Like many others, we read reviews extensively before traveling and decided this hotel would be a good match for our needs - traveling with our four year old daughter and trying to find some time to relax. Hopefully, we can pay back by leaving a review that others find helpful.

We purchased a week at the Mayan Palace on ebay from a timeshare owner who resells his excess weeks. This meant we got all the owner perks, but it seemed like almost everyone received these same benefits (free health club use - there was never anyone there to check) and some other amenity discounts that we didn't use - golf discounts, etc. We also got a good price - lower than available through the travel websites. I also found listings for this property on our local Craigslist site and other timeshare resellers. We took off our "owner's guest bracelets" as soon as we got to our room and were never asked about them again. You get a towel card for pool towels - that was far more important than the bracelet.

Since we had read the negative reviews about the timeshare presentation, we were not inclined. However, we mentioned the negative reviews to the timeshare desk personnel and they just smiled and tried to assure us the presentation was only 90 minutes, etc, etc. After checking with the owner from whom we purchased the week, he also told us to avoid it (4-5 hours long) and not to accept anything less than $400 for your time should you be inclined to do one of these at resorts in the area. The following day, we saw people still being "toured" well into the afternoon (and this was a breakfast presentation...).

General observations were that the resort was not fully booked at the time we were there. We booked only two weeks before leaving and were able to get a great room and there were no crowds anywhere we went on site or in the area. This was surprising to us as it is high season. Perhaps the US economy is having an effect or perhaps we just got lucky going before spring breaks, etc. Average age of person around the pool, etc. was definitely 60+. We saw a few people our age (40's) and even fewer younger, so keep that in mind if you are looking for a big party scene - this isn't it :-) Not even that many kids - 3-6 kids participating in the activities daily.

Other observations - the staff here all seemed to love their jobs - from the cleaning staff to the front desk and everyone in between. There has been a lot of training about greeting guests with a welcoming Hola, Buenos Dias, Hello, Como estas - whatever - very attentive and genuine. Our daughter was adored and developed her own friendships with several staff members who took care of her at every opportunity. We didn't get very many chances to practice our Spanish, but felt appreciated and encouraged when we did. Just wandering around looking at rooms before we checked in, we felt like we were being invited in by everyone we met. We also saw rooms being completely steam cleaned and the level of overall cleanliness seemed nothing short of fanatical.

Rooms:
(We arrived about 2 hours before check in (5pm) and had time to look at a few rooms before deciding - do this if possible). We looked at main building rooms because they have a sitting balcony, but didn't like either the marina view (soon to be construction view if they actually start work on the Grand Mayan that is supposed to go in there), or the distance away from the pool/beach. This is the only building that has two bedroom units in case you are booking one of those. Thanks to advice on this board, we knew to ask for rooms on the third or higher floors for a view over the palms. We looked at two rooms in the yellow building - 6334 (our original "assigned" room) It had a decent view south to Puerto Vallarta but was somewhat blocked by the building wall on one side and also got a lot of noise from the activities going on at the pool - if you need quiet in the daytime for anything, definitely get a room on the other side of the building facing north up the beach and over a much smaller and quieter condo complex. We ended up with 6337 - a fantastic view that faced directly out to the ocean with no obstructions - we could see ships steaming in and out of the port and had amazing sunset views every night.

There was a wedding at the Mayan the night we arrived - very late music and fireworks (until almost 1am) - this is apparently not a regular occurrence, however, there were fireworks about 5 of the seven nights we were there at various hotels nearby - they were beautiful, but almost always seemed to occur just after our daughter had finally settled down for the night. This seems to be a regular feature in PV as I have experienced in other areas - even more residential ones - it's just too much fun to shoot fireworks over the ocean with so few regulations! We also got intimately familiar with the "cannon" fire from the Pirate Show ship (about 9:30am and 9:30 pm every day... annoying at first and then it sort of grows on you - didn't hurt that we ran into the ship "captain" at the port while waiting for another tour and he was really sweet to our daughter and then ran into two other crew members later, of all things, brushing their teeth in the bathroom at the port - our daughter thought that was just hilarious.) Best room on the third floor is definitely 6338 (and corresponding 6#38 rooms on upper floors) - this room has two sets of balconies - one double facing over the pool and to PV downtown and and another smaller balcony that faced out to the ocean - most rooms only have the one double balcony. FYI - we got the "scoop" on the small balconies at all Mayan properties - Surprise! they don't want you to spend time enjoying your room view - they want to "encourage" you to come down and spend your $$ at their bar and restaurant facilities. It's something we always really enjoy elsewhere and definitely a downside to the Mayan properties.

