Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Hyatt Ziva Cancun TR

[Mootkim]

I had the opportunity to finally get away for a week and really wanted to go to Cancun. I had heard numerous reports about people going to Banyan Tree near Playa Del Carmen and wanted to check it out myself. We went during Yeshiva week 2020 so some of the restaurants had limited menus. Our trip consisted of flying JFK to CUN on an early Sunday morning flight, spending Sunday through Tuesday over there, and then heading up to the hotel zone and staying in the Hyatt Ziva Tuesday night through Thursday, and flying back to JFK Thursday night. We rented a car after hearing mixed opinions on whether or not we should due to police etc. I did not notice any issues and would highly recommend renting.

I started by booking on AA with 15k miles per way in economy from JFK direct to Cancun. There are some taxes added on which I don't remember exactly how much, however, that was covered with my $300 travel credit on the CSR card. Our flight was for 8 AM and it took off exactly on time. The flight going there took around 3 hours 45 minutes whereas the way back took only 3 hours 15 minutes. Being that it was relatively early in the day when we arrived, there was barely any line at customs. Someone who landed at around 2 in the afternoon that same day said that they had about a 45 minute wait for customs. Also, make sure that you fill in the bottom portion of the customs declaration form even though it seems like a repeat of the top portion because the customs agents were turning back anyone who hadn't filled it out and making them go back into line.

We exited customs and got our luggage immediately. To exit you need to present the declaration form to an agent and then push a button to determine if you can go through or if you are selected to put your luggage through a scanner. We got the green light and proceeded through. Right before the doors to the outside they stopped us and asked to look through our bags. They ended up just looking quickly through our main suitcase and didn't bother with the carry-ons. We hadn't brought any food so didn't have any issues.

Right outside those doors there are a bunch of booths for every car rental company. We had rented with National at about $4 a day. he looked up my name on the list and radioed the driver outside. We went immediately into the National van shuttle and they took us to their main office which is about 4 minutes away. There is no open lot to pick any car from the aisle but they did upgrade me to a Kia Forte.

The drive down to Mayakoba is straight and simple and takes about 50 minutes from the airport. We arrived at Banyan Tree at around 1:15. We pulled up to the main gate that is the entrance to about 5 or 6 other hotels and residences and they looked us up on their papers. Banyan Tree is all the way at the end of the complex so it is a solid 6 minute drive from the entrance. The drive to the hotel is gorgeous as you literally drive through a jungle with cool birds and iguanas all over. We pulled up to the front and there were a bunch of staff members waiting there to greet us already and didn't even have to ask for our name as they are given a heads up from someone at the front gate. The entrance to the hotel is stunning as the lobby is sort of an outdoors lobby overlooking the lagoon. One of the staff members lead us from the car to a couch while showing us the different restaurant options that overlook the water. She sat us down on a couch and offered us hot towels and some interesting cultural drink as well as cold water. I must preface that the service at the hotel starting from the second you pull up until you leave is phenomenal! At check in she simply takes your passports to the receptionist while you relax on the couch and brings it back when everything is done. There is also a massage bench there next to the couches in the lobby with a therapist from the spa offering free 5 minute massages which we actually got when were checking out.

I had booked the hotel using CSR points and as it was prime season, the dollar price was over $900 a night after the taxes and fees. The entire resort is all suites/villas with private pools. I booked the serenity pool villa which is the second level room. The Bliss is the base room and the basic difference is that the bliss doesn't have a separate indoors living room area whereas the Serenity does (highly recommended). After booking, I emailed my confirmation to Chef Chaya (for those asking, she is on Instagram as "chezchaya" and advertises that "If you book the @banyantreemayakoba email ChefChaya@Gmail.Com your confirmation before you go for a room upgrade, rainforest experience for 2 OR $100 food and beverage (All subject to availability depending how you book)) and she easily got us upgraded to the spa pool villa with a massage porch which is one level up from that. It is also located along the main lagoon so you see (through the trees) boats passing by every so often.

[outinstyle]

Thanks for the amazing trip report and the info.

