I recently returned from Playa del Carmen, about 30 minutes down the coast from Cancun. With my mom, I stayed at the Grand Coco Bay All Inclusive Resort on the beach. She hoped that things would be easier staying at an all inclusive place, and that we could relax more - but as things turned out, we barely utilized the inclusiveness!

Immediately after clearing customs, we were barraged by people calling us over from every direction. We didn’t know what they wanted, so we went near a man who was specifically yelling for us. We soon found out that those were salespeople giving out tickets to area tours for reduced prices. The catch: attend a 90-minute “tour” of the Mayan Palace Resort.

Mayan Palace Resort tour invitation

We decided to accept the offer, paying $100 for 4 tickets that, according to the man’s brochure, would cost around $300. We later found out that those prices were slight exaggerations, and that the brochure’s descriptions were sadly lacking in information about what you do at the various destinations.

After that, we moved on, only to be pestered once again by a new set of people. This time it was for taxi and shuttle tickets. With the prices posted on signs all around, we assumed the prices were somewhat standard, so we purchased two shuttle tickets for $36 to take us to Playa del Carmen. Taxi tickets cost twice as much. (We later discovered that you can get a nice taxi for $40, with none of that per-person bologna.)

Once outside, we ended up having to wait more than 30 minutes for a shuttle from the “Green Line” company, even though one came every 5 minutes. It seemed the drivers allowed ‘skipping rights’ to all the people who had paid them to carry their luggage. How fair.

Once we finally boarded the shuttle van, we thought we would soon be at the hotel. Wrong! With a tank of gas that was more than three-quarters full, the driver decided to stop at the gas station, and parked in line behind another van. The drivers got out and talked amongst themselves, and it seemed like they were mocking the passengers. It somehow took more than 20 minutes for our them to top off our tank, and even then we didn’t leave right away. It was ridiculous.

The Grand Coco Bay All Inclusive Resort

Six decades later, we arrived at the Grand Coco Bay. After checking in, once again we were attacked by a Mayan Palace salesperson. Apparently all the hotels have staff that actually work for the Mayan Palace, and it seems the taxis are in on it too. Very fishy. The man tried his hardest to convince us that we lost the $100 at the airport and our invitation was invalid because the airport guy “was supposed to let us go.” Eventually we were allowed to go up to our room. Jeesh!

The Grand Coco Bay All Inclusive Resort

The Grand Coco Bay All Inclusive Resort

The Grand Coco Bay All Inclusive Resort

Huevos naturales

The Grand Coco Bay All Inclusive Resort

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Oh, there were tiny ants in our room - mainly the bathroom, but also in the safe and other various locations. Weird.

The Mayan Palace

The following morning, no taxi arrived as promised to take us to the Mayan Palace. A woman who obviously worked for Mayan Palace as well inquired if we needed a ride, but we resisted, thinking she was trying to sell us her own invite to the resort. After a while, she told us that she could call a taxi to take us there with no charge. We then gave in and got a taxi.

The Mayan Palace Resort registration area

Upon arrival, we checked in with lots of other unsuspecting victims and were assigned a saleswoman, Alicia. She was young and full of energy - too much energy.

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After the quick tour, we went to a building that is dedicated to the selling of timeshares at the Mayan Palace. Long story short, we spent a great deal more than 90 minutes there - but eventually we made it out unscathed.