Additional details:
Maid service: This is a timeshare like none we have ever stayed in - we are accustomed to the once a week cleaning in most timeshares, but here we got daily (sometimes 3 times per day) cleaning, evening turn bed turn down and we were among the lucky who also got our dishes cleaned daily. We left 20 pesos ($2) daily and a little extra at the end, so that may have been the trick or we just got lucky.
Laundry facilities: on site in yellow building on bottom floor - tokens from the towel stand by the pool. Closed Sunday, so Monday there was a line-up.

On-site Activities: We are not big adult activity types, and although the tequila volleyball was not up our alley, the activities were not so loud or obtrusive they they could not be ignored with the use of my iPod. However, we did want to avail ourselves of the kids activities at the resort and found that they were varied enough that it really helped us to get some time here and there to really relax. Mariana (who runs the kids program) was wonderful - our daughter fell in love with her from the very first day. She also baby-sat one night for us ($10/hour) while we went out for a nice adult dinner. Kids get free drink coupons as prizes (premios) and the strawberry colado (w/o (sin) alcohol) was a big hit with our daughter.
In case you are considering between here (the Marina) or Nuevo Vallarta, we took a day trip there to weigh our options for future trips and just be aware that the kids activities there are not AT the Mayan Palace, they are at the Grand Mayan, so it would mean taking/walking your kids to the neighboring/sister resort - I don't know how they work the use of the pool, etc. as you are not supposed to leave kids unattended, and yet, if you are not checked into the Grand Mayan, you are not supposed to have use of their pools, etc. Perhaps it would be a way to get the use of the facilities there or perhaps you would have to pay extra for the "babysitting" if you had to leave your child there while you went back to the Mayan Palace pools - about a 5-10 minute walk back down the beach. We had called before booking and someone told us they have a shuttle for kids at the main desk, but I don't know how that would work either given that the kids club is a long way from the main buildings - the building is right next to the beach at the Grand Mayan.

Activities nearby: Our daughter did a Kids Dolphin Encounter with Vallarta Adventures - she loved it - definitely recommend this for kids and adults - we will all definitely do it next time. My husband parasailed from the beach in front of the Mayan Palace - got a great view and we got to watch him fly for $40. We also did the boat tour to Las Caletas which was run really well by Vallarta Adventures and was somewhat interesting, but I don't think we would do that trip again in hindsight - it was a lot of time on the boat (1 hour each way - good way to see the whole area from the ocean), free booze (but they made the margaritas with Squirt - weird!), food was excellent (great BBQ, paella and homemade tortillas), lots of activities available but felt rushed, especially with a four year old. I think I would rather take a cheap "tour" by catching a water taxi on our own to one of the southern beaches like Las Animas and have a more relaxed, less scheduled day that didn't cost $90/per adult , $60/child. Definitely visit the lighthouse (El Faro) in the Marina at sunset - great views of the whole area and you can sit and have a drink way above it all (no food service)

Groceries and shopping: We took the city bus (5 pesos each!) to Walmart for groceries and shopping on steroids. Just FYI that the prices for things (except food items) were basically US prices - we bought some clothes for our daughter after discovering that none of the summer items she had still fit :-) but we paid basically the same or more for those items as we would have spent at home. Taxi back for approx $4/US.
There are also a few shops in the marina area - the first little sundries/souvenir shop in (near Victor's) was run by the nicest people/family - they remembered us after the first time we stopped in, and greeted us like old friends on our return visits.