[Mootkim]

After checking in, they drove us to our villa with our luggage on a golf cart. Every villa has bikes parked right outside it with the villa numbers on it. Some villas had bikes with baby seats attached, or little kids bikes with or without training wheels depending on what you had requested. We got to our villa and were in awe! the place was humongous! There is a nice sized pool as well as a hot tub in the middle, an indoor couch and table area in its own house, and then a separate house for the bedroom. There is an indoor and outdoor shower as well as an outdoors bathtub with a bunch of candles decorating the wall. Next to the pool there is a hammock as well as a double lounge cabana with a sun protector and a little table to eat outside on the grass. All this is overlooking the lagoon with trees blocking to provide privacy. Our room also had the massage porch which basically had another level on top of the bedroom with outdoor couches, another outdoor shower, and 2 massage tables that you can have them come set up to get an in-room massage if you want.

We got settled in and immediately went into the pool. The water is kept standard at 82 degrees but you can request from them to raise it if you want. It is completely private so no issues for DW swimming. The pool is gorgeous and you can literally jump straight from the bedroom into the pool. After that, we took the bikes out to ride around and check out the beach. It was about a 10 minute bike ride to the beach but it was beautiful riding along the golf course and the lagoon. You can also have them drive you in a golf cart or you can even leave your bikes at the beach if you are too tired to ride back and they will pick you up and deliver your bikes back to your villa later. The beach is really nice with a sort of bar on the beach where you can get drinks and they have numerous different water sports available for free such as paddleboards, kayaks, and some cool looking catamaran sailboat that they can take you out on. We rode back to the lobby and on the way there I asked one of the workers that I passed if they can have my car ready. He radioed it in and sure enough the car was waiting for us when we go there. We left our bikes at the front lobby and headed out to Playa Del Carmen to eat.

The drive there is about 15 minutes from the hotel (with about 6 minutes of the drive just getting from the hotel through the jungle to the main entrance). We parked on the street about a block from the Chabad. We were having an issue paying the meter with credit card so made sure to get peso coins. I davened Mincha and Maariv at the Chabad and then we walked around deciding on which restaurant to eat at. There are nearly 10 different kosher options all under the Chabad hashgacha and they are basically all clustered on the blocks around Chabad of 10th avenue. We first decided to go to Platinum Grill but after sitting down (all outside seeting) with it being really hot and not really liking anything on the limited menu we left and went to the next block to Yummy's. The food at Yummy's was very good and we got drinks, smoothies, mains and a desert. The total bill came out to about 750 pesos and after checking up how much that was in dollars, I was shocked to see that it was under $40! They only take cash so paid in USD and got a million pesos in change. After that we went down to 5th avenue which is near the water and is where all the tourist shops and bars are.

[mgoldhammer18]

Nice!

Photos?

[yuneeq]

Great TR so far. Keep it coming.

[Mootkim]

5th Avenue is the last block before the water and is lined with touristy shops and some nice nightlife. We walked around some of the shops and eventually saw some bar/restaurant that had different types of entertainment (all outdoors) so we sat down for some drinks to enjoy the Mexican opera show and some Mexican dancing acts. The bar itself consists of a bunch of swings which was pretty cool. We then headed back to the hotel to enjoy a little night swim in our pool as it is beautifully lit up at night.

When we were checking in, they had told us about the "eco tour" which is basically a nice boat ride tour around the lagoon. It is free, however, there are only 8 seats on the boat and only 3 tours a day (I think at 11, 12, and 1). I called the front desk that night to book and they only had 2 spots left on the 1 pm boat so I reserved our spots for the following day. I would advise trying to reserve this immediately.

The following morning, I drove to Chabad in Playa for Shachris at 8:30. While there, I thankfully remembered that I had wanted to make an order from them for supper that night and the cutoff was 10 AM (you order on the website). I ordered the "Chef Chaya" babka, 2 guacamole chips for the pool and 2 mains. Being that it was Yeshiva week, Chabad had 2 specific options to order for the main every night but was cheaper than the usual prices of the year. The prices are pretty expensive and are in American dollars.

