Our family vacation in Playa Del Carmen was a success! We stayed at Fairmont Mayakoba and wanted to share a full review of our stay. I did my research before booking and wanted to find a resort that would be great for my 16, 10, 6, 3, and almost 2-year-old. Sometimes having kids in all different age ranges can make it cumbersome to find the right resort. We contemplated staying at the Moon Palace as there were a lot of amenities for children. However, we opted to stay at a bit more elevated resort. There are multiple resorts within Mayakoba, and we chose Fairmont as it was the best within our budget.
Resort and Accommodations
Immediately upon entering the resort, it resembled a jungle, which was so serene. I love that we chose such a relaxing resort. I was actually surprised the resort wasn’t really crowded, which was nice. We stayed in a residence that is part of the Heritage Place portion of the property. We were in a three-bedroom villa. One of the reasons I chose that particular room is because it had a plunge pool. I will say the resort had a ton of mosquitos, so my kids did not get much opportunity to swim because they were getting eaten alive.
The grounds of the resort were beautiful. A major con for us was that it was a far walk to everything. We had to take a golf cart everywhere. Some parts of the resort would probably be accessible via walking, but with kids, it really wasn’t feasible. We were about a 10-minute ride to the beach and 3-5 minutes to the pools.
Another big thing was that we always see wildlife, but this resort had quite a bit of raccoons and coatis. They were a lot more prevalent. With needing to ride the golf cart, at all the stations the raccoons were typically in the trash. It started to become a joke that we would see some form of animal.
We had a back walkout, and in the middle of the night either a raccoon or coati opened the slider door (which we learned they often do) and got into our food and drinks. How wild! Needless to say, we had the maintenance crew repair the door immediately.
Food and Drinks
I enjoyed that Fairmont had a variety of cuisines. I also liked that even though we paid for the all-inclusive package, there was only one buffet. All of the restaurants had beautiful views. My favorite restaurant was the steakhouse Tauro. It was STUNNING. The rest of the restaurants were just okay with the food. Service at every restaurant was impeccable, and all of the drinks were very well made!
Excursions and Activities
There were excursions for most of my kids. Cece, who is not yet 2, was not old enough to do any excursions. My older boys did jet skis and archery with Rick. I took the older three boys snorkeling. The view was so amazing; we saw such a variety of fish and reef. Cyrus and Cashton were able to do the Lucky Ducky, which is pulled by a jet ski. There is also a variety of free water sports to participate in.
We took the kids one day to the Nickelodeon resort. It was pretty pricey, but the kids had a blast. We rode in the lazy river, went down many water slides, played in their water jungle gym, and even got slimed. I think Rick enjoyed getting slimed more than the kids! There are many activities for all the kids there.
I would 100% return to the resort, but if I went again I would want to stay in their beachfront rooms. We were quite a bit from the beach, and that is what my kids are most interested in. Being closer to the beach would make it easier for the kids to enjoy the ocean more and for us to take advantage of the beachside amenities. Overall, our stay at Fairmount Mayakoba was very memorable and gave us a wonderful mix of relaxation and adventure for the entire family!