Playa del Carmen/ Isla Mujeres - not AI

[thebulldog]

Dh and I did hit the Unico resort in Riviera Maya last year for Christmas - hightly highly recommend! even if you think you hate AIs the food and drinks here were amazing.

We want to go back to Mexico for New Years but the AIs are out of our budget right now.

We just want a litte basic sun, sand and drinks getaway. It looks like Playa del Carmen and Isla Muejeres are good options for hotels only...are there restaurants and bars all over the place at either location? a plus for the AI is not having to worry about where to go but i am also about some cheaper local eats.

any experience with either location?

i searched the board and the last posts on this are a few years old.

(yes last minute but dh's job just decide to give free time off for Christmas and New years - two weeks is a long time to sit at home)

[steamboat185]

We went to Isla Mujeres 2 years ago and it was really easy. We stayed in an Airbnb and rented a golf cart. Driving around the island was super easy and there were tons of good reasonably priced restaurants all around the island. The beach on the north end of the island was pretty and we really liked that it was a mix of locals and tourists.

[mrsd2006]

It's been several years but we've stayed at these places and they were great. The second one is right on the beach, the first maybe two blocks away.

www.hotellatortugaspa.com/

www.playamaya.com/hotel

[thebulldog]

Nov 13, 2019 15:59:35 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

It's been several years but we've stayed at these places and they were great. The second one is right on the beach, the first maybe two blocks away.

www.hotellatortugaspa.com/

www.playamaya.com/hotel

and Playa del Carmen has a big shopping strip it seems based in basic google searches.

[wanderingback]

I previously stayed at Hotel La Semilla and it was fabulous. I pretty much always stay at boutique places and this place was great. Unfortunately I got food poisoning (not from the hotel) and was only there for 4 days, so didn't get to enjoy it as much as I could have. However, I'd definitely stay there again. It was right by the beach and had planned to take a not too far taxi ride to the cenotes and to some of the ruins. However, the food poisoning canceled those plans. But it was a good location.

[Mushe]

Love love love Isla! We stayed at a condo place on the north side that was fine but meh, but the location was great, right as the main drag dead ends. Definitely go for that side, but rent a golf cart to tour the island. So many good restaurants there, and in walking distance! I know there are a bunch of cute boutique places, but we needed a bigger place for ILs, etc. I’ll look to see if I can find the place my parents went to, which was in that area, not AI, very cute boutique place.

ETA: They stayed at Na Balam; we stayed at Ixchel. Fantastic locations!