After Davening, I went around the corner to Mas Pan which is a bakery/cafe and was very good. As with most places, they also only took cash. Got a couple of pastries and two baguette toasts to bring back to Banyan Tree. They were having some sort of issue with their gas then so they couldn't make eggs or anything that needed to be fried. Brought it back to our villa and everything was really good.

I should note though that Banyan Tree is extremely accommodating to Jews and they have an option of a kosher breakfast where they cook you eggs in a kosher pan with a bunch of vegetables which I have heard from many people that it was really good, however, I believe they charge $75 (possibly per person) so never tried it.

They provide a lot of water bottles every day (they are free) but wanted some cold ones and ice. I called the front desk and they sent an entire cooler filled with ice and water bottles! We spent the rest of the morning relaxing at the pool.

[pointer]

I should note though that Banyan Tree is extremely accommodating to Jews and they have an option of a kosher breakfast where they cook you eggs in a kosher pan with a bunch of vegetables which I have heard from many people that it was really good, however, I believe they charge $75 (possibly per person) so never tried it.

Thanks for all the info.
Was always wondering how this "kosher pan" worked, I see a lot of people mentioning it at a lot of different hotels, How do you you know if its really kosher or not? does the chef know all the halachas, is it halachically reliable?

Thanks.

[Dan]

Nice TR, would love to see pics.

[Mootkim]

Nice TR, would love to see pics.

trying to learn how to

[Mootkim]

After eating breakfast at the pool Monday morning we relaxed at the pool a little more and then went to main lobby to catch our scheduled 1 PM eco tour. The tour is an open boat that takes you for 45 minutes around the whole lagoon to see the different hotels there as well as all the beautiful wildlife and caves (cenotes) around the area. It was a very relaxing tour and we got to see a bunch of crocodiles, iguanas, turtles, cool birds, and just beautiful scenery.

After the tour, we rode our bikes along a scenic trail in front of the hotel which takes you through the jungle part that leads up to the hotel. There are signs along the way pointing out the different animals and birds that they have around the forest. We then went back to our villa to get ready for Xplor Fuego.

Xplor is part of Xcaret which is advertised everywhere in Cancun with different parks all over. I would describe Xplor as an amusement park for adults. It is located about a half hour drive south of the hotel just past Playa del Carmen. There are 2 options to buy; one is regular Xplor which is admisison to the park between 9 AM and 5 PM and the other is Xplor Fuego which is admission to the park between 5:30 and about midnight. The night option is a little cheaper and honestly I would highly recommend doing that over the day option so as not to "waste" a day. There is practically no difference except that some of the circuits including the zip line and the ATV course is a little shorter (yet plenty long). If you book 7 to 21 days in advance, you can save 10 - 15% respectively. Food is also included and they have a humongous spread for dinner which we sadly couldn't eat anything besides for the fruit and drinks. The park is located in and around huge caves or cenotes with huge stalactites all over the place. You need to keep your helmet on at all times so that you dont walk into them. The rides consist of: an "amphibious vehicle" or ATV which takes you through the jungle, in and out of caves, and through water. There is a huge circuit of zip lines (which is the only ride that is limited to 1 time per person, although I was totally done after the full circuit which took over an hour). There's a hammock zipline where you splash into the water. Rafting through deep caves, and a long swim through caves. Each activity aside from the hammock and the ATV was nearly an hour long. We had an amazing time there and I would definitely recommend it as a great night time activity to do there. Additionally, they have a system of cameras set up where it takes pictures all over the park and tracks you based on a chip in your helmet so they can pull up all your pictures and you have the option of purchasing at the end (which we did as it was really cool). They have a whole changing room and shower room in the caves to change in after you are done so that you don't need to drive home wet.

We ended up leaving the place at around 10 PM after being there since 5:30. When we got back to the hotel, I told the front desk to heat up our food that had gotten delivered from Chabad while we were out (it gets delivered to the front desk and they hold it until you ask for it) and a few minutes later they brought it to our villa nice and hot. The mains were slightly small portions and I was not so impressed with the food. The guacamole chips though were really good and the Babka was heavenly.

