Palmaïa – The House of AïA

**Review of Palmaïa, The House of AïA** Palmaïa is a beautiful, calming resort with many standout qualities, and overall we truly enjoyed our stay—so much so that we would return. That said, our experience was a mix of truly exceptional moments and some areas that need improvement, especially during peak travel periods. The **property and rooms are gorgeous**. We chose Palmaïa specifically for the **two-bedroom, two-bath family suite**, and it absolutely delivered. The layout was ideal for a family, allowing everyone to sleep comfortably and well—something that can be hard to find when traveling with kids. The grounds are lush, serene, and thoughtfully designed, creating a very peaceful atmosphere. **Breakfast was consistently excellent**, both in terms of food quality and service. Unfortunately, **lunch and dinner at Su Casa were a major disappointment**. Service there felt overwhelmed and disorganized, with items arriving wrong or not at all, and extremely long wait times. On one occasion, a very light lunch (ceviche and a drink) took about **90 minutes** to arrive. This was frustrating and detracted from the overall experience. The kids program (Awen) is located in a beautiful, quiet space and the teachers are very kind, but the program itself was not a good fit for our children. The activities are closely aligned with the adult wellness programming, which doesn’t always appeal to younger kids (e.g. many other parents we spoke to said their kids were not into meditative activities) —especially those who enjoy more active play. Despite having loved a kids club at another resort last year, our children did not enjoy Awen and were reluctant to attend. As a result, we weren’t able to take advantage of the adult-only activities we had hoped to enjoy. The **pools are not heated**, and in December they were very cold. Our 4-year-old enjoyed the kids pool, but our 6-year-old didn’t find it particularly engaging. The ocean was too rough for swimming during our stay, limiting water activity options. Bike riding, however, was a highlight—and this is where our experience truly turned around. Raul, one of the drivers, saved our vacation. One morning, he noticed me struggling to adjust a bike seat and immediately stopped, backed up, and hopped out to help. He not only fixed the seat but took the time to ensure our son understood how to use the brakes and waited while he tested the bike. That level of kindness and care was remarkable. Raul continued to engage with our 6 year old son throughout the trip, and golf cart rides with him became the highlight of our child’s vacation. With the help of Jerica, an excellent manager, Raul even made our son an honorary employee complete with a name tag—truly above and beyond. Raul took a very social, curious, and active kid who was not having the best time figured out how make his vacation fun! Since we've returned home, our son hasn't stopped talking about "working" with Raul. Raul exemplifies five-star service: proactive, thoughtful, and genuinely invested in creating a special experience. He is one of the main reasons we will return to Palmaïa. As for the food overall, it is not Michelin-level in our opinion, but there is plenty to eat and no one will go hungry—even for non-vegans. One tip is that meat eaters can pre-order protein the night before dinner with their nomadic guide. Andrés and Karen were excellent and always responsive to all requests including ensuring that my carnivore husband got a steak on his last night of our vacation. Our (non-vegan) kids happily lived on pizza, pasta, burgers, tropical fruit, and ice cream. A special shout-out to Saul at the pool, who ensured quick service for hungry kids. Dinner and service at UME, LEK, and Mar De Olivo were much better. In addition, the taco truck is delicious, with Dany providing warm, friendly service. Drinks were excellent, and bartenders were happy to make off-menu favorites like passion fruit margaritas and Manhattans. We ate and drank everything at the resort, used tap water for brushing teeth, and everyone came home healthy. One important note: the experience declines when the resort is full. We were there over the Christmas holiday, and before Christmas everything felt close to perfect. Once the crowds arrived, it became difficult to find seating at the pool or beach due to early chair reserving. On one occasion, I had to sit on the ground because there were no seats available—something that simply should not happen at a resort of this caliber. Palmaïa needs to add more seating and increase staffing during peak weeks. During the busy period, breakfast had waits, pool and beach service slowed, and staff clearly seemed stressed. Despite these challenges, we still love Palmaïa. The setting is lush, the resort is calming, and the kindness of certain staff members—especially Raul—made a lasting impression on our family. With better staffing, improved kids programming for active children, heated pools, and more capacity planning during peak seasons, Palmaïa could truly shine. We would return and hope to see these improvements in the future.

