I rented a small Chev for 10 days in Feb 2020 and found the car reliable and the price very…read morereasonable at 500 pesos a day. Just as important they were very professional in all ways and flexible about pickup and drop off locations. James

My wife and I rented a sedan from Unirent car rental in Merida for about ten days in February,…read moredriving around the Yucatan. It was an excellent experience. Diego and his team were timely, reliable, efficient, cost-competitive, friendly and personified great service. They have my highest recommendation. The good service started when I contacted them just a few days before our trip. At first, Diego said they did not have any sedans available. But a cancellation opened up a rental later that same day, he promptly emailed me to let me know. Once we were in Merida, he brought the car to our hotel (the Hyatt), patiently and efficiently explained the details of the rental agreement and answered all of our questions without any rush. His English is not absolutely fluent, but certainly more than good enough for our purposes. The vehicle performed fine. Upon the completion of the trip, back at the Hyatt, he returned to the hotel to pick it up. The only minor glitch we had was that the GPS system for the car didn't always work great, with a couple of problems along the way. (We thus used our Googlemaps GPS on our phones more often; it was better, though not perfect.) When I mentioned this to Diego, he took the charge off of our bill. I wasn't asking for this, but appreciated it nonetheless. Two other minor matters were that the website does not seem to have an English option, though Google Translate works pretty well on it, and that it wasn't immediately clear whether a rental request using the online form was actually sent out to Unirent (though they replied promptly, either that day or the next, obviating that difficulty.) But really, these are trifling items. I wouldn't hesitate to rent from Unirent again, and wholeheartedly recommend the company.

My girlfriend and I love Fiesta Americana. It's a beautiful hotel with old-world charm…read more The lobby is stunning! There is a very nice pool with a large shallow area that is great for small children, and a separate, glassed-in hot-tub area. The first-floor mall has some very nice store for browsing and shopping. The rooms are nice, and spotlessly clean. We've always found the staff to be friendly and helpful. We've used the laundry service and the spa services, and they were great. The breakfast buffet is first-rate. There's a huge selection, and everything is delicious. The hotel is half a block from Paseo de Montejo, a beautiful place for a morning walk. I can't think of a single thing I'd change about Fiesta Americana!

Clean rooms, There were urns of excellent coffee on offer every morning with cookies or fresh…read moreapples. I'm still craving that coffee and it's been two months. The rooms are stocked with an abundance of towels and products. Oh, and I was surprised to discover that there were enough hangers. I enjoyed the chicken pibil in the fancy restaurant and the line soup. The pibil exceeded my expectation with a perfect balance of spices and the pickled onions. The other restaurant serves a breakfast buffet which was not something I chose to indulge in a second time. The staff are what makes this hotel worthwhile. The front desk and housekeeping staff are simply the sweetest and most industrious group of people i've encountered in years. We chose a room overlooking the courtyard since I'm not a night owl. If you choose to face the city, be prepared to hear music and conversations late into the night. The entry level houses a small mall where you can find touristy goods like, clothes and jewelry. There's a Chili's restaurant on the ground floor but why? You can walk around the city and find delicious food at high and low prices. You can find beautiful hand crafted items to take home or adorn yourself with in town. But you have to be willing to venture out. We spent 13 nights at the Fiesta Americana. Overall, I would say it was reasonably priced with great service. One star removed due to the lack of a qualified and knowledgeable concierge and because the breakfast bit was an overpriced disappointment.

Ralf, from Lawsons Original Yucatan Excursions, and I have been emailing each other on and off for…read morea couple of years, looking for the right adventure and the right timing. We finally found it. We started off our day at the Punta Laguna Monkey Reserve where we wandered along numerous jungle trails trying to locate some of the elusive spider monkeys after participating in a traditional Mayan ceremony, asking for permission and protection to enter the jungle. Our guide, Julio, finally managed to locate a few mammas and babies high in the trees having a morning siesta. Even if we hadn't seen any the hike thru the jungle was lovely. We didn't rappel into the cenote - access in and out was via a rope ladder and neither of us have that kind of upper body strength! Next up, we headed to the lagoon and a lovely cooling breeze. The plan was to canoe - we ARE Canadian after all - but both my mother and I were exhausted. However, someone was looking out for us - when we arrived, a local Mayan family were at the docs and a couple were getting baptized. It was beautiful to witness their faith and be allowed to share in their experience. A huge orange butterfly also flew around the gentleman as he was baptized. After a rest and a Coke to bump up our sugar, we headed even deeper into the jungle for an afternoon visit and lunch with a different local family. This experience... it didn't hit me until after we left and I was back at our resort alone in my room but I came very close to crying. Not with sadness but with joy. Located beside a lagoon with no electricity, no plumbing, they seemed so perfectly happy. They were genuinely pleased to share their way of life, their history, their home and their food with these random strangers. We chatted about the family (immediate and extended), day to day life, shared laughs about our differences and I think, bonded over similarities regardless of culture. Then it was lunch time! We were invited to try making our own tortillas before sitting down to probably the most enjoyable meal I can remember (pollo pabil). Kept company by their beautiful children and their adorable dog, Tobacco, this family made us feel incredibly welcome and it was our honour to meet them. As a sweet treat to end our visit, we got to see their beehives where they harvest their own honey made by the local, stinger-less (and oh so tiny) Mayan bees. FYI, its delicious. A HUGE thank you to Ralf for putting together this incredible, life changing day for us. Finally getting to meet you was like getting together with an old friend.

