Toni
2nd December 2007, 02:23 PM
Minnie we must have been there the same time! I tried posting pics with this but can't get the insert image link to work...sorry! Loving your report and pictures. Yes Maya Tulum terrible beach!
We arrived in Valladolid, it was hot hot hot. We were off the beaten path, really out of the city in a very local area, no one speaks English, and we were lost for over an hour going down all of these little one way streets. We were quite a distance to the zocalo and we weren’t sure we could leave because we will never find our way back at night!! . We were just a wee bit cranky and of course getting lost was all my fault since I can’t read a map! Ha! What about pulling over and looking at the damn map yourself?? But we women know men do not ask for directions! Hahaha
So after we finally arrived we ordered pizza and beer and had it delivered. Then we walked up to a small tienda for even more libation and we were quite jovial by the end of the night!
We have driven through Vallad. for years, always thought we would stay at Hotel Meson on the square,( we have eaten there numerous times over the years), but I had read good things about Casa Quetzal, so I booked us there instead. In spite of it being lovely and spotless….would I stay there again? Probably not.
Pros: spotless, beautiful rooms and large baths, some pretty spectacular Mexican décor. Hostess/owner Judith was very gracious as was the staff.
Cons:
Pool was not really a pool, more like a small pond and it did not look all that clean, no chairs to lounge on, not sure where you sit if you do decide to spend time pool side.
Breakfast isn’t included. Wasn’t bad, but the appearance was not great, only ate there once .The yogurt came in the original tub half empty and the yogurt was all crusted and dried around the top. The jam came in the jar, again not too appetizing since there were bits of toast and butter in the jar. I am not a gourmet, about as casual as it gets with food, but how much trouble could it be to put a small amt. of yogurt etc in a small bowl? I kept wondering how old the yogurt was and how long it sat out when serving?
More pros, location , even though it was quite a way from the zocalo, it was next to the San Bernardino Monastery, built in the 1500’s. It was wonderful. On Saturday night we were lucky enough to see a re-enactment of the Mayan decline. The people were beautiful in their Mayan dress, everyone very friendly to us. We saw 2 other people who looked to be tourists as well but I think the rest appeared local.
Sadly as all of the candles were lit and music started, it began to rain and it rained hard! The next morning the grounds were immaculate and you would never know that the event occurred.
The church is still used; I walked all over the grounds. The caretaker?? Showed me all around, the nunnery, the cenote that supplied them with water. In the church he pulled me over to the wall in the front and pulled back a huge curtain showing me original frescoes. Kept covered and protected. I was so touched, he was so proud and I felt so honored I did not take a picture. Just felt right, he was beaming!
We returned to Ek Balam, we were there several yrs ago. It is a beautiful spot. Still working on it of course. Climbed all over the ruins, hot but what great views!
After our stay in Vallad. We headed off to Tulum for a week. We decided on Posada Margherita, it was a lot more than we wanted to spend, but our daughter and her husband raved about their stay in May. Great spot, beautiful beach. Very quiet. It was full of Yoga students who left every AM around 7 and were gone all day. They were gone even at night. They walked up to Maya Tulum for the sessions. Their meals were included so we did not see them much. Made for a nice private quiet stay. We had the entire place pretty much by ourselves all day. Food was as all report fabulous. Yes, pricy but good. Mark said he probably had one of the best meals of his life there, a fish dinner of some kind. Would I stay there again? Probably not. Pricy, no AC, we usually don’t use AC even when we have it, but the unit we were in had no screens and the wind was calm. So obviously we had to sleep with the doors closed, and no fans of any kind either. Although we noticed a few of the 1st floor units had tower fans. Our first few nights were pretty miserable, no breeze, very very hot and humid! We were ready to sleep on the beach chairs. Lighting was very poor (we knew that and brought reading lights) but it was still so hot you did not want to read all night. Bed was rock hard, most beds in MX seem to be and I love a hard bed myself but it was like cement. No mattress pad, but I don’t think that would have helped.
Finally the nights cooled off and we slept very well.