The next morning we had booked the "rainforest experience" at the spa. It consists of a 90 minute session fully private with a guide leading you along. It consists of a bunch of different showers and hot and wet saunas where they give you different creams to rub on yourselves. At the end there is a little pool with either powerful jets that give you a great shoulder massage or a bubble bed in the water. There are lounge chairs there to relax and they provide you with different drinks and some food as well.

We checked out at around 2 to head up to the Hyatt Ziva in Cancun hotel zone.

[yitz1000]

After eating breakfast at the pool Monday morning we relaxed at the pool a little more and then went to main lobby to catch our scheduled 1 PM eco tour. The tour is an open boat that takes you for 45 minutes around the whole lagoon to see the different hotels there as well as all the beautiful wildlife and caves (cenotes) around the area. It was a very relaxing tour and we got to see a bunch of crocodiles, iguanas, turtles, cool birds, and just beautiful scenery.

After the tour, we rode our bikes along a scenic trail in front of the hotel which takes you through the jungle part that leads up to the hotel. There are signs along the way pointing out the different animals and birds that they have around the forest. We then went back to our villa to get ready for Xplor Fuego.

Xplor is part of Xcaret which is advertised everywhere in Cancun with different parks all over. I would describe Xplor as an amusement park for adults. It is located about a half hour drive south of the hotel just past Playa del Carmen. There are 2 options to buy; one is regular Xplor which is admisison to the park between 9 AM and 5 PM and the other is Xplor Fuego which is admission to the park between 5:30 and about midnight. The night option is a little cheaper and honestly I would highly recommend doing that over the day option so as not to "waste" a day. There is practically no difference except that some of the circuits including the zip line and the ATV course is a little shorter (yet plenty long). If you book 7 to 21 days in advance, you can save 10 - 15% respectively. Food is also included and they have a humongous spread for dinner which we sadly couldn't eat anything besides for the fruit and drinks. The park is located in and around huge caves or cenotes with huge stalactites all over the place. You need to keep your helmet on at all times so that you dont walk into them. The rides consist of: an "amphibious vehicle" or ATV which takes you through the jungle, in and out of caves, and through water. There is a huge circuit of zip lines (which is the only ride that is limited to 1 time per person, although I was totally done after the full circuit which took over an hour). There's a hammock zipline where you splash into the water. Rafting through deep caves, and a long swim through caves. Each activity aside from the hammock and the ATV was nearly an hour long. We had an amazing time there and I would definitely recommend it as a great night time activity to do there. Additionally, they have a system of cameras set up where it takes pictures all over the park and tracks you based on a chip in your helmet so they can pull up all your pictures and you have the option of purchasing at the end (which we did as it was really cool). They have a whole changing room and shower room in the caves to change in after you are done so that you don't need to drive home wet.

We ended up leaving the place at around 10 PM after being there since 5:30. When we got back to the hotel, I told the front desk to heat up our food that had gotten delivered from Chabad while we were out (it gets delivered to the front desk and they hold it until you ask for it) and a few minutes later they brought it to our villa nice and hot. The mains were slightly small portions and I was not so impressed with the food. The guacamole chips though were really good and the Babka was heavenly.

The next morning we had booked the "rainforest experience" at the spa. It consists of a 90 minute session fully private with a guide leading you along. It consists of a bunch of different showers and hot and wet saunas where they give you different creams to rub on yourselves. At the end there is a little pool with either powerful jets that give you a great shoulder massage or a bubble bed in the water. There are lounge chairs there to relax and they provide you with different drinks and some food as well.

We checked out at around 2 to head up to the Hyatt Ziva in Cancun hotel zone.

Great TR so far! Can't wait to see pics and hear about the Ziva/Hotel Zone portion of your trip. I'm heading there soon.