I have stayed at many resorts in Mexico, and this was by far the best experience I’ve ever had. Every detail felt truly five-star. The food was exceptional, the mocktails were creative, unique, and absolutely delicious, and the overall quality exceeded anything I’ve experienced before. The staff were incredibly warm and welcoming—you can genuinely feel that they love what they do, and that joy radiates throughout the entire resort. The rooms were stunning, the views were breathtaking, and the beach was pristine and peaceful. Having our own shaded beach dwelling made the experience even more special. The cenotes throughout the jungle created such a beautiful, immersive atmosphere, and our day at the spa was deeply rewarding—the massages were outstanding and unforgettable. There is truly nothing I could say that would drop this experience below five stars. Not a single element fell short. Thank you for such an incredible stay and for creating such a magical experience.

Amazing stay at Palmaia! Came at the beginning of December, weather was perfect and comfortable. The rooms at Palmaia are beautiful and spacious with two showers that made it so much easier when traveling with friends and family. Resort was gorgeous with a really nice beach which I was sad I didn't get a chance to explore more. The hotel is connected to Sandos which people staying at Palmaia actually have full access to. We were unable to try out any restaurants or food at Sandos since we were too busy being stuffed with all the delicious and healthy food at Palmaia. I am not vegan or vegetarian and love my proteins. However, Palmaia blew me away with their food. The Taco truck was amazing and everything we tried there was delicious. Every single restaurant we tried was amazing and probably because everything was so good, my least favorite restaurant was Ume. That's not to say it wasn't good, just that the other restaurants were just that impressive. We did order protein supplements when it was available, but seriously even without it I would have been happy. We had two amazing nomadic guides, Kasandra and Oscar. They were extremely helpful with helping us make reservations or answer any questions we had. We got to use the complimentary paddle boards available in front of the su casa and it was such a fun experience. Good thing we did it on the first day we arrived cause the water was super calm that day. All other days, the waves were too strong and probably would have prohibited the use of the boards. Service here was just next level good. Everyone was just so friendly and helpful and not pretentious at all. The classes were really enjoyable. There aren't a lot of really intense exercise classes, but the yoga was great. It would be nice if they had a few more classes that were more intense where you could get a good workout. The gym was open 24 hrs though and had all the basics. There are many places to lounge and sit and relax. I'm not sure if it was due to the time of year that we were there, but the resort seemed pretty empty but I loved that we always felt like we had the place to ourselves. It was one of the most relaxing and best stays I've had on vacation. We will definitely be back and try to make this our yearly girl's getaway spot. Thank you so much Palmaia for the best time ever!

This was our second time at Palmaia and it was exceptional. Starting with the vibe at the resort- so clean, beautiful, spacious and comforting. Rooms are wonderful with plenty of options for room types, including a swim up option. The service is impeccable! You get set up with a nomadic guide on your first day who is always available by texting to help with whatever you might need. This time we had Kasandra who was so sweet and welcoming. Activities- every single class we did was amazing. The shamans and guides are insightful and provide an amazing atmosphere to meditate, stretch, breathe and reflect. The food- absolutely delectable. Every single dish is delicious with lots of interesting flavors. They have three restaurants that rotate for dinner (sushi, Mediterranean, Mexican) and have one cafe that’s open daily. All are incredible. If you are even thinking of going, here is your sign to book your stay. Thank you Palmaia!

We are not resort people, and lucky for us Palmaia is nothing like a traditional resort. If you are looking for chaos and noise and crowds, find somewhere else to go. At Palmaia you will find only peacefulness, outstanding service, staff who are truly happy and have pleasure in helping you. I can honestly say that we have never eaten better food in our whole life. We had two amazing nomadic guides: Oscar and Kasandra. I can't praise them enough. They truly went out of their way to make our experience the best possible one. We loved the food at all the restaurants, which made deciding which one to eat at each day a tough choice. Abraham at the taco truck went above and beyond to anticipate our needs. In one day he knew I loved the sparking water and would just appear with an iced cold one when I was relaxing on one of the beds near his truck. One evening while dining at Mar de Olivio's we mentioned to our server, Mauro, that the prior year we enjoyed the tortellini , which was no longer on the menu. He went out of his way to speak to the chef and arrange for this dish to be available to us when we came back a few days later. He even found us in another part of the resort a day or two later to tell us he had arranged it. I could go on and on with countless more examples of how incredible the staff is at Palmaia. Just trust me, book a stay, and you will never regret it. For anyone concerned about safety, I felt much safer at Palmaia than I would on a beach in the US. I never thought twice about leaving my valuables anywhere.

The best resort ever!! The food was clean, healthy and beyond delicious. All the service was impeccable and top tier. Everything is so thoughtful and high quality even the bathrooms transport you. Oscar and Kasandra were the best nomadic guides you can ask for, always available, helpful, and super friendly! Highly recommend everyone to go if you want the most beautiful and spiritual resort experience ever.