There were no electrical outlets in our unit so I don’t know how a fan would have worked. I did use Lee’s suggestion and took the screw in light socket with plug access and was able to charge my camera and laptop. Worked great! Good suggestion.
The staff very attentive, friendly, they have 3 big dogs, well behaved and when they poop on the beach it was scooped immediately. Service was as expected very good. No menu, but they do have fresh items daily. The produce and fresh fish, meats etc arrived daily. Wine was pricey, 7 and 8$ /glass. Beer was 1 or 2 bucks I think. They usually served you fresh cauliflower and pistachio nuts as well as brushetta daily on the beach. Our daughter and son in law raved about returning to their rooms at night and having huge candles lit in the room, very romantica. Well we never had even a tea light twinkling when we returned to our room???? Maybe they thought we were too old for such a romantic thing. I kept waiting though; you would think they would at least once …when we spent a week there! Hahaha
Went to Ana Y Joses for a light lunch, 2 people there eating, we were never waited on, we left. I was surprised since we have been there numerous times over the years with good service.
Had several meals at Nero de Sol, Mark’s favorite. It really is a great place. Also hit Zamas, Trece Lunas, Don Cafeto, La Nave and had a very nice meal at Bella e Vita. Nachos was closed so we went on to B. Vita instead.
Had some beautiful clear nights, also great sunrises. We were gone a month between Valladolid, Tulum and Akumal
Our time in Akumal was mellow, not much traveling, just relaxing. Snorkeling and diving wonderful as usual. Our daughters, son in laws and 2 grandchildren visited us for one week, the kids trick or treated on the beach. That was a lot of fun. And having our 4 ½ year old snorkel with us,(he saw 4 turtles his first time out this yr) was just great.
Went to Playa for dinner one night, still love one night of shopping and people watching. Ate at Yache, my favorite!
We usually spend 16 days , this was our first for a month. We decided we could have stayed even longer and now that I know about medical care!!! I think we may try for 6 or 8 weeks next year. I m retiring this month, just going to work on call. Now I have to figure out how much I have to work to pay for all of my trips!! hahaha
We arrived in Valladolid, it was hot hot hot. We were off the beaten path, really out of the city in a very local area, no one speaks English, and we were lost for over an hour going down all of these little one way streets. We were quite a distance to the zocalo and we weren’t sure we could leave because we will never find our way back at night!! . We were just a wee bit cranky and of course getting lost was all my fault since I can’t read a map! Ha! What about pulling over and looking at the damn map yourself?? But we women know men do not ask for directions! Hahaha
So after we finally arrived we ordered pizza and beer and had it delivered. Then we walked up to a small tienda for even more libation and we were quite jovial by the end of the night!
We have driven through Vallad. for years, always thought we would stay at Hotel Meson on the square,( we have eaten there numerous times over the years), but I had read good things about Casa Quetzal, so I booked us there instead. In spite of it being lovely and spotless….would I stay there again? Probably not.
Pros: spotless, beautiful rooms and large baths, some pretty spectacular Mexican décor. Hostess/owner Judith was very gracious as was the staff.
Cons:
Pool was not really a pool, more like a small pond and it did not look all that clean, no chairs to lounge on, not sure where you sit if you do decide to spend time pool side.
Breakfast isn’t included. Wasn’t bad, but the appearance was not great, only ate there once .The yogurt came in the original tub half empty and the yogurt was all crusted and dried around the top. The jam came in the jar, again not too appetizing since there were bits of toast and butter in the jar. I am not a gourmet, about as casual as it gets with food, but how much trouble could it be to put a small amt. of yogurt etc in a small bowl? I kept wondering how old the yogurt was and how long it sat out when serving?
More pros, location , even though it was quite a way from the zocalo, it was next to the San Bernardino Monastery, built in the 1500’s. It was wonderful. On Saturday night we were lucky enough to see a re-enactment of the Mayan decline. The people were beautiful in their Mayan dress, everyone very friendly to us. We saw 2 other people who looked to be tourists as well but I think the rest appeared local.
