Banyan Tree Mayakoba

Literally the best beyond expectations. I write so few reviews, as most resorts end up buying exactly what you expect them to be. Banyan Tree Mayakoba relentlessly exceeded expectations in every category. I have to give special praise to Chef Oscar, who taught our cooking class in pasta making and then presented a world class diner at Saffron, their already superbly rated Thai restaurant. We enjoyed a private pool villa with hot tub. Located close to the beach, but facing a serene lagoon. We enjoyed the convenience of having the beach club a 2 minute walk, but he serenity of escaping everyone else to float in our private oasis whenever we wanted. Across the board, service was top notch, and every meal, no every bite was remarkable. While I would prefer to keep this a hidden gem, it would be unfair. If you have the money: GO.

It’s hotel built into a rain forest. So well done! It embraces nature. We had an amazing time and will definitely go back. Service was excellent! Regina and Gaby at the concierge helped us every day and night. Our room was spectacular with beach access, plunge pool, and Jacuzi!

I went to banyan tree mayakoba for 2nd time with my wife and teens. Was just as great the 2nd time. Concierges Ivan and Regina were very helpful. My daughters loved playing volleyball (with Jorge and Edween again, and Rogelio for the first time). They were nice and very skilled which made the games more fun. They were able to give my daughters (who both play on travel teams) pointers which we appreciated. We stayed in a two bedroom villa with a pool that was amazing and very close to the beach (we were upgraded from a villa that was further away). Our villa was very big, nicely decorated and clean. The cleaning staff came twice a day to clean and make up our room. The food was so good. We loved eating at Sands, saffron and cello. The property is so pretty. It was a treat to get to ride our bikes around.

A stay at Banyan Tree Mayakoba will spoil you for any other resort vacation. The setting is spectacular; the beach is unbelievably beautiful; our villa exceeded our greatest expectation. And all the restaurants on property rated five stars with us. We especially loved their signature restaurant, Saffron, an outdoor venue on the lagoon with some of the best Thai dishes we’ve ever tasted. We ate there three nights out of our eight night stay. However, it was the staff who made our stay so memorable. Our most sincere thanks to Remco and Karen for their kindness and hospitality. We looked forward to our daily breakfast at Oriente because we knew it would start with a warm greeting and a hug from Jasmine. (We will never forget the two special bakery creations she surprised us with! ) And you’ll never find a friendlier, more expert bartender than Ricardo. Our list of exceptional staff at Banyan Tree is endless. You must check out this resort for yourselves. We know WE can’t wait to return!

I am very disappointed with the customer service we received from Banyan Tree. They have a very strict cancellation policy but it is extremely difficult to reach someone at their resort when you contact them to change or cancel your reservation. We booked our reservation through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts so we initially contacted them to change our dates. AmEx called us back later that day and told us they weren't able to reach anyone at Banyan Tree and all of their calls were going to voicemail. They suggested that we try calling the resort directly, which we did 6-7 times over the next two days and got their voicemail each time. We even contacted the concierge at the resort who said someone would call us back in 15 minutes, but nobody ever called us. Because we missed our cancellation deadline, we were forced to pay a $1,400 cancellation fee, which is the cost of one night's stay plus the taxes and fees for the entire stay. We now understand that they often have only one person working in their reservations department and she is not helpful or responsive at all. We simply wanted to either change the dates of our reservation or cancel it and Banyan Tree has not shown any flexibility. It has been a frustrating, time-consuming, and very expensive ordeal. I caution anyone who makes a reservation at this resort because all they seem to care about is your money. If our travel agent (American Express) had been able to reach Banyan Tree when they tried calling them the first time, all of this probalby could have been avoided. It feels like we are dealing with rigid bureaucrats who are not interested in helping us. We expected much better service from a resort that claims to deliver a 5-star experience for its guests.