Stacey A.
Yelp
For my 40th birthday, I decided to spend a week in Mexico: First Tulum (a few days with my mom), and then Puerto Aventuras with some friends.
After much research, I settled on Alaya as the best balance between price and luxury / amenities. Namely, I was able to score a queen bed "garden" room (#15) for under $300 on a holiday weekend (Valentines Day bookended with President's Day).
There is much to like about Alaya. Some of the positives:
- We were handed a mimosa upon check-in (not sure if everyone gets this royal treatment, or if it was because it was my birthday? Either way, sure tasted good after a long day of international travel!)
- A porter insisted upon taking our luggage to our room as a welcome courtesy
- Comfortable garden room with an unusual design evocative of a tree house, with its own little veranda and chairs. Well appointed, too, with citronella mosquito repellent and aloe vera for sunburns (a thoughtful touch!)
- The staff at the beach bar were just the nicest, friendliest, most courteous guys you can imagine. They truly catered to our every whim. On my actual 40th birthday, they not only surprised me with two hostess cupcakes and a candle, but later brought over a free bottle of sparkling Riesling for my mom and me to enjoy. What a treat! I felt so special.
- Comfortable and plentiful beach lounges, beds and chairs. Since the hotel is relatively small, they were never totally full.
A few of the minuses:
- My garden room was one of the closest to the restaurant. In the mornings, I was woken up by noise, including little kids screaming and running around. While the hotel can't help that, they could have done better with the soundproofing.
- No mini-fridge in the room, or a coffee maker, or a mini grocery or convenience store on the property. No place just to get a quick cup of coffee (just a full-service restaurant). No landline telephone. These little things would make a difference.
- And oh, dear.... Rolly the desk clerk/ concierge. The lone fully fluent English speaker on staff (at least during my visit), Rolly was capable of faking hospitality with an insincere smile, but he clearly wishes he was elsewhere. Case in point:
I had asked Rolly to book me a cab to Cancun Airport for the next day. I told him that I'd be meeting a friend at 2:30pm, so counting backwards by 2 hours' travel time, would need a cab at 12:30.
On the morning-of, I showed up after breakfast to confirm the taxi's pickup time later that afternoon. "Yes, your taxi is here," he said. I stared at him, wondering if I had misunderstood him. "Do you mean at 12:30?" I said, perplexed. "No, it's here now - you said 10:30," he said. No, no," I replied, shaking my head, "We had talked about a 12:30 pickup, not 10:30. I don't need to leave 4 hours ahead of time!"
When I added something, kindly (or so I thought), about it being a misunderstanding, Rolly gave me a look of barely veiled contempt, incredulity, and exasperation. His expression communicated: "This bitch just randomly changed her mind at the last second, but is trying to make me think it was my mistake." I hardly knew how to react.
When I checked out later that afternoon and waited for the rescheduled taxi, Rolly's attitude toward me had become snide, cold and unfriendly. Essentially ruining what had otherwise been a truly wonderful, memorable trip. What a ridiculous shame.
First of all: The too-early taxi pickup time WAS Rolly's mistake. One hundred percent. I'm guessing he just wrote it down wrong.
Secondly: Even if Rolly believed that he had written the time down correctly, and I was the one who had misspoken: Why would he react by copping such an attitude? The gracious response would have been, simply: "Oh well, no problem, miscommunications happen."
Ever heard of "the customer is always right?" Apparently, Rolly hasn't.
Ultimately, my experience at Alaya was a net positive. But Rolly's awful attitude would make me think twice about returning.