Food on-site:
We ate breakfast in room every day except one, so we didn't check out the breakfast served at the hotel.
We ate lunch at the pool one day - good guacamole and ceviche, but the prices are no great deal and usually lunched in our room if we weren't out and about. Happy hour (4-5pm) is 2 for 1 (dos por uno) but the price for one drink is just artificially high ($4-6), so the 2x1 just makes it worth it. But after all, we were doing all this while sitting by or in a pool in 80 degree weather - and these drinks actually had a bit of a kick unlike some others we found.
Dinner - we ate on resort at Bakal (the only dinner option) twice - once on the night we arrived for simplicity - it was "International Night" (a little bit of everything...) They seemed to have a 2 for 1 buffet price almost every night or some other special deal. You could also just order from the menu. The food was not cutting edge, but not even close to bad either and there were enough options that almost anyone could find something to eat - most nights the price was basically $12-14 US equiv. for each adult and our daughter (age 4) ate for free. We also tried the Asian/Sushi night as we had dreams of mountains of cheap sashimi like in the photos advertising the meal, and although we didn't find the sashimi, the sushi - mostly rolls, wasn't bad and we got enough smoked salmon rolls to satisfy our craving. The most interesting was a roll with plaintain (native bananas) on the outside - sounded a little weird, but was really quite good. Every roll had cream cheese, so they were definitely "sushi-style" rather than truly authentic, but this was all you could eat for $13 bucks. Desserts were basically the same things - puddings, flans, cakes, etc. every night with a slightly different twist depending on the theme. The bar/disco in the main building is definitely the hippest-looking, totally empty bar I have ever seen. Guess is says a lot about the age of the crowd...

Restaurants off site: We had stayed 2 nights downtown before coming out, so we didn't head back in to town once at the marina, but I would definitely recommend the Agave Grill in downtown PV just a block or so off the Malecon at it's northern end (this was my second trip and both times, it exceeded my expectations for both atmosphere and food quality). Great tequila selection, so might be a bit more raucous at night, but both times for lunch were peaceful and great service - we got an amazing salsa prepared tableside that was to die for! Duck tostaditas and the best (not cheapest...) margarita of the trip.

Marina area - definitely walk out the front of the Mayan Palace and ask how to find your way in here - you cannot see it from the road but once you do, you will love the convenience of having all these restaurants, shops and sights within walking distance. This is another caveat for those weighing the Marina location against Nuevo Vallarta - there's nothing there within walking distance - everything (other than the hotel restaurants) would require a pretty good hike (like 20 minutes plus) or a taxi ride.
Our best find in the Marina was a restaurant called Sea Fare - paella for 2 (huge serving) for $32 and then Flaming Bananas for 2 prepared tableside (this "performance" took at least 15 minutes and included about 12 oz of various liqueurs in the preparation - all this for $13! Again, this is not a taco stand price, but it's less than half of what you would pay in the US. We saw other diners getting various shrimp dished prepared tableside and that is definitely the way to go here. Thanks Javier for reserving our marina-front table on Valentine's day! Also ate at El Fogon (fantastic arrachera (bbq'd steak) with nopales (cactus)), Brasil (sit down the meat just starts coming...), and ate breakfast at Las Palomas Doradas which was peaceful and good - I had the Chilaquiles - a Mexican breakfast item which was quite good. "Locals" - frequent visitors - also recommended Porto Bello and Victor's - both were always packed so we never had a chance to try them. Porto Bello seemed expensive (if I want expensive Italian, I can go to North Beach...) - Victor's seemed like a "scene" - fun and tequila-focused. For a real quick meal the place called "Tacos and Beer/Pizza and Beer" right across the street from the hotel was cheap ($1-$2/taco) and decent - tacos better than pizza (as might be expected...). We also wandered over to the Westin next door and had a happy hour drink from their bar - nice atmosphere and view but really weak drinks.

After reading so many reviews both wildly positive and negative before we left, I was literally prepared for anything. What we got was a very relaxing vacation in a warm, safe place. With 3 cruise ships coming into port right across the street from a Walmart, I wasn't expecting old-fashioned authentic Mexico - what we got was a similar experience to vacations we also take in Maui, but with discounts in some key areas that make Puerto Vallarta worth considering as an alternative. The Mayan Palace exceeded our expectations in the facilities and the location (proximity to dining, outside activities, etc.), so we heartily recommend it to other travelers.

We booked our stay via an RCI exchange but used Timeshare Users Group's classifieds (google it) to obtain several other rooms for a large group of family, some at only about $500 per week.

Understand that Grupo Mayan operates several resorts here. Mayan Palace in the Marina is where we stayed. They also have the Sea Gardan, Mayan Palace, and Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta North of the airport. We did visit the Mayan Palace in Nuevo and didn't like it as much as the Marina location.

