Palmaïa - The House of AïA — Hotel in Quintana Roo

Palmaia …house of AIA….,. I am writing this from the most comfortable bed with the most beautiful view of the ocean on our last morning at this amazing resort. The photos, vlogs & website of Palmaia just do not do this place justice. If you are on the fence, just come. Let’s start with some of the reservations and questions I had before coming here, mainly because this is advertised as a wellness resort and i’m just a regular person. Can a girl still get a margarita even tho they advertise mostly mocktails? Is the vegan/vegetarian food going to be good? Are the classes going to be too “out there” for me? Are the other guests going to be yoga influencers who judge me? Lol If you relate to my questions, don’t worry, you can get as many margaritas as you want lol. Take my word for it. also I think the tequila has some vitamins in it or something because I never got a hangover? The vegan food is amazing as it is, but you can also get meat if you want. The classes and instructors were all great, especially yoga—and the instructors make a very welcoming environment for beginners. The other guests also appeared to be normal people. SERVICE! The service here is impeccable. When you arrive you are assigned nomadic guides, who are basically your personal concierge that you can message any time for questions, dinner reservations, coordinating rides to different areas of the resort, etc. Our guides were Dariana and Xhail (alternating morning and evening), and we heavily credit them for making our experience so easy and enjoyable. Whatever we needed, they were immediately there to help. I cannot say enough positive things about both of them—they were so kind, attentive, and detailed in their services. We are so grateful for them! Everyone we encountered was friendly. Although the location and facilities are certainly 5 stars, it’s really the people who work here that make this place so great. Fernando who was so attentive at the pool, Eduardo and Ismael with excellent recommendations at the restaurants, Blanca who was so professional and accommodating when our travel agency didn’t actually book our reservation (she made a nightmare so much less stressful!!), David on the golf cart and lobby, and more. I wish I could remember everyone’s names! Palmaia is a place where your needs are anticipated and met down to the last detail. I didn’t know a resort could be like this. I know all inclusive resorts don’t have the best reputation, but in this case, the all inclusivity actually allows you this complete freedom—you need nothing but yourself and your cute little bracelet. For the first several days we just left our phones in our room and wandered around to classes and lunch and the bar and the beach and the pool. Doing whatever we wanted! Never worrying about where my purse is or if I had my things. They already have everything you need wherever you go. A few other things worth mentioning.. the resort next door, Sandos, has a few additional facilities like tennis courts and a gift shop. Palmaia guests can use these, but we didnt want to spend too much time over there because Palmaia was much more serene and peaceful (Sandos guests cannot come to Palmaia, so it’s way less crowded here). Second, if you want to tip the restaurant staff but don’t have cash to leave, you can always ask for the bill at the end and write a tip. No one ever behaved in a way that tipping was expected or even customary, but we felt the staff really deserves the tips. Third, the spa is really good. Finally, it just smells really good everywhere here like a fresh crisp herb or something. It’s really nice lol . ONE OTHER THING, there are monkeys and iguanas and more!!! One monkey even came to the pool and sat in the cabana! We never ever EVER want to leave here. They can take back my room key bracelet over my dexd body…..Just kidding. Barely kidding though. Come to Palmaia…you will love it. I want everyone on planet earth to have this experience at least once. Thank you Palmaia especially all the service staff. You...

My two best friends and I took our annual spring break trip outside of the US this year and stayed at Palmaia House of Aia for a week in April 2025. We have been to Miraval resort and Canyon Ranch. We look for luxury vacations with a plant based wellness approach including classes on meditation, fitness, yoga, breath work, managing thoughts, etc. (Google limits the number of words/characters I could write so check out more comprehensive review just posted on Tripadvisor.) The setting was gorgeous! Well maintained pathways, landscaping, and lighting. Short access to the beach which was great white sand and gorgeous serene Caribbean Sea. The rooms in the "adults only" building we stayed in were well maintained, simple but upscale. Gorgeous views of beach for two of the three of us. The staff were terrific and gracious. From room cleaning to restaurant services. The nomadic guides (which are basically staff you are assigned to as resources via text) were fun and helpful. VERY smart to connect us with resort staff that could answer questions or help out quickly. For example..."how do I turn the fan off in my room?" "can you make us a reservation for dinner?" Based on our past experiences at Miraval (a few times at Tucson and once at Austin) and Canyon Ranch (once at Tucson) we really enjoyed activities and classes offered at Palmaia and wished for more. When they were outside, you needed to get shade and put on bug spray if it was after 10 am. Our spa experience was fabulous! The decor and setting was serene and felt true to the Mayan culture. Arrive 45 minutes early to enjoy temezcal and dip in cenote. Two other important details that mattered was the music selection and decreased use of mobile phones. There was never loud music to tolerate in restaurants or on beach. (They did have some evening music at the outside bar.) Wellness is much more accessible if we aren't on our phones. After making reservations and before arriving, I had to reach out to the resort a few times (to arrange airport transportation, to schedule massages, general questions). Palmaia was quick to respond in email in English. Our native language is English and, unfortunately, we do not speak or write/read in Spanish. Palmaia had staff that could communicate with us very well. We appreciated how easy that made our stay. The food was a mixed experience but overall good. We are plant based eaters and absolutely loved the Charly's vegan taco truck food. The main outdoor restaurant on the beach - Su Casa - was good, especially breakfast. We didn't discover Plantissa until day 3 and that became our all-time favorite! The indoor setting is lovely, the staff is great, the vegan menu is large and yummy. A couple of the restaurants were poor and we did not return after our first experience. The food at LEK (Mexican contemporary) was very disappointing. The food at Mar de Olivo (Mediterranean) was mediocre. UME (Asian Fusion) restaurant was ok. We might have returned to eat there a second time if we had more evenings at the resort. Two of the three of us drink alcohol and the options throughout the resort were of good quality given that they were part of the “all inclusive” resort fee. The gym was too small and too hot. I was there daily and it was always a bit crowded. It had no ceiling fans! And gym had no windows or doors to open for fresh morning air. (Although there was a wall of glass looking into jungle.) The air conditioning was never low enough for working out and sweating, especially as the day got later and the outdoor heat more intense. The gift shop was very nice but quite expensive. Ideally, there would have been some additional modestly priced items and some basic sundries to purchase. We appreciated the mini bar fridge in our rooms. We had some dried fruits snacks that tasted like sugar. Offering more nuts would have been healthier. When we arrived at the main lobby, we were offered “adults only building.” It was more money (100 usd per night per room extra) but we did not regret it. My friends and I...

