Palmaia - The House of Aia - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

1408 reviews

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  Increíble experience!!!

  The experience was incredible!! The theme of the hotel, the food, the service and the magnificent place make your days wonderful. We got sick during our visit and they were so nice with us. They took care of us really well. Definitely one place you have to visit.

  Mar 04, 2025
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  Amazing Resort-Things to Know for Next Visit

  Overall, Palmaia was a wonderful zen resort. The architecture, views, programs, and meals are top-notch. I will definitely return. Next time, I will: 1. I will ask for the schedule of events in advance of my visit so I can decide which days are most attractive to me. I was told they would not do this, and I do not know why. I missed some awesome classes the day I checked out. 2. Eat less in full-service sit-down restaurants. We felt like we spent too much time waiting for food delivered. Two- to three-hour three-course meals were tasty and beautiful, but we would have preferred less time sitting in restaurants and more time to relax outside or in our lovely room. 3. See if there is still an upcharge to be in a room/building which is adult only. I can't wait to returnl.

  Mar 03, 2025
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  Such a magical experience! Thank you Palmaia!

  This was one of the top all inclusive experiences I've travelled to! The resort is focused on wellness, so it is not for those who are looking to party. The mini fridge is stocked (upon arrival- see below) with kombucha, coconut water, juices, and waters - not alcohol as seen in many other all-inclusive resorts. If you want alcohol, you are able to ask for it, however. I am a solo female traveler who stayed for 5 nights in February 2025. All in all, I can't wait to come back! It was a very transformative experience that I highly recommend. A couple tips I would do differently: -If reserving spa, do this on day 1 to help you get more centered and into the wellness experience mindset after traveling/normal life -Bring pesos! the staff works so hard. you have the option to add gratuity at your check-out bill, but my bill was closed before I was able to do so. I contacted my nomadic guide after I arrived home who allowed me to paypal & distribute to staff names. Here are the highlights and areas of improvement: Highlights: - The Architects of Life program offers 5-6 daily classes / ceremonies for all levels, including everything from dance, sound healing, meditation, and yoga. Definitely don't miss any of the sound healing events (Medicine of Sound was the artist while I was there who was incredible!), the cacao ceremony, sunrise Pranayama, or any of the yoga classes (Angel was my favorite instructor!) This was some of the top instruction I've attended in my life, and definitely the key highlight for me. - The STAFF is also super attentive and welcoming, and made my experience so special! Shoutout to Reyes at Charley's Vegan Tacos, Valentin who rotates restaurants, Felix with room service, and Arge at the EOLO beach bar! - The resort is nestled in the jungle, and weather permitting, most classes are held there, too. Many sightings of iguanas, coatis (heard others seeing monkeys too!) during class! Was super cool to be in that environment with all the nature sounds during the events, especially the mind control class. - The architecture and design of the resort is truly something special. All the buildings kept either Mayan influence or the theme of the cuisine being served. - All rooms have beautiful ocean or pool views, including surround sound Bluetooth (was lovely to fall asleep listening to meditations/ music heard from the day prior). My king suite had dual separate showers with a rainfall shower head as well as a handheld. The lighting and design was absolutely perfect! - 2 beautiful on-site cenotes nestled in the jungle for all guests! Random little caves you are able to walk through as well. - Hot plunge by the beach was incredible on a cold / rainy day. Also a cold plunge next to it, if that is your thing. - The food!!! If you aren't vegan, there is always an option to substitute for animal protein. However, I felt minimal desire to do so as all the food was incredibly prepared and tasted amazing. - The bike share offering is a quick and convenient way to zip around the resort when attending back to back classes! - The beach side cabanas offered shade with either mattress style comfortable beds/pillows, or chaise loungers. Super comfortable on both. Each cabana had a button to ring for service if you needed anything which was always responded to within minutes! And the service attendants are regularly roaming the cabanas asking if you need anything. - The nomadic guides are very helpful and attentive (shoutout to Dariana and Esteban!). It can get overwhelming trying to figure out what is best for you personally with all the offerings and they were very helpful in answering my endless questions. - The Atlantis SPA!!! What a unique experience. Each treatment includes access to their biocharging room followed by a pre-Hispanic steam room, infused with lemon and rosemary water alongside a body scrub, access to your own *private* cenote to cool off, BEFORE your actual treatment! So glad I splurged on this. Private treatment rooms overlooking the jungle. Areas of Improvement: - All restaurants require a reservation for dinner. This got rather inconvenient, as the class schedule is not provided until the afternoon the day prior. There also isn't much flexibility with rearranging dinner locations / times. - Having more of an advanced notice with the class schedule would be helpful with planning. The facilitators know when they will be back as they often let us know at the end of class, even if it was on a different day, or a week later. - Every reservation I had started with a heads up from the host that they are very busy and please be patient. All week, this was a non-issue (dinner averaged around 1 hour start to finish which is very reasonable in my opinion) until my final night at Mar de Olivo. It took nearly 30 minutes to get acknowledged and the overall meal took 2.5 hours (again, solo here). My disappointment was intensified by missing the special evening sound bath event because of this. The entire staff was very apologetic which was appreciated. - Perhaps offer a dinner service that does not require reservations? - Room service request time is not always consistent; one day it was 15m early, and the other days it was 15-20m late. It was on time once. Also made it challenging with scheduling / being prepared for classes. - I had to repeatedly request water and still had to fill up my water bottle at restaurants / classes due to running out in my room. In this moment, I am currently completely out of water and waiting for dinner to refill. I also had to do the same for coffee pods. As a resort focused on wellness, I wouldn't have expected this to be the case. - Beach front cabanas were always reserved first thing in the morning with peoples belongings. This isn't a diss on Palmaia - I've seen this happen everywhere I've been unless rules are enforced about this. - Children are often running around the restaurant during sit-down dinners. Having more adult-only options would be preferred for kid-free solo travelers like myself. There is a small area for adults-only on the beach, and at the pool, however! - Would like to see more evening / wind-down offerings. Only one sound healing event was offered at 9pm during my 5 night stay which I missed due to the dinner mentioned above. - I am very disappointed to hear of the single supplement being added this year. This was a perfect solo trip :( The price tag is hefty, but overall felt it was worth it for the level of service and offerings provided!

