Casa de Xcacel/Beautiful House in Mayan Riviera

Our two week stay at Casa de Xcacel proved ideal for relaxing and visiting with family members who live far away. The house itself is just as advertised and described in the superb pre-arrival information provided by the owners; even arriving in the dark in this little hidden, predominately Canadian and American community called Chan Chemuyil, we had no trouble finding and entering the house. The Mayan caretakers, who live nearby, are delightful and helpful yet completely respectful of guests' privacy. We found the house immaculate on arrival and easy to keep clean. The beds are very comfortable and we found the ceiling fans adequate for maintaining comfortable temperatures during all but extremely hot temperatures. The internet connection was generally reliable (the router required resetting a couple times but this was not a problem), the television proved great for watching DVD's and movies from our laptops via the provided HDMI cable, and we enjoyed our own music through the provided docking station. Most appreciated of all was the extensive beach equipment the owners provide for guests' enjoyment, making our forays to the nearby beaches of Xcacel (great for wave jumping and boogie boarding) and Akumel (better for snorkelling) extremely comfortable.

The owners clearly have done everything in their power to make staying at Casa de Xcacel a five star experience for their guests. There are, however, two aspects of the property beyond their control which we found potentially limiting: 1) that Casa de Xcacel shares a fairly small and barren rear courtyard with two other houses, and were these to be occupied by strangers this would severely limit one's privacy; and 2) that the house is located very close to a regional sewage collection point and on the several days of our stay when the "honey wagon" was dumping 3 or 4 times a day, this made for extremely unpleasant and fairly persistent odours.

That being said, we would not hesitate to recommend Casa de Xcacel to any friends interested in a quiet and "different" Mayan Riviera experience. Chemuyil pueblo, a short walk away, has a fairly extensive provisions and a popular pizzeria, and Tulum, a 15 minute drive away, has everything one might need in addition to its famous archeological site. Chan Chemuyil itself is colourful, friendly, safe, and clean. What we found particularly delightful about this little development are the several picturesque cenotes and the peaceful tracks through the jungle.

Thanks so much for the use of your house for our family's visit Nov 22 - Dec 9, 2011. We had a most relaxing stay mainly spent at Xcacel Beach snorkeling and playing in the waves. It is still one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen in our travels. Beds were comfortable and house had everything we needed. Thanks again for your generosity!

The Christian Family, Shuswap Lake, BC

My husband and I took our 3 teenage girls on their first trip to anywhere that was exotic. Our oldest daughter had flown once before, the other two this was their first holiday besides camping.

We rented a car for the week.

We stayed at Casa De Xcacel and enjoyed the location immensly. When we arrived in the dark it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but at the light of day we quickly realized that we were in a great location! I recommend staying south of Playa Del Carmen always. Most of the activities were within a very short drive.

Very near to the casa is multiple cenotes (bits of paradise in the jungle) DO NOT FORGET TO BRING SNORKLES. the larger items like boogie boards and chairs are supplied and we used the boogie boards alot :)

The community itself is good for enjoyable evening walks and the town next to it is a great pleasure. we went a few times to the village and spent time with the towns people. Our girls even played with kids on their playground. Spent a bit of time chatting with the teens in the town library and we bought goodies from their bakery for our breakfast one day. We purchased all the town had of this one kind of candy we found, we searched each store in town to get 5 bags of this candy so our girls could take it home to their friends.

Swimming at many beaches, all beautiful I might add, but our fav was Akumal. We swam with loggerhead turtles and on the beach are many places to have something yummy.

We had some great food and ate in the authentic places as much as possible. ( be carful of the Verde salsa-Its HOT)

The park called Xcaret is amazing!!!! Give yourself the FULL day or even two. we took in the show in the evening and were not dissapointed. The best live show I have ever seen!!!

needless to say my husband and I want to go back, we did alot but there is still more to do. It looks like we know where we will go next :)