lagoons,   mangrove and resort gardens, the golf course or  spectacular views of the Caribbean coastline. The  

Accommodations are naturally inspired with  stylish amenities and a refined collection   of artisan décor. Each offers a spacious  balcony or terrace; 41 luxury suites also   feature private plunge pools. Stimulating upscale  experiences entertain guests, whether immersing   in a lushly preserved mangrove environment,  sunbathing in one of three outdoor pools,  

Relaxing in the 10,000 square-foot Naum spa or  unwinding on the pristine white sanded Caribbean   beach. Additionally, four unique restaurants  and bars offer the distinguished culinary   experiences for which Andaz hotels are known and  stunning views of the pools, lagoon, and ocean.” 

Stunning views of the ocean is certainly correct.  Mayakoba takes seaweed management really seriously   and it seems they’ll do just about anything  to keep their water clean- and clean it was.  A shame I can’t say the same  for the loungers on the beach. 

As far as beaches go, if you don’t want to be in  the busy Cancun hotel zone, then Mayakoba really   is one of your best options in the region. Here’s your friendly reminder to click that   like button, subscribe to the channel and  share this video with friends and family.  

Those are truly the easiest ways- all free for  you- to help the channel grow. If you’d like to   support me further my Patreon is linked in the  description below. Thanks very much in advance.  Far out across the sea we can  also get some views of Cozumel. 

Let’s go have lunch at Tinta del Pulpo. This restaurant is beach pool side and   during my stay was open throughout the day. Here you can take a look at the menu. Note that,   Andaz is not an exclusively all inclusive resort.  They do have all inclusive and I believe full  

Board packages available, but my specific  rate did not include any meals. If you’re   considering visiting, I’d take a close look at  the restaurant prices and calculate whether an all   inclusive rate makes sense for you. A la  carte charges here tend to add up pretty fast. 

The interior is everything you could ever want  in a beach side open air restaurant. Fresh and   vibrant interiors, friendly service and good food. Note that on the resorts website, it currently   says, “Tinta del Pulpo restaurant  will be closed to guests from July  

1 to August 1 for a transformational redesign.” I ordered the Fish Tacos which were $21 USD not   including Tip. Note that   every bill you sign here will have sample 18, 20  and 22% tips precalculated for you- be prepared   for American prices and American tipping rates. The tacos themselves were good, nothing to blow  

Me away- actually my favorite part  of the meal were the hot sauces which   Andaz makes themselves, specifically these two. Next up, we have the Vegan Bar. Vegan Bar is meant   to serve salads, bowls, juices and smoothies. Strange thing going on here- so, this is not  

One of the venues that was mentioned to be  closed- but the Kids club was meant to be   located here temporarily- butttt that also  wasn’t going on since they were replacing   the floors inside the building. I was just  trying to film the bar part of it, but there  

Were two staff to my left who were motioning  to me that I cannot film… to my left. Whoops.  Ok, so, guess what. You already saw the entire  resort- the part that was open at least. Not   exaggerating and not filming creatively to  make it seem smaller for dramatic effect. 

Let’s go check out my room, which  was no bueno for a couple of reasons.  The oceanview room they they upgraded me to was  steps from the pool so there was a distinct lack   of privacy. My opening shot of the room was lost  but you can see the perspective from entering the  

Room in these two photos which I took. And we continue on with the tour.  The rooms are modern, but bare. I fully  understand the vibe they were going for,   but there does come a point when you need to  take a step back and simply ask, why couldn’t  

This have been designed with more comfort in mind?  Minimalism doesn’t need to mean stiff and austere.  Before we get into the extra bits, let me  mention my favorite things about the room.   The bed and linens were very comfortable- shame I  couldn’t really use them. The mini bar was nicely  

Stocked with free soft drinks and snacks but I  do think they could have been a bit more locally   inspired than Japanese snack mix and gummy bears.  Lastly, I really did love the bathroom products.  If you head down to the description you’ll  find my next five videos to come out as well as  

Other bits and pieces like the soundtrack titles  featured in this video. On your way down there,   don’t forget to subscribe- I release full  length videos every Thursday and Saturday.  Here we have the extra bits. The winners here  are the linens, pillows and connectivity. Note  