  Feb 28, 2025
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  Palmaïa Family Stay

  Our family just came back from Palmaïa, a five-day stay. Palmaïa is located at the end of Playacar, about an hour to an hour and a half from the Cancun airport, depending on traffic. We had a fantastic check-in and a stress-free experience. Oscar, one of the nomadic guides (like a concierge), was extremely useful, attentive, and available on WhatsApp throughout our stay. We stayed in a family room, which was modern and comfortable and had a separate smaller kids' bedroom. However, the shower area showed signs of wear and tear, even though the resort is relatively new. Although we are not vegan, the food at all the restaurants was very tasty, and they had non-vegan options. The service was excellent and relatively quick, which was great with kids. Sadly, one of our daughters got stomach sick on the last day. We are unsure if this was from the food or beverages. The beach is beautiful, almost seaweed-free, with clear water and beautiful white sand. Chairs and sun loungers are available throughout the beach area; however, we have seen many families hoarding chairs at the beach and at the pool, which affected sun chair availability. Some chairs were unattended for many hours. The resort should have better control of this unfortunate situation. There are also limited chairs available by the kid's pool. However, they are all taken by 7h30am. The area enables more chairs, but I am unsure why they limit the number of chairs. We attended a few wellness activities, some of which were great and some less. Some of the most popular activities were overcrowded, negatively affecting the wellness experience. The resort also has a gym, which is relatively small and has very few equipments. Being a wellness resort, this shouldn't be the case. Our daughters attended the kids' club on a few occasions and had a great time. The staff was amazing. Thank you. Most evenings, they had a DJ at the Eolo lounge area by the beach. This was great for unwinding and relaxing before dinner. This summarizes our stay well. For the price paid, we expected a bit more. We want to thank all staff for their outstanding service during our stay.

  Feb 19, 2025
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  Best restaurant in the resort!

  Amazing food and amazing service! Eduardo was great and attentive! We highly recommend the Tartar and Risotto! The presentation and flavor were out of this world. Truly one of the best meals I have had on a vacation and my whole family agrees!

  Feb 17, 2025