Our stay at Palmaïa was unbelievable. We've been back home for 3 days and haven't come down from our high. It goes without saying - it's a beautiful hotel and location. But it's the staff at Palmaïa that really made our stay unforgettable. Everyone from the wait staff, to housekeeping, to the instructors, to the nomadic guides, to everyone working behind the scenes for the classes and groundskeeping - EVERYONE was SO genuinely KIND, helpful, and caring. We are so grateful for everyone who works at Palmaïa. I also want to mention that this is a vegans dream come true. Six plant-based restaurants, plus 24hr plant-based room service, all with the option to add animal proteins if you choose (which my non-vegan husband loved!) The food was absolutely AMAZING. Plantissa was my favorite restaurant but they're all so good!!! Karla at Plantissa was so kind! Thank you again to everyone at Palmaïa, and a special shout out to our nomadic guides, Karen and Andrés. Thank you ALL!

So much good to share about this hotel. It is absolutely beautiful. The staff are so nice. It feels super safe. The room was large and perfect for our family of 4. HOWEVER, we need to talk about how unreachable ANYONE at this hotel is before you check in. It was my husband's 50th birthday and I could not reach a soul (none of my 18 calls were returned) to make sure they'd have a cake he could eat, etc. I sent messages via their website. I emailed every address I could find. For how much we were paying, this was totally unacceptable. When we checked in they were like "oops, weird." But I have no indication that they saw it as a serious problem. They do not answer their phones, they do not call you back, they do not respond to messages sent via the website. It made us consider cancelling. We started the vacation beyond stressed because none of our questions had been answered. Also, the plant based food is... Not always great. It was really tough for our kids. Maybe they could make a few more exceptions for children, in terms of what's available. I didn't blame them for not wanting cashew cream and kimchi. The kids club used to be fun stuff like scavenger hunts and art projects and they just switched it to like deep breathing and meditation, which our children hated. What small kid wants to do that? I get that they're trying to align with the mission of the hotel, but they also need to be realistic about what real human children want to do, and it's generally not bonsai pruning.

About us: we our world travelers, and thought we would try a ‘high end’ all-inclusive. We have stayed at Excellence hotels and many Iberostars with pretty good experiences. We decided to try this one based on its more spa/relaxing atmosphere and vegan cuisine. The good? Beach, room, food, housekeeping, and all servers were top notch. However, I think that for an all inclusive that is easily triple the price of other ones there really should be no glitches, and if there are, they should be taken seriously to help the guest asap. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. When a guest has an issue, management should immediately take over to ensure that the issue is resolved, to relieve the guest’s worries. That was not the case in any of these incidents—it was a really laissez-faire attitude to everything. The first, an unruly- smoking guest on the beach. The hotel did not enforce its no smoking policy and despite a heated argument with this angry man, staff never told me if he was spoken to about the non-smoking policy or offered any apologies to my family in terms of ‘hey-here are some flowers or room chocolates’ to make up for this bad experience. No follow up call or anything was provided as a resolution and at a small hotel, we continuously ran into this man. The second was having our books and clothing removed from a beach bed by hotel security?! after we went to lunch thinking that these things were stolen for over an hour, because our Concierge did not know what was happening, nor was there a sense of urgency with our panic to help. Only when I asked for the general manager were our things found within two minutes. I have never had a situation at a hotel that your things are removed when you go to lunch, and are held by security. Finally, we had issues returning to the airport with our transportation, and 1st our concierge, advised my husband to go to the hotel next-door (Sandos), and after spending over an hour over there, he learned no one over there could assist. When we were leaving and our airport transportation was late, again there was no sense of urgency with the front desk. I would like to give a special mention to Abraham, who was on the beach, who was very knowledgeable about Mezcal and really should have a class with him for Mezcal tasting. Eduardo was also terrific on the beach/pool. As for wait staff in the Su Casa restaurant, Pedro, Luis, Suzy, and Jackie were all fantastic. At the chosen restaurants for dinner Fernando was wonderful. Again, I cannot say enough about the food at this resort. The rooms were also stunning and very comfortable and clean. It was very nice to have bicycles to ride to the various restaurants and to see monkeys. Unfortunately, the Spa is simply taking advantage of you at over $400 USD per treatment. Overall, this was a beautiful property, and the staff was fantastic with the exception of our Concierge (“nomadic guide”) . I would not return because I would not pay triple the price of other all inclusives unless there was perfection.