That in addition to these pillows a month before  arrival I was sent a questionnaire offering rigid,   soft, hypoallergenic or feather pillows. The loser and my first thing I didn’t like   about the room was the AC, but it went a  lot further than that which I’ll get to  

Momentarily. The other two things I wasn’t  a fan of in the room was as I mentioned the   lack of privacy due to the pool area and also the  noise bleed from it and the music played. Finally,   the light in the room was horrendous. There  were literally no lights. Just the end table  

Lamps. Absolutely nothing in the ceiling.  I text them on Whatsapp to ask for another   lamp since I was using one of my phones to light  my desk. They said they didn’t have any lamps.  I noticed there was an outlet near the table  that specifically said, “do not unplug this  

Lamp”… but there was nothing there. So I looked  online and sent them a picture of the lamp meant   to be there and they sent it 30 minutes later. Ok, the AC fiasco. I mentioned that I always  

Set the thermostat to 19 degrees. By the time I  went to bed it didn’t seem too cool after a day   of the AC being on, but it was tolerable at 73.  The problem was the entire unit would constantly  

Turn on and off. I first woke up from it around  01:15. I raised the temperature thinking maybe   it was working too hard and went back to sleep.  Woke up again at 2:40 to a warm room with no air  

Blowing. Called the front desk, they sent an  engineer. I explained I just wanted some air   blowing consistently, that’s why I didn’t have it  on Auto, I just had it on high power fan. He reset   the thermostat and said ok now it’s working and  it won’t turn off. 30 minutes later it had turned  

Off and on twice more. I called again around  4:00, same engineer came and explained to me   with a straight face that this is how the system  is meant to work. No matter what fan setting you   choose or if you choose Auto, the AC is supposed  to turn off when it reaches that temperature,  

Which isn’t true, but even if it was, it was  nowhere near that temperature near the sensor.   We went back and forth for a while, I just  reverted to, I just need something to keep   blowing. He called reception and told them he was  going to put it into VIP mode and override the  

System and it would stay on consistently, but the  ONLY option was to program the thermostat to 15   degrees. If I changed the thermostat to any other  temperature it would turn off. 15 degrees celsius   is 59 degrees fahrenheit which is absurdly cold  for AC. But the AC actually blew at 50 degrees or  

10 degrees celsius directly onto the bed with no  way to change the direction. By this point it was   4:55 and I just decided to get up, my alarm set  to go off 30 minutes later. Wonderful night sleep.  For dinner the choices were Tinta del Pulpa  again or the beach restaurant Sotavento,  

Which they insisted reservations were necessary  for. The restaurant is meant to invoke a shipwreck   scene and serves Mediterranean food. Dinner started off with some decent   bread and a delicious mushroom pate. For a starter I ordered the Mushroom  

Salad. My fault, I assumed it was a salad with  mushrooms, but in fact it was a giant plate of   mushrooms. The flavor was good, but it was one  note so it got old pretty quickly- the fact that  

They were fridge cold and saturated didn’t help. Luckily, the main course was much better. I had   the grilled half chicken with lime, honey, cumin,  curry, parsley and honey and this was truly one of   the best chicken dishes I ever had. My bill for those two dishes,  

A half liter of water and one modelo  beer was $92 not including tip.  Out well before the sunrise, I went for  a long walk up and down the beaches in   front of the four resorts and at least  I did get a beautiful sunrise out of it. 

Time for breakfast at Tinta del Pulpo. Breakfast  was a la carte with a small buffet as well. When   ordering a main dish from the menu the  buffet would also be included though   drinks were a la carte. I had the enfrijoladas  which were delicious and an iced americano.  

Together it was again $21 without tip. So for me in total I spent $134 on food   and drinks. Note, that included one beer. It  seems they don’t include the drink prices on   the website at the moment so here is the QR  accessed drink menu from when I was there. 

Here are the activity calendars from the time  when I was there. Note that, the resort has   two websites, one is the standard Hyatt website,  which is missing some of the menus- the one you’ll   want to goto for all menus including drinks as  well as up to date activities is vivaandaz.com. 