Sadly as all of the candles were lit and music started, it began to rain and it rained hard! The next morning the grounds were immaculate and you would never know that the event occurred.
The church is still used; I walked all over the grounds. The caretaker?? Showed me all around, the nunnery, the cenote that supplied them with water. In the church he pulled me over to the wall in the front and pulled back a huge curtain showing me original frescoes. Kept covered and protected. I was so touched, he was so proud and I felt so honored I did not take a picture. Just felt right, he was beaming!
We returned to Ek Balam, we were there several yrs ago. It is a beautiful spot. Still working on it of course. Climbed all over the ruins, hot but what great views!
After our stay in Vallad. We headed off to Tulum for a week. We decided on Posada Margherita, it was a lot more than we wanted to spend, but our daughter and her husband raved about their stay in May. Great spot, beautiful beach. Very quiet. It was full of Yoga students who left every AM around 7 and were gone all day. They were gone even at night. They walked up to Maya Tulum for the sessions. Their meals were included so we did not see them much. Made for a nice private quiet stay. We had the entire place pretty much by ourselves all day. Food was as all report fabulous. Yes, pricy but good. Mark said he probably had one of the best meals of his life there, a fish dinner of some kind. Would I stay there again? Probably not. Pricy, no AC, we usually don’t use AC even when we have it, but the unit we were in had no screens and the wind was calm. So obviously we had to sleep with the doors closed, and no fans of any kind either. Although we noticed a few of the 1st floor units had tower fans. Our first few nights were pretty miserable, no breeze, very very hot and humid! We were ready to sleep on the beach chairs. Lighting was very poor (we knew that and brought reading lights) but it was still so hot you did not want to read all night. Bed was rock hard, most beds in MX seem to be and I love a hard bed myself but it was like cement. No mattress pad, but I don’t think that would have helped.
Finally the nights cooled off and we slept very well.
There were no electrical outlets in our unit so I don’t know how a fan would have worked. I did use Lee’s suggestion and took the screw in light socket with plug access and was able to charge my camera and laptop. Worked great! Good suggestion.
The staff very attentive, friendly, they have 3 big dogs, well behaved and when they poop on the beach it was scooped immediately. Service was as expected very good. No menu, but they do have fresh items daily. The produce and fresh fish, meats etc arrived daily. Wine was pricey, 7 and 8$ /glass. Beer was 1 or 2 bucks I think. They usually served you fresh cauliflower and pistachio nuts as well as brushetta daily on the beach. Our daughter and son in law raved about returning to their rooms at night and having huge candles lit in the room, very romantica. Well we never had even a tea light twinkling when we returned to our room???? Maybe they thought we were too old for such a romantic thing. I kept waiting though; you would think they would at least once …when we spent a week there! Hahaha
Went to Ana Y Joses for a light lunch, 2 people there eating, we were never waited on, we left. I was surprised since we have been there numerous times over the years with good service.
Had several meals at Nero de Sol, Mark’s favorite. It really is a great place. Also hit Zamas, Trece Lunas, Don Cafeto, La Nave and had a very nice meal at Bella e Vita. Nachos was closed so we went on to B. Vita instead.
Had some beautiful clear nights, also great sunrises. We were gone a month between Valladolid, Tulum and Akumal
Our time in Akumal was mellow, not much traveling, just relaxing. Snorkeling and diving wonderful as usual. Our daughters, son in laws and 2 grandchildren visited us for one week, the kids trick or treated on the beach. That was a lot of fun. And having our 4 ½ year old snorkel with us,(he saw 4 turtles his first time out this yr) was just great.
Went to Playa for dinner one night, still love one night of shopping and people watching. Ate at Yache, my favorite!
We usually spend 16 days , this was our first for a month. We decided we could have stayed even longer and now that I know about medical care!!! I think we may try for 6 or 8 weeks next year. I m retiring this month, just going to work on call. Now I have to figure out how much I have to work to pay for all of my trips!! hahaha