I never write reviews, but if you’re on the fence about booking Palmaïa The House of AïA, this might help. I was looking for a getaway to relax, unwind, and truly rejuvenate. I’m not vegan and I usually eat healthy high protein meals, but my partner is vegetarian. This was also my first trip down south in 3 years since I quit drinking alcohol, so finding a place that focused on health, wellness, and peace was important to me. I’ve stayed at many high end resorts and my expectations were high. I was also nervous about it not being adults only because the last thing you want at this price point is feeling like you’re not getting your moneys worth or being surrounded by chaos. This place exceeded every expectation. The atmosphere is incredibly peaceful and grounding. The food is out of this world. Honestly some of the best I’ve ever had in my life. The daily classes are beautiful (I did a nighttime sound bath and it was magic) and the gym is tucked into the jungle in the most stunning setting. I stayed in the adults only building and while I didn’t realize they had swim up suites which I usually book, the ocean view room was breathtaking. The service is impeccable. Warm, genuine, and consistent. I also worried that being sober for 3 years, going to Mexico might be triggering. It was actually the opposite. So many guests here don’t drink and it felt refreshing to be surrounded by like minded people who value health and wellness. The drink menu is entirely non alcoholic and delicious and they even offer non alcoholic beer which was such a thoughtful touch. From the moment we arrived, they welcomed us home and I genuinely felt that energy. I’m already planning my next trip. For the first time ever, I didn’t want to go home. I also noticed a lot of single women staying here which says a lot about how safe, peaceful, and supportive the environment is. I would absolutely come back solo. Swimming in the cenote, moving through the hot and cold plunges, taking yoga and morning meditation classes, biking along the jungle paths… my heart hasn’t felt this calm in a long time. And the food — I cannot say this enough — is beyond anything I expected for plant based cuisine. I was worried I might not enjoy it… I was so wrong. Hope this review helps. I highly recommend this place. 🌿✨

Staying at Palmaia was a divine experience. Everything about it was amazing. The atmosphere, the food, the beach, the many delicious mocktails, the nature infused grounds. I very much appreciated the above and beyond service by my Nomadic Guide, Esteban. He was there for me for my every need. He was friendly, attentitive, informative and provided a daily dose of inspiration for my stay. I plan to come back!

⸻ Claudia is truly exceptional. She went above and beyond to make our child feel happy, safe, and cared for during our stay. Her warmth, patience, and genuine love for children shine through in everything she does. Our little one absolutely adored her, and we always felt completely at ease knowing they were in such capable hands. She creates a joyful, nurturing environment that makes the kids club feel like a second home. Claudia is a rare gem and a true asset to the hotel. The only truly sad part for us is the new policy regarding children under 4. As very loyal customers who always looked forward to returning, it breaks our hearts that we won’t be able to come back anymore. We will always be grateful for the care and kindness Claudia has shown our family.

Our trip exceeded all expectations. I went With my 25 year old daughter. Imagine a luxury experience in the middle of a beautiful jungle. Our suite was spacious and luxurious. The view of the ocean was magical. The all inclusive made it easy. The schedule was perfect mix of down time and opportunities to try new things. Think sound bowls. Gong. Meeting with shaman. Deep dive into persona and soul. Our trip inspired our connection on a deeper level. Upon arrival, we are assigned 2 guides. Oscar and Kassandra were amazing. It was So easy to communicate our every need with them via What’s app. We will definitely return. Looking forward to it

Our days started with breakfast by the beach at Su Casa where the service and the food were both exceptional. We ate beautifully crafted plant-based meals but meat and eggs are available. Their homemade coconut yogurt with fresh fruit and agave was delicious! Thanks to Juan and Luis for making us feel like family. I had a massage and facial at Atlantis Spa that were both the best I’ve experienced, thank you Norma. We took part in a meditation concert with René that was unreal, and a moving gratitude ceremony with more other worldly music. We ate dinners at LEK, Mar de Olivo and UME that were beyond our expectations. We drank mocktails and smoothies and ate tacos at Charley’s Taco Truck. Our room was perfect (who knew that 2 showers would come in so handy after a day at the beach). The snacks and drinks were restocked daily as was the Nespresso coffee. Being on both the beach and the backed by a jungle, this brought many opportunities to see wildlife. We saw dolphins, pelicans, many fish, seagulls, spider monkeys, sereques, coatís, iguanas, turtles and their version of racoons. Do we recommend Palmaia? YES! Will we be back? YES!