[Mootkim]

On Tuesday afternoon we headed up to the Hyatt Ziva on the northern tip of the hotel zone. The drive from Banyan tree took a little over an hour and was very simple driving. The location is right near all the kosher restaurants in Cancun so we never even moved our car after we checked in until we left (valet parking was free). I only had about 13k Hyatt points in my account at the time so I had transferred 37k Chase points to Hyatt and booked at 25k points a night (the CSR value per night was way more based on the price). When we got there, the first thing we noticed was the wind! We were standing in the hotel lobby which is open to the pools and the ocean and it was insane how crazy the wind was blowing. It ended up being like this for Tuesday and Wednesday. The hotel is all inclusive which means that you can take food from the mini bar in the room for no charge as well as all the restaurants and bars in the hotel. The hotel also has their own brewery so we were able to try out their beer also at no charge. Specialty drinks such as anything with vodka are not included though. When we were checking in they told us that the room was not ready yet (probably because they needed to do the anniversary setup) so we sat on the couches there where they have champagne out for anyone to take. When we got to our room they had decorated it with a banner across the door as well as a bunch of balloons on the wall and a wine with cake. The room itself was pretty basic and especially coming from the Banyan Tree was nothing special at all. Our view was overlooking the dolphin enclosure as well as the rest of the hotel and pools and ocean as opposed to the other side which just overlooks the ocean. It was really relaxing to stand on our balcony and watch them train the dolphins right below us. There is a whole schedule of different activities every day which include water aerobics and some different shows.

After unpacking and settling in we took a walk around the grounds. The hotel is very airy as everything is basically outdoors and with the crazy wind blowing that day it was hard to even hear. We sat down in the beer factory to have a beer. We stopped by the ping pong table downstairs for a few games. We walked along the beach, picked up a free beer from the bar, and made our way to the old lighthouse which is on the most northern tip of the Hotel Zone. We eventually made our way back to our room and snacked on some of the leftover guacamole chips that we had brought with us from Chabad in Playa Del Carmen.

I had reserved well in advance to eat at Dag Dag that night so we walked there from our hotel which was about a 10 minute walk. We got there a little early and they weren't open yet so we sat down on one of the benches outside. At night the wind made it pretty cold and I could not imagine sitting in their outdoor seating (although some people who didn't have a reservation ended up sitting there). Eventually they opened and whoever had a reservation was seated immediately. One family didn't show up right away so they allowed others who didn't reserve to sit. The experience there was unlike anything I have ever experienced in a restaurant. There are basically 2 long tables and on each table everyone is pretty much eating together next to each other. There were 2 Lubavitch girls from NY who were there on vacation and they were seated right next to us. We had a really good time sharing stories with them as well as the israeli couple seated next to them. The menu was very limited but we got everything that we liked. The Mexican pizza was really good as well as the Mexican pasta. When we got back to the hotel there was a show going on on the steps leading down to the pool so we sat on the steps there to watch before heading to bed.

[Mordyk]

Very Nice!

although i read through most of the report(reminiscing of my Hyatt Ziva trip two weeks after they opened ) adding pictures makes the read more enjoyable. People enjoy the pictures and it breaks up the long paragraphs.

[Mootkim]

On Wednesday morning we went down to the main breakfast area to see what we can eat. We were seated inside because outside was crazy windy again. For starters they had kosher cereal, cut up fruit, some drinks and coffee if you need kosher. We met a couple there who had brought their own pan and left it with the guy making the eggs. They told us to use it and they even gave us their extra cheese that they had brought along. The chef was very knowledgeable and showed us a bunch of pans that he had there that other Jews had left there throughout the years. We asked for the one that this couple had brought and gave him the cheese to put in the omelets. They make it on a separate burner and they even have kosher Pam to use for this. The waiters were very knowledgeable as well and brought us disposable cutlery to use.

We had originally planned on going to Isla Mujeres that day. The dock is basically a couple of properties over from the hotel and they sell tickets there. We bought tickets, however, because of the wind, they couldn't depart from there and they needed to take you on a bus to Playa Turtugas where they were able to depart from. We ended up cancelling and rescheduling for the next day instead. We hung out by the beach instead and enjoyed the ocean. They have a few hammocks in the water which were pretty relaxing.

