Mayan Palace in Puerto Penasco

Loved it, fabulous food, amenities, comfortable, beautiful location with out a lot of commercialism. Restful, great walking beach.

My wife and I along with our good friends stayed in seperate units at the Mayan Palace April 11-18, 2008. The rooms were clean, modern, spacious and the service was exceptional. The resort amenities were quite nice...particularly the pool. The beach and the Sea of Cortez are beautiful, but few people use it because the pool area is more convenient, and guests are not permitted to take resort beach chairs to the water's edge. There is still development going on, but it did not interfere with the part of the resort where we stayed. We understand that new roads leading to the resort are in the works, along with what looks like a water park under construction. Both are needed. The town of Puerto Penasco is a typical sleepy and impoverished Mexican community, but there are some good "mom and pop" restaurants, as well as excellent fresh fish and shrimp. The drive from Phoenix was about 4 hours. Our experience, for the price ($500 per week), was very good. JHH

We were there in early December, 07, and while the place is nice, it's a long way from the town(a $30 cab ride). We did not have the best weather for outside activities - we were told that April-June is the best. Once this place is complete, it will be quite a resort, but I don't think that will happen for some number of years. We took a bus/van from Phoenix, but in the future we'll probably drive. It's an easy four hour drive. We were told that a new superhighway is being built to connect Puerto Penasco to Southern California and this will accelerate the growth of the area.

Went March 8th-15th. Weather was perfect, about 75 during the day, low 60's at night. Pool was heated the 2nd or 3rd day we were there. Lot's of fun for the kids(many families to play with). Beautiful uncrowded beach, great golf. Food and service is good. Rooms were nice and cleaned well. Prices were very fair according to resort standards.

I confess I'm an owner, so am prejudiced!! We were just there - my whole family - 3 grown children, daughter-in-law, 2 grandsons, late Oct 06. I want people to know that the Jack Nicklaus golf course is now open, all 18 holes, and is fabulous (my husband and son say.) Also - movies, free with free popcorn, was a nice feature of the resort, but is no longer offered, to our disappointment. Units are spacious. Swimming in the Sea of Cortez perfect for children, no big waves or rough water. NO rain here on Sonoran desert (unlike northern shore of Kauai where we vacationed in the past). This resort perfect for rest/relaxation - not a busy, activities oriented resort. Month of October is perfect - twice we've visited in that month. Highly recommended by a beach-lover like me !! carol

Stayed six nights in June, had two bedroom suite. Most of rooms are not ocean view, be sure to request one when booking your vacation. Food is excellent in all venues, very small refrigerator in room-dont buy alot of perishables. no space for them. My kids had great time at pool area with activities-bingo, relays, volleyball, all free, kept them entertained all day. we will return.

stayed there last year no ac it was broken and the sales team were bad.

Very nice resort. Located on a very good beach away from town. Resort is still being developed - far from being finished (as of November 23, 2005) but yet has plenty of amentities open for an enjoyable stay. Apparently this entire area is going to grow like Cancun did throughout the 80s and 90s.

M. Bradshaw

This resort is very nice. It has an indoor and outdoor pool with plenty of activities. The beach is secluded and clean. You can wade out about 50 yards before your over your head. It has a DVD room that shows recently relised movies free. They even supply popcorn at no extra charge :-)If you like shrimp there are plenty of places in town to buy at a resonable price. It is the local specialty. The local restaraunts will cook shrimp or fish you catch for a resonable price. We rented a panga with onother couple one day and were able to catch plenty of sea bass and trigger fish. You can save some money if you are able to lease a boat directly from the owner. Our uniyt had a kitchen so we shoped at Leys, a local supermarket and ate most of our meals in our room. We ate at the restaraunt twice and thought the food weas quite good.

We enjoyed our vacation and will stay at this resort again, for those looking for a smaller resort town and seclusion from the hustle of the city Mayan Palace may be right for you.

We visited in Nov. 04 and had a great time. Going again in Feb, May and Nov. 05. Beach is very long and clean with a twice daily far receeding tide that deposits many shells. No jet skis, wind surfing, motor boats or surfboarding seen on this beach due to the shallow water. Great for small children or for relaxing.

In the resort parking lot we saw many vehicles from Az, Ca and other southwestern states. Ongoing construction does not interfere with resort activities.

The city of Puerto Penasco is small and has a large grocery store that is well stocked.

We drove 230 miles from Tucson and Phoenix is about the same distance. The roads are good and crossing the border is very simple and quick.

