Mahekal Beach Resort - European Plan

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4478 reviews

• 

  Extremely disappointing check-in and service experience – not 5-star worthy

  I really wanted to like Mahekal Beach Resort, but unfortunately the experience started poorly and never improved. The check-in process was extremely slow and disorganized. It got to the point where I left for lunch and came back, only to find that the guest in front of me had just finished—meaning almost no progress was made while I was gone. The front desk staff appeared unengaged and not proactive. I understand official check-in times, but it was frustrating to walk past my room around 1:30 PM and see it clearly clean and ready, yet still be told to return at 3:30 PM. Since the room still wasn’t available, I went out for the day and returned at 9:20 PM, only to be told there was still a problem with my key. This was my third time at the front desk that day, and by then it was already around 9:30 PM. After giving the hotel the entire day to prepare the room, this level of disorganization was unacceptable. While waiting for my key, I noticed a brochure stating that a welcome drink is included for all guests. I had seen other guests receive one, but I did not. When I asked a bellman about it, I was told they were “very busy” and only instructed to give drinks to certain guests. At this price point, it’s not about the drink—it’s about feeling welcome, which I did not. The daily service charge is also frustrating because there was essentially no service. Basic things like towels, menus, or assistance felt like something you had to beg for. No one came to take my food order, yet the service fee was still charged. At the pool, I noticed a server repeatedly serving the same group of guests but never coming to my area. The WhatsApp hotel service was useless, as every inquiry was met with being told to contact someone else directly. Overall, the issue is the lack of professionalism, accountability, and basic hospitality. Promoting this as a five-star resort while referencing Forbes standards feels misleading based on my experience. One final note: avoid bungalow 123. It’s located next to a service path with staff trolleys running from early morning throughout the day, creating constant noise.

  Jan 03, 2026
• 

  Book elsewhere. Too many issues. Too expensive for what you get.

  The place is beautiful and meticulously maintained. If you book online, realize the hotel almost never answers the phone or email if you have questions. This is no where near a 5 star property in terms of service despite the high price point. On arrival, we’re given a room with one king bed and a pullout even though we requested two queens by email back in May and confirmed by follow up phone call. No apologies. Simply that the room was not available. They try, but really miss the mark on customer service in almost every way. Front desk is just outright clueless or rude, depending on who you get. 1. Pool and beach towels run out at 9am. We were all asking for towels but were told they encourage only one towel per person and just kept telling people more towels were coming, but they consistently never showed up. Rationing towels at a beach resort? Absurd. They need to hire a consultant to learn the simple inexpensive ways to please guests. Do you know that stress of getting there early to get your beach chair, well same goes for getting a towel at this place. 2. There were 3 guests in our room. Always had to call to get 3, not 1, bath towel. We had to call to ask for more toilet paper (no extra rolls). Shampoo and soap in the room were empty. These are simple things that are easy to do without prompting. Amateur hour at guest services. Again low hanging fruit for pleasing guests. 3. Shower water is cold with minimal water pressure, sprays all over the place. Rooms are dark and moldy smelling. Breakfast is good, food is otherwise just fair, cocktails are made with mix. Rooms are super loud at night from nearby clubs. Not their fault, but you should know that if booming music while you're trying to sleep bothers you. 4. Many loungers at the beach have a “reserved” sign on them. My husband and I took two simple lounge chairs that were not reserved. When he got up to go to the bathroom, the attendant came up to me and said he needed the lounger for a family who was there for two weeks and reserved 6 chairs. How is his poor planning my problem? I refused to give up the chair and he left flustered. 5. Front desk is staffed by inexperienced people who can never help solve problems. Most look at you like a deer in headlights. Where’s the manager?! On checkout, we had to wait for them to walk to our room to check our minibar. When I asked for a copy of our charges in English, I was rudely told “this is Mexico and we speak Spanish here.” Next time, I suggest you just say “I’m sorry we don’t have that in English.” The list goes on and on. Would book somewhere else. Not worth the money or the very poor customer service. They just don’t care.

  Jan 03, 2026
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  Anniversary Bliss

  What an incredible 30th Wedding Anniversary trip at stunning Mahekal Resort. Concierge Roberto was absolutely amazing in ensuring our special day was wonderful. We had a beautiful candle lit dinner on the beach, flowers, champagne, photographer. Everything was top notch. We have travelled extensively and this has been our best experience. Our beachfront pool plunge room was breathtaking and created a private holiday oasis. The entire staff were very friendly and accommodating. Five stars Mahekal. Thank you for creating magic.

  Jan 03, 2026
• 

  Proceed with CAUTION

  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.

  Jan 01, 2026
• 

  Decent experience

  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.

  Dec 30, 2025