That night we had reserved at Ember Grill. The restaurant is literally down the block from the hotel and across the street from Red Heifer. During yeshiva week Red heifer had a separate fee just to sit down which is part of the reason I chose Ember Grill. The restaurant is really nice and made me feel like I was back in Brooklyn. The ambiance was very nice and was very full when we got there. The only drawback was that it was a little too fast paced which may have been because of yeshiva week and them trying to turn over the tables as quick as possible. The food was pretty good and for desert we got Churros because we were craving them after seeing them all over the place on every street corner and being unable to try them. We were very unimpressed by them as they did not taste fresh at all. We walked back to the hotel and hung out at the bar for a little bit to enjoy a few drinks before calling it a night.

The next morning we woke up early to take the earliest boat out to Isla Mujeris. I asked for late checkout which they said they couldn't really give because they were full but I decided to gamble on it instead of checking out then because I wanted to be able to change normally when we got back. Thankfully the wind had died down then and the dock by the hotel was open. The way to the island takes much longer than the way back because it makes a stop to pick up more people before going to the island. The boat is a double decker and we sat on top outside as it was beautiful. They are constantly trying to scare you into paying for golf carts in advance while you are on the boat claiming that they are cheaper but you should definitely not listen to them and just rent when you get there. They had a guy on the boat singing a few Spanish songs on a guitar for tips.

When we got to the ferry terminal we were accosted by people trying to convince us to rent golf carts with them but we just went right across the street to a normal looking place where they don't charge more for paying via credit card and was the same price as everyone else. Renting took about 2 minutes as they quickly take a picture of your license and hand you over the keys. IIRC it was worth taking it for the full day if you were going to take it for any amount more than an hour. We headed down to the south side of the island and used google maps to get around. It was pretty cool driving around the town with almost everyone driving golf carts. We stopped on the side of the road to pick up a coconut which they made a hole in to drink on our drive. Someone had told us about a place called "Shark Beach" and we wanted to check that out. Basically it is a small enclosure in the ocean off a dock where they house 2 or 3 sharks and you can go in the water and hold, hug, and even kiss a shark. We payed either 50 or 100 pesos a person which is a couple of dollars. The manager dives down to get one of the sharks while you wait in the water up to your shoulders on a step and he brings you the shark to hold and take pictures with for about a minute or 2. It was really cool and he even brings the sharks mouth to your mouth to give it a kiss if you want. We left there and headed down to the southern tip of the island called Punta Sur. It was beautiful there overlooking miles of ocean from atop cliffs. There are nice paths there to walk around and make your way down the cliffs if you want. After that we headed back to the main area of the island to eat lunch. The Chabad house there was a couple of blocks past the ferry terminal and they have both milk and meat restaurants. We got falafel which was very good as they make the food specifically per order so it was fresh. They also only accept cash so I basically just gave them the rest of my change that I had. At that point we needed to get back already because we were supposed to be out of our room a few hours before already and we needed to catch our flight. We returned our golf cart and took the first boat back. The way back was really quick. We ran to our room and obviously our keys were not working anymore. Someone had to come and open for us but our stuff was still there so we were able to quickly shower and change and checkout.

Returning the car was simple. They drove us back to the terminal and we relaxed in the priority pass lounge until our flight. The flight back took really quick and we were back in JFK in about 3 hours.

Doing it over, I would probably suggest skipping the Ziva portion and just doing Banyan Tree and that area. I would say that 3 nights there is probably the perfect amount of time for Banyan Tree. If you wanted to do both places, I would probably do it the opposite way by staying in the Ziva first for 2 nights and then doing Banyan Tree afterwards for 2 nights as that really is the highlight. I also highly recommend renting a car (even if you were just staying in one place) as it is really not that expensive and makes everything so convenient. The driving is easy and I did not have any run-ins with police. The only issue is the parking in Playa Del Carmen is very complicated to do with credit card so make sure to have some cash to feed the meters.

[Mootkim]

Very Nice!

although i read through most of the report(reminiscing of my Hyatt Ziva trip two weeks after they opened ) adding pictures makes the read more enjoyable. People enjoy the pictures and it breaks up the long paragraphs.

Will get to it. Wanted to finish the TR first. Now I am going to read up on how to insert and upload pictures.