Laid back pace at Viva Wyndham Azteca Hotel, Playacar Mexico
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It was our first time staying at the viva wyndham azteca hotel and our first time in the Playacar area on the Mexican Riviera.
This is our review of our family of 4 stay At The Viva Wyndham Hotel Azteca - there are 2 viva's in the area - in February 2022.
We booked a two week all inclusive holiday at viva wyndham azteca hotel in Playacar in Mexico as we wanted beautiful beaches and relaxation at a good quality hotel. We wanted a relaxing hotel, that was kid friendly, right on a beautiful beach that would allow us to come together & plan for our plans to travel full time. Such a big decision that we needed to reconnect as a family for some much needed soul searching, whilst getting back to nature and listening to our intuition. We didn’t plan any sight seeing on this holiday and that’s exactly what we wanted and needed. We wanted empty free days, to potter along beautiful beaches and explore. We'd read good reviews on Trip Advisor about Viva Wyndham Azteca hotel and had found a good deal. So we were all set. And our stay at viva wyndham lived up to those good reviews. As a good quality family hotel, we really can't fault it. And thoroughly enjoyed our whole stay from day 1!
We stayed at The Viva Wyndham Azteca Hotel for a 2 week stay which was located in Playacar on the Mexican Riviera.
The main pool and bar at Viva Wyndham Azteca Resort Playacar
Playacar is on the Yucatan Peninsula, just south of Playa del Carmen. Playacar is a very nice exclusive gated residential community with gorgeous beaches, luxury and quality hotels lining the main road backing the beach plus 2 ruin sites to explore. See Exploring The Playacar Mayan Ruins with the kids (5-10 min walk from Azteca hotel). You can walk around Playacar and feel safe with children, whilst looking at some really lovely houses that we’d dream of living in. There is a shopping mall nearby (5mins walk) and water activity spots all along the beach plus it’s only 10 mins taxi from all the fun & bustle in Playa del Carmen.
Beautiful grounds & the types of natural beauty at The Viva Wyndham Azteca Hotel.
For The Maya Riviera, Mexico, Playacar, you’ll get gorgeous beaches & soft white sands that leave your footprints and then wash away with each wave.
mum + dad are all smiles when the beach is this beautiful
Some spots along the main beach of Playacar can be touristy but that’s to be expected as it pulls people in because it’s just so beautiful here. We were very happy with Viva Wyndham Azteca hotel’s spot – it really feels like they have got the best spot on the long beach. And we found a perfect little quiet bay that we had all to ourselves. Read on!
We had a lot of rain during our stay in February 2022, which brought tons of churn and seaweed, and it felt as though we had picked the best beach hotel for this. Some hotels further down the beach were dealing with some stinky seaweed issues. There were lot’s of sun loungers available on Viva Wyndham Azteca’s private beach, although we mostly didn’t use as we like to plant ourselves to the ground and feel the earth/sand.
There was a lot of rain in February. But if you listen it sounds so tropical
For this holiday we needed natural beauty, a relaxed pace, tasty food, an easy time & chill family time. And with The Viva Wyndham Azteca that’s what we got.
We prefer the beach to a pool. But the pool at viva wyndham azteca hotel is right on the beach, so you do get the best of both worlds - you can see it through the palms – just a few steps separates you from the large pool & the caribbean shoreline. So it feels very open. We spent more time at this pool than we've ever spent at any resorts pool.
The pool at Viva Wyndham Azteca has lots of shallow areas and large shallow ledges for younger children to play with a big expanse of deeper water for me to be able to get a good swim in the morning. Si went to the gym, I went swimming with the kids. For the morning swim, I got glimmers of the white sands, palms & blue sea which I just loved to see whilst swimming. I mean, if I could take pictures with my eyes every time I blinked it was like a picture everywhere I looked. The pool area is lovely and clean and always well maintained. There is a Jacuzzi that kids are not allowed to use.
A large central waterside bar sits near the pool like a big beautiful wig wam. You'll see some cheeky tropical birds watching on the side to take their chance to nick a chip. This is the main bar and serves drinks and snacks all day. Here you grab a coffee or soft / alcoholic drink all inclusive. We had caipirinha cocktails looking out on this view most evenings. Very pretty. Theres another bar near the front of the hotel lobby that you can use (hotel entertainment is close by this so it gets busy in the evening - if that's your thing)
grabbing a coffee - view from the pool bar peaking through to the beach Viva Wyndham Azteca Hotel. Lush or what.
