Spacious Beachfront Villa, Ideally Located

• Fabulous destination, but not for everyone

  Fabulous destination, but not for everyone

  • Guest iiko1150 (Mexico City)
  • Date of stay 03/17/12
  • Review Submitted 03/30/12
  I stayed five nights at the Reef House with my husband and two children, ages 9 and 11. The property itself was exactly as described on VBRO, and the quantity and quality of amenities (pots & pans, dishes, towels, etc.) exceeded our expectations. We flew into Chetumal Airport from Mexico City, rented a Dodge Durango truck from National rent-a-car and bought a week's worth of groceries and supplies at the Wal-Mart on Insurgentes Avenue in Chetumal before driving out to the property. We stocked up on paper towels, toilet paper, batteries, etc. just in case, but none of these items turned out to be necessary as the house was fully stocked when we arrived. Our goal was to get as far away from the beaten track as possible, and we succeeded. Looking over the photos from our trip, it appears that we spent a week in a ghost town. The town of Xcalak seems smaller than even the population statistics would suggest. The only commodities that can be reliably obtained from local stores seems to be ice cold beer, soft drinks, bread, snacks and various canned and dry goods. Beyond that, there are two grocery trucks that make the trek up the coast each week. Still, we never found ourselves at any risk of inconvenience. There was an incredibly strong sea breeze during most of our stay, so we never encountered a single mosquito of no see um bug during our entire vacation. The flip side of the coin is that fishing, snorkeling and dive charters were totally unavailable during most of our stay. In fact, Majahual and Xcalak ports were actually closed by the harbor masters making it impossible for cruise ships to make their scheduled port calls. This made it fun to walk around Majauhual and let the kids play on the beach since there were literally no tourists in a town apparently built entirely to accommodate thousands of Disney Cruise ship passengers. Our drive down the old costal road connecting Majahual to Xcalak was one of the highlights of our vacation, made possible by the fact that National Rental Car provided us with a Dodge Durango 5.8L Hemi truck with a 6" lift for the price of a minivan... thank you very much... We found the caretakers, Bob & Caroline, to be friendly, knowledgeable and obliging and recommend that guests make all arrangements with them well in advance of their arrival. Yet, this is not a destination for everyone. Xcalak prefers retired guests with no children. We did not have any problem with this, but others might.

  Recommended for: Families with teenagers, age 55+, adventure seekers.

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From $210-$245/nt or $1050-$1715/wk$150/night for upstairs; 
$210 - $245/night; 
3 night minimum at all times; 
14% tax additional;Dates Available: Year Round

Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.