We stayed at this resort last week for a week and we LOVED it. The grounds are beautiful, the rooms are spotless (believe me, I'm picky), the service is great and the pool is amazing. Yes, the beach is rocky, but you can go to the beach in Playa del Carmen which is 20 minutes away (at most). It is more convenient to rent a car as the resort is fairly isolated- downtown Cancun is about 40 minutes away, the hotel zone is 30 minutes away. Don't believe all the negative reviews on here about this place. Here are our tips:
- Do try to request a room in a lower numbered building. We had small children so they were willing to accommodate us.
- The food on site is good, but can get old after a few days. Visit the Mega or Wal Mart in Playa del Carmen for breakfast/lunch foods, snacks and water.
- No one in our party ever got sick after eating any of the food.
- If you have 4 (yes, 4) hrs to spare one morning, attend the sales presentation. They give you 10% off your bill and $85 credit, as well as $50 rounds of golf (incl clubs and cart but not balls). The breakfast at Del Lago is amazing (I heard the Thurs night show/dinner is great as well).
Have fun! You're on vacation!

The Mayan Palace is Great, dont let anyone fool you. We stayed there for 7 days starting may 9th. We took cancuntransfers.com from the airport and on the way back. $82 total for two. The resort is massive. Check in was a piece of cake as we got there at 3:45 and were at the pool drinking cold pacifico by 4:30. We had asked for a low number building but even after a $20 bribe we ended up in #12. It was perfect, down the stairs and thru the building to the shuttle. The days we went to the pool in the am we walked...easy...and shuttled back on our return. The grounds as everyone has commented are amazing. Clean, trimmed and lush. The pool is awesome, about 88 degrees and very clean. The beach was great too. Bring water shoes or something the rocks are awful but once your out there its great, I went in the ocean everyday at least and sometimes 3 times. About the pool. Yes get down there by 6:45 am and rent own of the shaded beds. Its $30 and if you spend $30 at the bars on drinks or food its FREE!!! We laid out there 3 different days. So relaxing. We ate breakfast 3 times at Havana moon out on the patio looking at the ocean...NICE!!! All the food was great, service was good too.
The snorkle tour from the hotel....DO IT!!! $48 PP, 2 different areas the take you to and each time you snorkle for 45 mins, then you get another 45 minutes at a private beach. We rented a car at the hotel and drove to Tulum and also went to garden of eden cenotes(40 pesos to get in) It was great you have to see it.
Tulum is ok and the beach at Tulum is really nice. Bring your swim suite. We had a guide and learned a ton. Back to the Mayan. Yes our room smelled musty, but after day 1 we never noticed it again. Clean clean room, great kitchenette, go to Playa and buy Corona at the Mega....$4.19 a six pack. I took down 4 a day to the pool and got an ice bucket..no hassles. I would stay there again, only negative...was isolated, next time we are staying in Playa....its really neat there.

Stayed there from May 2- May 9 2008. I am a Mayan Palace owner. this is the first time at this resort and was amazed at how large the resort is. At first my wife was intimidated by how far we were from the pool and beach, but after using the golf cart shuttle system was okay with it. It is a beautiful resort, we loved the pool area and enjoyed all the restaurants, though some are a bit pricey as are the drinks. didn't like the idea of not being able to swim in the ocean at the resort. Went snorkeling with resort crewboat and had a great time, do not do Chitza nitze, boring. To counteract the price of drinks and food, go shopping at Mega in Playa del Carmen, cook in your room and bring your own booze and snacks to the pool, no problem, saves a lot of money. Rresort staff was excellent, grounds are beautiful, don't like them adding 15% to all purchases. took time share presentation, too long, got 10% off food and drink and $100 off entire bill and received special pricing for any tours for taking this presentation.
All in all a wonderful experience, and Playa del Carment was nice, shuttle service ok

Went to Mayan Palace 4/20/08, here's a quick rundown:
Overall very nice place.

We try to avoid the tourists on trips and get a real local feel, so keep that in mind if you want to eat at a Hard Rock etc...

Huge resort, be sure to get a room in bldgs. 1-8 beyong that you need a tram to get to pool. Pleasant help, Nice rooms, moldy mattresses...ask for more sheets to cover odor. Biggest pool i've ever seen. Need to reserve palapas early. vendors at resort extremely expensive (Duh) .beach was washed away from Wilma.
Lunch at the 19th hole was nice. Grounds kept to perfection.

Playa was great, went to Kool beach club, $7us for a chair, brought my own beer.
Blue parrott club has a great fire show on the beach @ 11:30pm,

Alux is a resteraunt in a cave, mix between Flintstones and a James Bond movie,very cool. 10 min. taxi ride from playa. must see.

Bargain hard with stores on 5th Ave. start off at 1/2 quoted price.
very nice cafes along 5th ave.
Locals are great, truly friendly people.

Decent ruins at Tulum, but one of the highlights of the trip was just south of ruins. Amazing how all the tour people just shoot in and out of the ruins when if you walk 15 mins. south of ruins (as soon as you exit ruins dirt road to left) will bring you to numerous cabana hotels, El Paraiso beach club was one of the nicest, coolest places on earth. Beach, bartenders etc. first class.
DO NOT MISS!

John Gray's place is a wonderful resteraunt in Puerto Morelos, sleepy fishing village, a few bars, very mellow town, good for a night off.

When travelling throughout Riviera Maya use the collectivo, catch it right on the highway, anywhere on the highway, and it costs $2us to Playa, taxi will cost $20us. At Mayan Palace grab a taxi from reception to front gate, $2-3us. Great way to meet the locals and really get a feel for the place. If in a kitchen unit go to Walmart in Playa and stock up on booze lunch, breakfast stuff.

Riviera Maya is a wonderful area, would go back in a heartbeat, sure Cozumel and Cancun are nice, just not our scene.