There are 4 restaurants. The main buffet serves up a lot of varied dishes from around the globe. It's good quality and there is something for everybody. Seating is tight here though as we didn't ever want to eat inside as it felt a little like a school diner. Outside the restaurant is the place we wanted to be. Outdoors, pretty twinkly lights, candles on for evening meal. But not so many table and chairs. We personally felt the space could be brought out another table width wider as there is a huge courtyard that it sits on near the fountain. Maybe they do when it's peak season.
There’s an Asian restaurant, an Italian Restaurant and a super pretty Mayan Mexican Restaurant (see below).
Salud from Fletch in Mexico
I normally get weirded out by all inclusive holiday hotel theme restaurants, as I find them a bit odd, so these were nice to try but they're somehow not like real restaurants really. Nice for the variation.
And of course you have the the pool side bar serves up drinks and snacks, with guac, salsa, tortilla, salads, fresh fruit, melon, really yum pizzas for the kids, as well as pasta and burgers on the menu. Most days we ate breakfast at the main buffet restaurant outside; fresh coffee, lovely fresh pastry's, fresh fruit & yoghurts for mum/dad, cereal or pancakes for the kids. Lunch at the poolside bar near the pool: guac salsa salad and tortillas, pizzas nuggets for the kids. Then Main buffet restaurant for our evening meal. Always varied but delicious salad and fish or meat. The food is very good standard for an all inclusive.
There was a pool party during the day that the guests go crazy for. It was unexpected for us but apparently they do it every week. It was fun to be part of this crazy weird experience because this is really not our thing. I went to a foam party when I was about 17 and I left it there. This was well run and put together & the kids had so much fun. Most of the adults there went bananas and had more fun than the kids, pushing them out of the way to get a dollop of foam in their faces from the spray boys. The kids had a squeal fest fun time.
The staff in the kids club at viva azteca are so so good. Perfect children people. Our 5 year old did a few activities with them. He mostly likes to do his own thing, pottering on the beach, shouting at / commanding the ocean like a sea lord, that kind of thing, but when he saw a chance to whack a valentines piñata filled with sweeties he was all over this. And he loved the day.
Theres a full itinerary of daily activities to do during the day at The Viva Wyndham Azteca hotel, the entertainment staff are very good. You can keep busy or go slow. We were that family that says 'no thank you’ to every activity and that was fine too. No pressure. Everything was easy. Life is good.
The best things about The Viva Wyndham Azteca hotel are:
The hotel has it’s own beach front private spot on a gorgeous white sandy beach
The pool is kid friendly, large + has sea /beach views
The Mayan area near the Mexican Restaurant that feels jungly and allowed us to teach our kids about the Maya just in the day to day passing
Daily change of fresh pool towels
Kids club (4-12 year olds)
Close to 5th ave shopping area (around 2km)
Close to Playacar centre
Free Wifi
The food is very good here for an all inclusive - we ate varied healthy quality food. Always delicious, always varied.
Theres a gym
Theres a spa
There are 4 restaurants to mix things up a little bit
The Mayan area near the Mexican Restaurant at viva wyndham azteca hotel that feels jungly and allowed us to teach our kids about the Maya everyday passing
The worst things about The Viva Wyndham Azteca hotel are:
they were strict on mask wearing in the restaurants. We get it they were just keeping everyone safe, but it was annoying as we choose Mexico for it's reduced restrictions.
limited outside dining area at the buffet restaurant. As it got busier during our stay it was sometimes difficult to get a table outside and we didn't want to eat inside on holiday - we do this every day of the week at home in rainy UK.
Getting to Viva Wyndham from Cancun Airport takes around 50 mins by coach which the tour operator had organised. It was just easy. We needed an easy happy life.
We came together on this holiday & our stay at The Viva Azteca gave us a little bit of everything that we needed to rest, rejuvenate and get our heads together.
Helpful Links for your Playacar Holiday:
Book Cheap Flights to Mexico via SkyScanner
The Hotel Viva Wyndham Azteca Playacar Website
Book your stay at The Wyndham Azteca Book via Booking.com here
Things to do in nearby Playa del Carmen via Trip Advisor
I hope you found this helpful, feel free to give us a shout if you have any questions about the hotel or are planning your holiday.
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