My husband and I stayed for 10 days at Magic and we had a good time. The ambience of the hotel is wonderful. It was bit unnerving when we pulled up, as the entrance is less than appealing, but once you pass through the lobby into the pool area where the rooms are located, it is an oasis. I was nervous about the complaints of noise, so I emailed the hotel prior to my stay and asked for one of their quieter rooms, which they were happy to give me. We stayed in the room without the palapa roof, which was a bit less romantic, but another guest told me there were a few more ants because of the roof, but honestly, I can't imagine that it was bad at all. The staff were very nice and they gave us our welcome drink when we arried at 10 pm. Make sure to ask for a coupon book that they neglected to give us until 4 days into our trip. They are not pushy at all, but willing to accomodate you in any way.

The rooms are very minimalist, but the shower is great. I had a hard time choosing between this hotel and Mosquito Blue. We met another couple staying at Mosquito for their honeymoon and they really liked it, but agreed that the staff was not so friendly. We chose Magic because of the complimentary breakfast, which I don't suggest you do. We were taking spanish classes at IH which were very good, so getting a solid breakfast was important to us. However, after a few days of the same breakfast, it seemed not to be so good (was sometimes cold) and we actually got sick of it. There are many wonderful restaurants there -- Parilla (mexican), Bodeguita (cuban), La Famiglia (italian), Coco Mayo (beach food), and Kool (beach food). I didn't love 100% natural or Fusian so much. If we go back we would definitely stay at Mosquito Blue -- the beach location is not far from the location on 5th, so don't let it sway your decision too much.

As for Magic, book it directly through they hotel and you will get a better rate than we did booking on expedia. Overall, if you are on a budget, I would encourage you to stay at Magic -- you won't be disappointed. The wireless internet was helpful at points to plan trips, they had full cable, the pool was better than Mosquito if you actually like to swim laps in the morning.

Excellent location, only across the road from the main street with bars and restaurants. Always people around so we always felt safe walking around. Very close to beach club which was lovely, friendly staff and nice food.
Beds were so comfortable and hotel was always clean and tidy.
Helpful staff. I liked the fact that you get a mobile phone instead of a phone in the bedroom and it has the hotel numbers on in case there's a problem.
Lovely pool and pool bar. It wasn't as couply as i thought it would be which was nice as it was two girls that went.
Would definately go there again.

Don't stay here, the management is HORRIBLE. I can't comment on the hotel rooms/amenities themselves because we never got the chance to stay. The hotel told us they were overbooked when we tried to check-in at 2:00 in the afternoon (an hour before their posted check-in time) for our reservation that had been pre-paid and made almost 3 months ahead of time. Telling us they're overbooked even as they continued to check-in other guests as we sat in the lobby waiting for some 3!!!!! hours while they tried to move us to a different hotel was infuriating.

Well, being that it was a high season weekend, guess what, there was nothing else available anywhere for our 4 night stay so we finally ended up at the Holiday Inn Express. Not exactly what we had planned on for our relaxing, adults-only getaway - a hotel wedged between an airport and the main highway, not within walking distance to town or the beach (it was a nice, clean hotel at least).

The management staff was absolutely terrible. They obviously knew they were going to "bump" us before we even walked in the door which I well understand can happen in the hotel industry, the point is that they were completely unprepared to put us anywhere else and didn't have the authority to even start calling other properties until the manager arrived onsite which was an hour after we arrived. I could go on and on, but just suffice it say I would be veeeery wary about booking here. You just might get stuck at the Holiday Inn Express on the highway with kids running around everywhere, no bar or restaurant and having to take taxis everywhere. Sounds reeeallly relaxing huh, it ruined our entire vacation!

OVERALL:
My boyfriend and I really enjoyed our stay at this hotel. It was small, intimate and had a boutique feel to it, but it was literally minutes away from the awesome night life of Playa Del Carmen. One minute I felt like I was in a desolate oasis while relaxing in the beautiful courtyard and then by simply walking out the front doors and down the street two blocks I was taking in the hustle and bustle of restaurants, dancing, parades, laughter – it was great!

ROOMS/ACCOMODATIONS:
The first night we stayed in a room on the second level with a thatched roof, the sound of traffic kept my boyfriend up all night. Not to mention this room did not have any overhead lighting. We moved the next morning to a room on the first level without a regular ceiling. It had excellent lighting and the modern design of the room was great! It had a safe which I loved. I nice little refrigerator, flat screen tv, nice sized shower. The private patio with hammock was wonderful! The bartender even delivered drinks right to our patio. I loved it!

POOLSIDE BAR:
Amazing drinks. We had a complimentary welcome drink. Try the ceviche if you like fish, it was great. Pass on the tacos. One thing to note they were adding a tip/service charge to all of the drinks we ordered and charged to our room. We essentially double tipped the staff.

BEACH CLUB:
Loved it. We didn’t spend much time at the pool because we enjoyed the walk down to the beach so much and then just chilling out by the ocean. It was so much fun. The guacamole and drinks at the beach club were great. The beach club is about a five minute walk from the hotel.

BREAKFAST BUFFET:
Yum. We ate here every morning and they had everything. Fresh squeezed juices, American breakfast favorites and traditional Mexican tamales and other specialties. I usually went with the sugar coated French toast, some bacon, fruit and scrambled eggs, but there was plenty more to choose from.