Roberto L’hopital | English - A politically incorrect blog, and some useful tips for the bon-vivánt

Casa Playa Maya is a great option for renting a villa at Soliman Bay.  It boasts 4 comfortable bedrooms/bathrooms plus two separate bungalows, it can accomodate 10-18 people.  The house is very cozy and comfortable, but the main attraction is certainly the beach and the coral reef.  Soliman Bay is excellent for swimming as the beach is protected by the reef, the water is shallow and crystal-clear.  It is the best snorkeling spot on the Mayan Riviera (probably even better than the more famous Akumal bay).

Casa Playa Maya is also very safe as the small community (10-15 houses, spread along 2 miles) is gated.  You can contact the owner at www.vrbo.com/17242 Price starts at $2.200/week (low season tariffs).

Granted, you can go to the Mayan Riviera just to do nothing but lying on the beach and relaxing like a lizzard. But that is just a part of the many things you can do is the Yucatan Peninsula.  Here are some of my recommendations if you are the hectic type of traveler:

1)Know more beaches. Yours is surely great (as all of them) but some beach variety is highly advisable.  The white sands of Cancún are ok, but you may like to explore the deserted and virgin beaches in the Sian Kahn Reserve (south of Tulum, on the Tulum-Boca Paila beach road).  The Tulum beaches are less crowded and with small coves. The Soliman Bay beach is like a pool, the best for snorkeling on the continent side.  Akumal beaches and the lagoon are also great for snorkeling.  The Playa del Carmen northern beaches (like Mamita´s) are the euro-chic beach spots.

2)Eat at the excellent restaurants of the Mayan Riviera: leave (at least for one night!) the all-you-can-eat boring places inside your resort.  Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulúm have great restaurants, excellent food from around the world, and a lively atmosphere impossible to get in a resort.  Try the Puerto Madero in Cancún, the Glass Bar in Playa del Carmen and the Zamas in Tulúm.

3)Experience the history.  Visit the Mayan ruins of Tulúm, Cobá or Chichen Itzá. Go to Mérida, a beautiful city that combines colonial history with the more recent boom of the henequen haciendas (old and big farms that produced cord, they were run by very rich families that kept their homes with all the European luxury they could afford).  Many of these haciendas are now luxury boutique hotels and restaurants

4)Dive, learn to dive or snorkel at Cozumel: a coral reef with an unique underwater life, and a magic blue/turquoise sea

5)Live the vibrant nightlife of Playa del Carmen, cool people, cool places, avoid the American tourist traps with familiar names.  Have a drink at El Diablito Cha Cha Cha, have another and dance at La Santanera.

La Vita e Bella is one of the top options for sleeping in Tulúm.  The rooms/bungalows have private bathroom (I no longer do -if I ever did- share bathroom) and nice tiled floors.  They are very clean and cozy.  This Italian-run hotel has an excellent restaurant for pizzas (wood-fired oven).  The beach is very nice and is not crowded.  Reservations can be made at 871 3501 or at www.lavitaebella-tulum.com.  Tariffs vary $120-$150-$180-$250-$275 depending on the season.  The highest tariffs are for the X-mas/New Year and Easter weeks. They are located on the km 1 of the Tulum-Boca Paila road. From Tulum, take the road that leads to the beach, at the end of the road turn left, and then drive a 2-3 kms to get to La Vita e Bella.

Of the times I went to the Mayan Riviera (Cancún-Playa del Carmen-Tulúm), only twice I had very disappointing hotel experiences:

1)Blue Parrot Suites: I stayed there last November and almost had to fight to access to my room.  Despite I had warned that I would check in very late (around midnight) they had not check in service clerk.  The worst of all was that I had to go through a very violent group of bouncers who were “controlling” the access to the Blue Parrot bar, where the small reception is located.  It took me something close was to a fist fight to access the hotel. After a lot of discussion a dumb guard (who apparently had not been informed of our late check in) led us to our rooms (300 yards away).  The suite was ok, the price was also ok as it was low season (around $100), but it was too noisy.  You could hear loud music from all the 3 or 4 beach bars in the neighborhood. On top of this, the last afternoon, while trying to chill out after arriving from the beach, we had to listen to a show of two drunk guys who have taken to the pool a CD player with very loud “banda norteña” music (the music the drug dealers like in northern Mexico).

All hotel service was extremely poor. As a summary, not a place to rest and especially not a place you will like if you also hate (like me) disco gorilla bouncers.  A year before I stayed at the Blue Parrot 5th Avenue (100 yards away from the main Blue Parrot Hotel), and the experience was good.  The room was ample, we paid $ 65 + tax, it was quiet and the service was ok.

2)Diamante K cabins (Tulúm): located at the hotels zone (”Zona Hotelera de Tulúm”) in Tulúm, Diamante K offers a “natural paradise” for visitors.  The location is excellent, the sea is amazingly blue, but the cabins service is a disaster.  Personnel lacks a service attitude and the cabins seemed to have gone the last cleaning round centuries ago.  This was way too “organic” for me…

If you want to stay in this area, please go to “La Vitta e bella” or “Ana y José”.  They are both very good, though they have substantially increased prices in the last years (to around $ 200 in high season).

The Glass Bar is my favourite restaurant in Playa del Carmen, and is one of the best in the whole Mayan Riviera/Cancún/Yucatán Peninsula area.  Napolitan run and owned (both Nicola and his partner came from Napoli), offers top italian food.  The wine list is impressive as they also own a wine import business.  I loved the La Massa, a sangiovese-merlot from Tuscany, to marriage an excellent lamb ossobuco.  The rissottos are also outstanding.

The place is nicely decorated (lot of Italian furniture) and is always lively with above-average tourists (not the loud drunk guys in t-shirts) and locals. It has an ample terrace.  It is on 10th Street, between 1st and 5th Avenues. Reservations: 984 803 1676.