We stayed at
Privilege Aluxes and loved it. Hotel was nice but not lavish with pretty good food for AI. Beach cafe was the best with themed buffet for dinner. We didn't even try the Asian fusion place. Breakfast buffet was good. It was cheap enough that we didn't feel bad eating some our meals at some of the local spots. The beach and pool are top notch along with the location. It's close to downtown, the ferry, and Playa Norte. Overall it's a nice hotel that's not crazy fancy and expensive, but not too run and shabby. We thought it was perfect for us.
We rented a golf cart for the entire week so we could do some exploring on our own. We spent a day on Playa Norte and rented chairs at one of the beach clubs. We spent one day on the south end of the island at the
Reef Park Garrafon where we snorkeled and relaxed under palapas. The AI option here is best ($60 US/person) since we drank all day and had access to lockers, pool, and lunch.
Overall the island is very laid back and safe. We even ventured out at night to a couple bars for beers and walks on the beach. We never felt unsafe or insecure. Everyone there was super nice and helpful. It's off the beaten path enough you don't get the big resort, touristy stuff and get to experience the local culture but close enough to reality you're not sleeping in a tent Naked and Afraid style. It's a good balance
We also spent one day on an excursion to the ruins at Chichen Itza. We booked this through
Entertainment Plus. We did a private one and had our own driver for the day. We saw the ruins, stopped for lunch and a swim at a cenote, and he even stopped in a local village to show us around do some shopping at the local market. Highly recommend. It's a long day but well worth it.
Besides that we just stayed on the beach by the hotel and drank cold beer, ate at the beach cafe that's included in the AI, and hung out at the pool.
There are some great little places to eat on the island like Mango Cafe (Texan-owned breakfast joint with awesome food, local coffee, and fresh mimosas), Justicia Social (little fisherman's co-op on the water where local fisherman sell their day's catch and it's cooked fresh; best ceviche I've ever had), and we ate some place we saw that we just walked into that I can't remember the name but it looked out over the ocean and served Caribbean/Italian fusion type food.
For way more info check out the
forums on TripAdvisor. We also ordered a
MapChick map to help us navigate around the island.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