The Mayan Palace will be a nice place - someday. Right now, it is a nice hotel and nothing more. There is still quite a bit of construction going on throughout the resort. The restaurant is very nice - and the prices are just about what you would expect. The tips are included in the price.

The pool was beautiful, unfortunately it was too cold to swim in for us this week. The indoor pool was great! There was food service around the pool. Also, the gym and spa were very nice.

The beach was great for this time of year - no sting rays (although we were warned) and no bugs to speak of!

There is no golf course yet - you can golf, but it is in town (18 miles away and the golf is NOT first rate).

Just be aware that this resort is in the first stages of building - do not expect a fully built complete area. It will be nice - just give it about three years!

If you like to be away from a lot of noise and don't want the craziness of downtown Rocky Point - this place is great.

Just back from the resort. No, at this time it does not have the WOW factor of the other Mayan Palaces. But the service and staff do have the expected excellence. Remember the construction at this resort is still in the early stages - what is now the "Mayan Palace" will become the Sea Garden when the new buildings are completed - that accounts for the rooms and pool being somewhat smaller than the usual MP. The best is yet to come! The beach is amazing! Wonderful long, wide (it's half a mile to the water at low tide!) and soft sand with an incredible collection of shells (renewed twice daily!) The food at the resort is very good, but you will also appreciate having your own kitchen - superb shrimp is available at the fish markets in town daily - $4.00 to $9.00 per pound depending on size - the $4.00 ones are big (and the tenderest), the $7.00-$9.00 ones are HUGE! The town of Puerto Penasco is 30 minutes away, so you might not go there too often. You will most likely have a car anyway, since a local airport is 2 or more years away. Fly to Phoenix or Tuscon and drive down - about 4 scenic hours. Other than some good restaurants and snorkeling sites there is not a lot happening in town, so just go to have a really relaxing vacation. The resort is wonderful for that ( and yes there are activities for children and adults every day). Also if spring is jelly fish time, fall is for the sting rays. They are about the size of dinner plates and sand colored, so be careful not to step on them! The Sea of Cortez is also home to many dolphins - they ring a bell when they are passing by the beach! If you need any help relaxing, have Norma give you a hot stone massage - the spa is open and the service is delightful! We will return!

This resort has some kinks to work out to be sure however it has mucho potential. You DO need to stock up on food in the US before coming, the resort is miles from town. The 2 places I ate at at the resort were pretty good and had a good variety IMO with prices in line with a major resort in the US. About 10 pp for lunch, 15 pp for dinner therabouts not including, drink tax and tip. There WERE plenty of kids activities, non stop in fact. My kids played volley ball, did water aerobics, games, latin dancing, painted ceramics, bingo on and on. That was one of the major pluses in my mind. The resort is beutiful, indoor pool for the evenings or in chilly weather, outdoor pool was a bit cold (summer months are best IMO here)fitness center for a fee (should be free IMO) and lots of people touring as it just opened. Jellyfish season in the late spring is also something to consider as we could not use the ocean out of fear of stings. I think if you time your stay here right and come prepared you will have a great time!! We sure did despite not being given the correct unit size we reserved.

This Mayan Palace should not be opened. It does not compare to the others. The rooms are a lot smaller and do not sleep the same amount of people. The only restuarant open has a very limited menu and the prices are extremely high. The snack bar by the pool has good snack food and drinks. We paid about $50.00 dollars for 2 nachos, 1 taco 3 cokes and 1 beer each day. The grocery store is part of the gift shop and has almost nothing. You need to buy all your food before coming to this resort.

They are having problems with the pools. The outdoor pool was empty for several days due to tiles coming off and the indoor pool is not kept clean.

They do not have one activity for children. All the children there were bored. The resort is not children friendly. Every person in the pool area was complaining about the resort and the lack of children activites.

The entrance is a shack with a chain. Then you drive about 8 miles on a dirt road and park in the dirt.

The beach is beautiful. Don't waste your time going until this resort is completed.

The person that rated before this has to work for Mayan Palace. There is not 1 activity program for children. All are for adults. Most adults do not go to a resort to play games and do all the activites with children.

I went to this resort in March, 2003 with my husband and two children. We loved it!! The beach was great, people were friendly and the resort was very clean.

We have not stayed here, as of yet, but if it is like any of the other Mayan Palaces, it will be one of "The Most Spectacular Resorts in Latin America" in this region.

We are looking forward to vacationing at this resort in the near future. On our return we will add our new comments.