My friends and I just finished a quick stay for our first time. We had a wonderful time and a great experience overall. We had booked a swim up suite. I wanted to share honest feedback. Let’s start with the positives: The service was great, everyone was super nice. The place was not only beautiful but clean, peaceful, and inviting! It was a little too quiet at times but we welcomed the tranquility. Not a lot of children on the side we stayed and it was great. Every staff member greets and smiles at you as they pass by. The food was fresh and delicious!! It makes you want to convert to vegetarianism. They do offer some limited meat options but we wanted to stay healthy and occasionally had the fish. Didn’t have a single bad meal. I would love to take a cooking and baking class so I can continue eating healthy back home. Please Palmaia please offer a class! The high protein banana muffins were so moist and flavorful! I need the recipe! Just after checking in, when our nomadic welcomed us to our room, the room door would not lock. The nomadic butler assigned to us said the lock will have to be changed. We had to wait for repairman. That took a while. We did not feel comfortable leaving our room without security locks. Wasted our time we could have spent elsewhere. I took a video of this noisy pool filter at our swim up pool. The first night my friends and i barely slept. The pool had a filter malfunction it was VERY LOUD sucking noise every 30 seconds. Which caused us to be drowsy and fatigued next day. Naturally We slept in and missed our yoga sessions. Then midday we were still tired from not sleeping well and took a long nap missingmore events. I messaged nomadic and he said he will send someone to fix. The second night same problem but not as loud and obnoxious.

Nomadic didn’t tell us there was a 50% off all spa treatments on. Our arrival on Friday Oct 6. I found out from another guest and she suggested we complain. We did not know cenote and spa were closed for renovations starting Saturday until the day arrived (Friday) We were disappointed. I personally had been so excited for the cenote. It was my main goal of the stay to visit the cenote. No one bothered to tell us any renovations were going on. We didn’t get to enjoy everything the resort had to offer. Our nomadic told us the day we arrived that the food truck is only open today Friday, then it was closed for renovations. I looked out by the area on Saturday and saw people were eating at food truck and we were able to eat there. Was he misinformed? If I hadn’t looked out and told my friends it was open we would have missed out again. Lots of ants on tables and floor. My friend woke up to ants crawling on the bed on her body and phone on the nightstand. No food was eaten by the bed or by the nightstand. The nice lady employee at Plantissa who prepared the pastries and juices told us she had the flu currently but the shots will help her feel better. Why was she not wearing a mask and coming to work? We were very scared that she compromised our immune systems. We have health conditions. It was already too late we had consumed things she prepared. Pickup cart didn’t arrive even though our nomadic said he would have it arrive at 11:35am the day prior. We had to flag down a cart and rush down to check out to not miss our shuttle van transportation which is why we didn’t not give any feedback at check out The nomadic didn’t send us off the day or say bye to us in person so we left him a generous tip with front desk.

We tipped everyone during the stay. Even though you’re not required and no one expects tips here PLEASE tip everyone they work so hard daily for our comfort. Unlike in the States where people expect a tip for takeout food or for scooping ice cream. Tip driver $5 Tip golf cart bell hop $4 Tip water delivery $2 Tip toothbrush guy $2

Tip room service dining $5 Tip nomadic $20 $5 for maids $20 for the driver that took us to the airport $10 again for bellhop that got our bags from room $5...