Our family enjoyed a tour with Lawson's Original Yucatan Excursions on May 22…read more We were picked up at our Airbnb in Chuburna by Ralf and our driver, Jose. By the end of the day, they both felt like old friends! Early in the day, we went to a market to shop for food with Inez. She then instructed us on what to do to prepare an authentic Mexican lunch, giving each of us jobs. Once the prep was done, the chicken needed to cook (underground!), so we headed to our next stop - Uxmal. We had a very knowledgeable guide at Uxmal, and we enjoyed it very much. Next, we stopped at Choco-Story, where we fed monkeys, watched a Mayan cacao ceremony, and sampled drinking chocolate. After Choco-Story, we traveled back to our foodie experience with Inez. The food was delicious, and we were ready for our next adventure - a cenote. It was a beautiful day for the cool water and the perfect way to end the day. Ralf was the ideal guide. He made stops along the way, was engaging, and full of fun stories/information. If we wanted to talk, he did if we wanted quiet, he sensed that as well. There were little touches throughout, like providing cold drinks in the cooler and making sure we tried ice cream and smoothies after the heat at Uxmal. Ralf heard us talking about the birthday of our son-in-law on the ride to meet up with Inez. She and her helpers provided a cake complete with a candle and sang 'Happy Birthday' at our beautifully set lunch table. It was a magical, memorable day, and one our family will always treasure. Thank you, Ralf! 5 stars only because there isn't an option for more

6/5 stars for our wonderful host/concierge/translator Desiree!!! They provided exceptional customer…read moreservice, and are well deserving of a raise. Thank you again Desiree! We were back down in our favorite city in the Yucatan, Merida, for my B.F.A.M's wedding. This time around, the family crib was full so we opted for a hotel over an Airbnb. A fellow wedding traveling friend had booked this hotel, so we decided to look into Hotel Boutique Real San Juan Center. The room was reasonably priced at $68 USD a night (refundable Hotels.com price including bla continental breakfast), and was within walking distance to some of the wedding weekend festivities. The room was reasonably sized and had a nice king size bed. The bed was definitely comfortable. There was also a pretty good sized TV in the room, which happily accepted my fire stick. It's a must that I travel with said fire stick, and you should too. The water pressure was low for my liking but it got the job done. When showering in the morning, the water was cold, however once the sun started hitting those pipes for an hour or two, the water was warm-hot. The room had some decent closet space and there was also an iron and ironing board provided. There was also a hairdryer in the bathroom. The room had a few waters in there, but we mostly restocked the waters via the free bottles in the gym. You'll definitely want this water to brush your teeth. I would have liked a bit of a larger bathroom trashcan as the toilet paper can fill it up rather quickly. The in-house restaurant that provides this breakfast, was a little shaky. They provided a great meal on the first day, however it wasn't clear that the items we ordered weren't included as part of the free breakfast. Even though there was a misunderstanding, both breakfast plates were only about $9 USD total, so that was great. We did end up getting some ants in one of our juice glasses though. The buffet was large and included a number of items, so I'd say go for it. Be sure you get the discount on the buffet for staying in the hotel. With the discount it should be about $10 USD or less. Was the room the cleanest, no. Were the most important parts of the room clean up on arrival, yes. The light in the bathroom over the sink, had a couple of random objects inserted into it to allow the lights to function, however one of them still didn't turn on. Not that it was an issue for us, but there are no elevators or fancy hotel keys. You'll have to lug around an actual key to get in and out of the room. Towels. Be sure to request them hours before you need them. On the two occasions we needed towels, it took hours for them to arrive, so just plan ahead. The pool is jacuzzi sized so don't expect to be swimming laps. Again, we would definitely stay here again due to the price/location combination. There's also a Walmart that is within walking distance. Arriving early or checking out late, ask the front desk to accommodate you and you'll likely pay a small fee ~$10USD for the accomodation. Huuuuuge huuuuge shout out again to Desiree for improving the quality of our stay. We would have had a much different experience without her assistance. THANKS DESIREE!!!!

From the owner: El Hotel Boutique Real San Juan Center en Mérida, Yucatán, ofrece habitaciones únicas decoradas con…read moremurales de lugares icónicos de la cultura maya. La Deluxe Double Bed Suite forma parte de este concepto, combinando arte local con comodidades modernas como aire acondicionado, Wi-Fi de alta velocidad, TV inteligente y seguridad.