Ok, so now we are getting to the crap stuff. I’ll speed this up, but I just want you to see how   large the area that was in operation was. There  are a few rooms around the statue with the blue  

Circle and that is is. My problem with this  area of the resort is, parts of it looked   horrible. It’s one thing to close 70% of your  resort without telling guests well in advance,   it’s just adding insult to injury if  you cannot maintain the remaining 30%. 

Here is the letter I received upon arrival.  It is more or less the same wording as the   email I received 3 days earlier. Note that it  mentioned the spa would temporarily be housed   in villa 2922. Here is villa 2922. It’s an  absolute mess. Derelict I think would be kind. 

That morning, very early, I took one of  the bikes and rode into the “closed” part   of the resort. Everything you see here now was  closed. Ironically, besides the beach, the most   beautiful parts. As we walk around and look at  the other pools, fitness center and one of the  

Other two restaurants on this side, let me explain  everything else you’ve been waiting to hear.  One thing I’ve never mentioned before is,  experiencing a crappy flight isn’t great,   but a crappy hotel experience is a hell  of a lot worse. Chances are the flight  

Is just a few hours whereas with a hotel,  I need to actually sleep there- or try to   sleep there, it’s not pleasant and this is why I  don’t seek out poor experiences just for views.  Second thing, even during crappy experiences,  I generally don’t take anything personally. The  

Vast majority of hotels I visit and make a video  about were specifically in order to make a video   about them. In my mind, what the hotel does or  doesn’t do is their choice. So generally speaking,  

If a hotel under performs or has some issues,  it’s usually in my “it is what it is” category.  Thirdly, this time was different. This time  I genuinely felt personally offended by the   things that went on, how they were handled  and for nearly the entire time I was here,  

I was pissed off and felt the resort was  taking advantage of each and every guest   there. I don’t look at this from a what  they did to ME perspective, but rather,   all of these other people that were here while  I was here- they paid a lot of money to be here  

And they deserve to have access to their entire  resort as well. Normally at hotels I only give   direct feedback if I’m asked, this time, I  ensured the feedback was given. I did not ask   for anything, but upon checking out was informed  I’d be receiving 20000 World of Hyatt points as  

Compensation. For reference, this is a Category 6  resort and would cost between 21000-29000 points   to book a standard room, plus a $45 resort fee. Forth and last, as I mentioned this is THE hotel   which inspired the creation of my penalty system.  My penalty system is, I believe the most fair way  

To show you how my experience was and how  I think a typical experience would be had   there not been the specific problems during  my visit. I know to some of you this sounds   like a bunch of mambo jumbo, but honestly- it  took me quite a while to think of a system to  

Allow for poor experiences which I think would  be rectified prior to publishing. I don’t want   to accuse the resort of always being closed,  I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t want to   mislead you and tell you everything was peachy  keen when in reality it wasn’t and I certainly  

Don’t want to just abandon the review- my time  and money already paid it’s way- so the penalty   system the my balancing act- admittedly, not  a perfect one- I’m always open to feedback.  For resorts with a penalty, there are two  scores. In this case, the Property Score is  

What I imagine the typical experience would  be. My Overall Impressions Score takes the   penalties into account- both are displayed  on the screen. This is to acknowledge the   fact that there’s a chance everything has been  fixed- in this case I’m damn near positive it  

Has been. But at the end of the day, there’s no  point to this channel if I don’t share my full   experience and it could very well happen again. If you have stayed here on or after October 2023  

Or are there now, I invite you to share your  experience in the comments. I see no reason   why the comments section shouldn’t be full of rave  reviews, it is afterall a stunning location. But,   if my experience happened to me, then it could  happen to you to and you may want to consider  

That before booking. From a few things I saw  here and there, it seemed clear that while   the email I received said things would be closed  September 20-22 and the letter said September 22,   on September 23 they were drawing a giant A  Frame board which I think was meant to close  

Tinta del Pulpo, or something, after breakfast.  Also, on their website at the time they noted one   restaurant would be closed until October 1. I’m not going to say who I was speaking with   because it’s not their fault for being honest,  but I did ask one member of non-managerial staff  

At one point, what is going on. In a nutshell  they said there was by chance a period of low   occupancy and so they decided to carry out  whatever renovations they were doing. There   was no emergency which shut down the area  suddenly. At the very least, the hotel should  