The Marina location is outstanding as numerous restaurants are within an short walk (try El Fogon for shrimp) as are several stores. An Oxxo (like a 7-11) is right across the street. The bus is 5 pesos (about 50 cents) and starts its route across the street and down a block. Only the Marina bus comes here so if you get one it will take you down town, but only marina buses will return you. Cabs are always available at the hotel. a cab ride downtown is $6-7 US.

ATMS are widely available but the desk cashed travellers checks or exchanged currency with a fair rate considering the convenience. Pesos are preferred to dollars. They print prices using a $ but it generally means pesos. 10.5pesos to $1 during our trip.

The Room:
Our 1 bedroom studio was #6219 which meant 2nd floor, room 19 (what was the 6 for?). Best views are 3rd floor and higher and odd numbers (ocean views). You may see whales blowing but the 2nd floor wasn't really high enough to clear the palms. The fireworks from the pirate ship happen around 10PM and were neat to watch.

We had two double beds which was less than the King I had hoped for, no fridge, but the room was clean, in good condition, and the AC worked fine. TV had many stations including some in english. Also had a safe but didn't use it. Bathroom equally as good.

The Pools:
Max depth 4' and warm, with a shallow area great for smaller children, and a volleyball net. There is also an adult only pool with a swim up bar. Plenty of chairs to lay out on. The pool was a real asset to the resort and a short walk to the beach or the room.

The restaurant (Bakal)
Breakfast was very good. 2 for 1 common for most meals if you hit the time right. Also had very good lunchs we ordered from the pool bar, most for around $8 US.

Thumbs up:
Check in, housecleaning (though it comes often after lunch-Mexico time), check out was very fast and accruate, the pool, the food, most staff spoke some English and most were very friendly.
No problems with theft whatsoever.

Thumbs down:
Everytime we ordered food or drink at the bar, they asked our room number (for the bill) and everytime either our order was on someone elses bill or vice versa. It got so bad we either paid cash or made them bring us the bill after every order. Large drinks were about $10 each, but were strong.

Overall the location I felt was superior to staying downtown due to the Marina's variety of restaurants and the ease with which we could travel by bus or cab to downtown. We will be back.

This hotel lacks atmosphere in a very major way. The lobby reminds one of an airport departure hall. There are no redeeming features - no lovely works of art to ponder over, no water features, no beautiful floral arrangements - just concrete and glass and as it was just after Christmas a very sad looking spindly inadequate Christmas tree. Had it not been for the fact that we knew where we were there would be no chance of working it out from the interior of the hotel. Could have been anywhere in the world that is hot and sunny.
The food could best be described as woeful although breakfast was fine and lunch was manageable but dinner at night was simply chaotic and very poor quality. One night we queued for nearly an hour to get a table in the Italian restaurant and on another night the Oriental restaurant was in total and utter chaos with starters arriving after main course was served and so on. The New Years eve banquet was stomach churningly appallingly poor.
The sun beds must rate as just about the most uncomfortable items of pool furniture ever produced - pretty much impossible to lie on ones tummy as they simply won't stay flat. Thoroughly horrible although on the up side it was usually possible to find one even though the usual types sprinted out as dawn broke to reserve their pitch. That's really sad in my book.
Hated our bedroom. It had a huge surplus to requirements twin jacuzzi bath right in the bedroom which was simply incongruous and impractical. The room was also very small mainly due to the silly bath and it was necessary to side step past each other at the end of the beds.
The ONLY plus feature of Vallarta palace are the wonderful staff who were endlessly cheerful and helpful. They absolutely made our week bearable but I would have to say NEVER again.

For someone who typically likes to stay at small mom and pop places in out of the way places, I was pleasantly surprised at our overall experience. The place was clean and staff very pleasant and attentive.

We ended up in the Yellow (X-Caret) building, overlooking the portion of the pool where most of the staff generated activities take place. Perhaps a bit noisy for some, but we enjoyed the activity or just closed the glass doors if we wanted quiet. If we ever go there again I would stay in the same building or maybe request the Red one just to the north. Both are closest to the pool and beach.

We prepared most of our meals in our room from food we secured from the WalMart. We kept hydrated with cold beers out of the fridge and afternoon margaritas prepared with the blender provided. The only food we had on the property was at the Balche pool bar and it was just average and overpriced IMHO.