Mahekal Beach Resort - European Plan

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4368 reviews

• 

  Amazing staff! Nice, small, but not a luxury resort.

  Let me start with the positive: The staff is amazing! Every single person we interacted with was kind and so helpful. Carlos, Ivan, Sofia, Roberto, and Josue made our stay extra special. They really made our trip special. If you are looking for a resort that is chill and little frills this is your place. The pools are nice. Olas pool is perfect since it overlooks the ocean. The vibe is very laid back. You aren’t going to find loud music, staff pushing booze, or late night parties. The spa was amazing! A little expensive but well worth it. The food was good albeit not a broad selection like other resorts I have been to. We thought being close to town would be nice but we didn’t go into town much. If you want access to the local stores and restaurants you cannot beat the location. If you are looking for luxury this is not your place. The first room we stayed in was awful. It was very small and the bathroom was old. We initially looked to leave the resort. After speaking to the night and day managers they made it right by upgrading our room which was very nice. We spent every evening on the terrace overlooking the ocean. Keep in mind the beach is public and can be loud with people and music. It didn’t bother us but I could see where it might others. Make sure you know what room you are getting when you book your reservation. The restaurants (there are only 3) are open air which is nice when there is a breeze but not when the air is still. Overall, our stay was nice and relaxing which is exactly what we came for.

  Jul 17, 2025
• 

  Wedding

  Nice hotel with amazing staff. The management is a Joke, reserved for a wedding and paid an all inclusive price only to be told that it's not all inclusive upon arrival. Laura who does the events was nowhere to be found even during meeting SHE scheduled for ceremony. Had a contract they did not honor luckily credit card company stepped in to help. Be careful what they promise even in writing!

  Jul 16, 2025
• 

  Amazing resort

  From the moment we checked in we felt so special! Roberto and Daniel were amazing! The food is fabulous and the resort is so quiet and nice but also within easy walking distance to 5th ave. Our spa treatments were so relaxing and oseos and Elena were fantastic! You feel so special here! Highly recommend this beautiful resortt

  Jul 15, 2025
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  Wedding Review

  This will be a long review. Here is the TLDR; communication was tough, staff was amazing, we had the wedding we wanted, the property was beautiful, there seemed to be a disconnect with contact between departments. We would recommend it. We had our wedding here at Mahekal Beach Resort in early May 2025. We had 3 days of events over a long weekend. Communication with the onsite wedding coordinator, Laura, was difficult. We had problems getting responses to our questions via emails. These emails would go unanswered for weeks to months despite reaching out multiple times. We would schedule phone calls that never ended up happening. Despite us taking time out of our days she would not call and when we called she would be unavailable. Although we were frustrated with the planning process we did end up getting everything we wanted out for our wedding weekend. Once we were onsite everything fell into place. We had a sit down meeting with Laura and went over everything for the weekend. We had a few small special requests (bagel bar for a goodbye brunch, sparkling apple cider for those who didn't drink alcohol, etc.) but in our opinion no crazy or extravagant requests. We don't know what else to say, except that we got exactly what we wanted and we were very happy with our experience in that respect. Upon arrival we were greeted by our personal concierge Roberto with enthusiasm, champagne and a special sign. After checking in he walked us to our room describing the amenities and locations around the resort. Our room was exactly what we wanted in a nice quiet corner of the resort and beautifully set up for our arrival. The front of the house staff was absolutely amazing and definitely made an impression on us and all of our guests. They all seemed to know who we were by name and why we were there. They took care and attention to make sure we always had what we wanted sometimes even before we knew we wanted it. There's a hundred examples we could give but instead we will just say that they will always have a special place in our memories and heart for making our trip special. Everyone was amazing but we would like to name a few specifically; Roberto, Daniel, Cori, Manuel, Enrique, Victor, and Josue. Reservations unfortunately was another pain point. It seemed that many of our guests had issues with reservations. It seemed that they have an issue with the right hand not talking to the left hand. The room block and coordination with that was a bit of a disaster. The rate was okay but some found a better price on 3rd party sites. There were issues with guests on our room block getting upgrades. Between multiple calls and multiple emails people were able to get it figured out. Our checkout ran into another issue where it seemed like the wedding/sales department did not properly coordinate with the reservations/front desk department. We had a contract rate, upgrades, and free nights as part of our standard wedding agreement. When we checked out they were billing us for almost double our contract rate. It took almost an hour to get this resolved while our airport transportation waited for us. We did end up getting it taken care of. We luckily had copies of our contracts, email correspondence with sales/reservations dating back almost a year, and credit card transaction history. We kind of saw this coming based on the charge when we checked in as it wasn't the full amount owed. We should have settled up before checkout time and while our transportation was waiting. We would like to note that the communication issues may not be isolated to this resort. We were told by a number of people that this is just culturally how business is done in this area. Furthermore, all of our issues were wedding/event related. If we had just gone as a visitor we don't think we would have had these issues. We would certainly go back and we would recommend this resort for anyone's wedding, but we would tell them all of these things to set expectations from the beginning.

  Jul 14, 2025
• 

  Terrible check in processes. Customer service awful. Insisted I pay for meals for 2 even though I was travelling solo.

  We had nothing but trouble from the minute we arrived at Mahekal Beach. - It took a full hour to check in… yes a full hour. We had already paid. I have no idea why it took them so long. But it was the same for everyone. - We had 1 booking for 2 rooms - the rooms we were allocated were on opposite sides of the resort - We asked to have the rooms next to each other, they said we can do it tomorrow. No problem - One room had only a single person. We had booked the room as half board (breakfast and dinner inclusive) there was no option to book for only 1 person, so we had booked for 2. We asked to get a resort credit for the extra - not a refund. They said it was not possible - but I could invite a friend to join me (we are from Australia!). I asked if I could get a person off the street and bring them into their resort for breakfast/dinner and they said yes. They would prefer me bring a homeless person into the resort than give me a credit for a couple of drinks!! 😳 - The next day we went back to change rooms to be told no rooms are available and to pay for an upgrade. We asked for a manger and were told to come back at 12. - We went back at 12 to be told the manager wasn’t available, so we just paid for the upgrade ($20! Why were they even arguing…) but the room wasn’t ready. Come back at 4.30 - We went back at 6pm. Room STILL wasn’t ready. Then actually, that room wasn’t available at all, and we went to another one… manager also had left by this time… - Messaged the concierge WhatsApp number to ask to be contacted by a manager regarding the half board. No reply at all - Messaged the main WhatsApp number on their website to ask to be contacted by a manager and received a response 2 DAYS later to be told to call the main number… - Every time we went to the main desk - which was many, the wait was long, even when there was no one else to serve. If there were others there, they also had issues that were not being resolved. - The food at the restaurant that was included in the half board was actually awful! We tried it twice, 6 meals. They were all terrible. - There was no flexibility, understanding or consideration that we paid for half board for 2 people, despite there being only one person. Actually ridiculous! - Check out, again took a full 30 minutes. The concierge, housekeeping and restaurant staff are lovely. Friendly, accomodating and helpful. The setting is beautiful and location great. However the customer service, lack of understanding or flexibility from the check in staff and complete lack of access to a manager means I 100% would NOT recommend this resort.

  Jul 13, 2025