Have reached out way further in advance, explained  in detail what was going on and offered to allow a   cancellation of the reservation or to help the  guest rebook at one of Hyatt’s many many other   resorts in the Cancun area. Besides Cancun  itself, the Grand Hyatt is four miles away and  

The Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya is within walking  distance along the beach. It’s not like we’re   in the middle of Angola with nowhere to go. Last note, I want to be clear I have nothing   against Andaz, since my recent reviews of them  haven’t been great. Quite the contrary, the reason  

Why I’ve stayed at many of them is because- in  theory at least- I really love the concept and   simply expect better from Hyatt. Last month I went  back to the Andaz Bali for the 2nd time and it   was absolutely fantastic. I honestly think they  have the best breakfast anywhere. So, it really  

Does come down to the individual properties. So, this is a very weird video. I navigated   the issues as best as I could and I  think the two scores I gave them are   fair. Any service recovery efforts, in  this case the 20000 points are reflected  

In the Property Score’s Service category. I hope you found this video helpful and   I encourage you to reach out to the resort  and ask specific questions prior to making   your booking if you have any concerns  whatsoever. If you enjoyed this video,  

Please give it a like, click subscribe and  turn notifications on so you don’t miss out   on any of my twice weekly videos. I’ll see  you next time on board an Air Canada 777 in   Signature Class from Toronto to London. Oh and  as always, thanks for watching until the end.

Watch this video if you are interested in trying out the Andaz Mayakoba, a resort known for it’s beautiful beach and laid back luxury style. But, things aren’t always what they seem and you may get a big shock just like I did at this supposed five star resort in Playa del Carmen. This is a full resort tour and review.

🎥 In This Video:
-All (Open) Common Areas
-Tinta del Pulpo
-Vegan Bar
-Sotavento
-Pools & Beach
-Oceanview King Room Tour
-Explaining What Happened
-A bit about Andaz

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💸 Rate Paid
Rate Paid: $312.55 USD
Category: King Room (up to Oceanview King)
Inclusions: None

📺 Videos & Playlists You Might Enjoy
⇢ Hyatt Zilara Cancun: https://youtu.be/2kIz7KYxxUQ
⇢ Hilton Cancun: https://youtu.be/VisA61Srj28
⇢ Mexico Hotels & Resorts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL83ZLLu2Le8Ob7Qbmw2F7Fi2Gf-5vED_h
⇢ Videos By Score: Under 59: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL83ZLLu2Le8PjH-uBpWSkjYGXSylN-euy

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📽 Next 5 Videos (🩴 = Must Watch)
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⇢ 09 Mar: Brussels Airlines A319 Business Class Geneva to Brussels
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🎶 Background Music in This Video
⇢ “Streets of Havana” by Streets of Havana
⇢ “Salamanka” by Latina Fiesta
⇢ “Ocean Fifteen” by Ocean Fifteen
⇢ “Psychedelic Funkadelic” by Evert Z
⇢ “Endless Love Stories” by Endless Love Stories
All music tracks featured in this video are licensed under an Artlist Unlimited License.

↪ Video Chapters ↩
0:00 Hotel Intro & Info
00:59 Driving to Mayakoba
02:43 Arrival at Andaz
04:27 Where is the Andaz Mayakoba (Graphic)
06:07 Heading to the Beach
06:33 Primary Pool Area (Only Pool Open)
07:50 Gorgeous Beach
09:30 Lunch at Tinta del Pulpo
10:44 Vegan Bar
11:22 Full “Oceanview” King Room Tour
14:38 Major AC Problems
16:58 Dinner at Sotavento
17:56 Gorgeous Sunrise Sequence
19:43 Breakfast at Tinta del Pulpo
20:49 Poor Upkeep
22:02 All Areas Closed
28:06 The Flip Flop Score

This is NOT a promotional video. I pay for all of my flights and hotels (and I always tell you how much!) so I can be as honest and impartial as possible. I do not receive any special treatment that wouldn’t otherwise be publicly accessible, in fact, the hotels and airlines have no idea about my visit and that’s the way I like it!

#andazmayakoba #mayakoba #resortreview