El Fuerte Beach Resort — Hotel in Quintana Roo

When we were in Mahahual 3 years ago, we stayed at El Fuerte for a week.

This time, we are staying at El Fuerte for a month.

The next time we return to Mahahual, we might stay at El Fuerte for up to a year ... or perhaps for the rest of our life.

From our humble penthouse on the top of the fortress hotel - we overlook the village and the world's 2nd largest reef.

Travelling extensively across Asia, Europe and the Americas over the last 40+ years for sun, surf and smiles, we are back again in this little idyllic jewel of Costa Maya where the warm & dry climate is as ideal as it can be.

A prevalent sea breeze quietly & continually caresses this quiet village of 1,000+ residents and cleanses the place of micro organisms with its salinity while enforcing a "no fly" zone for flying insects.

We have yet to swat a mosquito or fly.

As they say, "There is no coronavirus here."

And we understand why ... just Corona beer.

Low humidity here effortlessly & quickly dries our laundry & clothes within half a day.

Like Bacalar's Lagoon of Seven Colors, the water here is clean, clear and comfortably warm to soak in for hours ... and teeming with fish to keep us entertained.

It is perfect for kids of all ages.

Everyday, if you wish, you can have your lobster.

And the seawater shrimps are the freshest and largest we have ever eaten in our life.

With incoming sargasso controlled by the simple but effective use of nets offshore, the beachfront here - unlike most other places along the Riviera Maya and Costa Maya coastline - is relatively seaweed free.

Almost like a castle, El Fuerte has been built to stand up to hurricanes and the tastefully designed suites are scattered around a spacious 4-storey central courtyard to maximise cross ventilation and noise insulation.

The entire place is clean and well-maintained.

Contrasting against the strong whitewashed walls are the softening touches of palapa roofing which provides ample shade and their delightful use of timber for the corridors and balconies.

There is a treasure trove of colours & textures here: the sculptures & artwork by their resident artist (Angelo) are pleasing candy to the eyes.

Trained as an architect, I find El Fuerte extremely appealing in the way it has been intelligently and beautifully conceived and designed.

Much credit must go to resident co-owner & chef extraordinaire (Luca) for his experienced professional management and fine aesthetic sensibilities.

You must try his tiramisu ... it is the very best in the world (really)!

In our humble opinion, El Fuerte has the best restaurant in Mahahual and it is also the best place to stay in Mahahual ... thanks to Luca.

Our sincere gratitude also goes out to Luca's hardworking well-trained staff for their gracious hospitality and outstanding service ... including Guadalupe (administration); Juan, Angel, Sansores & Carlos (housekeeping); Mary, Elisa & Selena (reception); Lorenzo, Benjamin, Leticia & Liz (food & beverage); his bartenders Osiris & Domingo; and his talented crew in the kitchen - Armando, Jorge, Rosario, Miriam & Pepe.

Have a...

Excellent All inclusive Beach day for our cruise stop! I found this on Shore excursioneer and thought we would give it a try! Sooo very glad we did. ||(Once we figured out we had to walk outside of the shopping area it get a cab we were on our way. There’s cabs next to the shopping but they are trying to sell you excursions and those cabs are only for those excursions. So we found we needed to walk a bit farther to be “outside” to get a cab around town. )||Anyways, we arrived and were very happily greeted! We paid the balance in cash as requested and were guided to a lovely shaded table on the beach. We also had some beach chairs. Such an excellent day!! All we could drink (loved the mango margaritas) and we all got appetizer and lunch. There were 6 of us and it was way too much food! We only used 3 of our appetizers and all had lunch. The best selections were fajitas and shrimp sandwich. ||The water was calm and perfect. Many venders do walk around and we were constantly asked if wanted to buy anything. It was fine. We just declined. My husband did the 30 minute massage on the beach and enjoyed it very much. So that was a perk. We also did a little shopping as the stores are all over :) ||We LOVED our day and would give it a 10/10! We will return if coming to the Playa Costa Maya port again. We were on a Royal...

Wanted to try a different resort so we went to El Fuerte. That cruise port is HUGE now and there is no signage to the taxis (go to the pools and keep going. We booked through shoreexcursioneer, which I don’t recommend as transportation wasn’t included (someone else booked through Expedia). We had to wait at least 20 minutes for a taxi because it was just 2 of us. We must have been the last to arrive – we were right by the water, on a slope, near the opening to the beach - not a great spot, but we were in shade. The place was packed by the Allure and Adventure. The food was very good, we didn’t try to eat what they provided – 1 appetizer and 1 main each. We both only had mains. The water area was small. The free paddleboard had a leak. Service was so-so – we had Irving, who tried, but he had too many people to serve food/drinks to. Plus you could eat in the restaurant and he served you there too, so he was split between beach and restaurant. There were several times that we didn’t receive drinks or ice. You’ll want a cup of ice with your soft drinks. There was a constant parade of vendors who were very respectful when you said no. Wifi only available at restaurant. Soft drinks were good and...