In my last post I shared some of our favorite photos from our honeymoon in Mexico. It was hands down the most magical trip of my life! In this post I’m going to share with you guys some of the trip itinerary details like where we stayed, how we got there, and what we thought of everything. I love seeing guest photos of a resort and reading actual experiences of guests who have stayed there (and I figure you all do too).
WHY MEXICO
So. We booked this trip about 7 weeks out. IMO that’s super late notice for booking a honeymoon but everything worked out fine! We knew we wanted to go international, but we also knew for this trip we wanted something relatively stress free and with few layovers. We flirted with the idea of Italy, but ultimately decided on Mexico because 1) it was so easy to get to and 2) we wanted a stress free, lounge-by-the-pool vacation. We left from the Norfolk airport in Virginia, had a layover in Atlanta, and then landed in Cancun. We left at 7am and landed at 12:30pm.
BOOKING THE TRIP
We booked our honeymoon through Expedia. We were looking for a deal and got an amazing one with them. It was also nice how the website automatically booked our flights at corresponding times with the hotel check-in and check-out. We were looking at a lot of resorts in Cancun, but as I was reading reviews I realized that a lot were jam packed next to each other on resort row — def not what I had in mind for a relaxing honeymoon! Then I stumbled on the Valentin Imperial Maya.
ABOUT THE RESORT
The Valentin Imperial Maya is about 20 minutes from the airport and feels very secluded. The estate itself is huge — it feels like there’s hardly anyone there! This may be a turn off for some people (for instance if you’re there for a bachelorette party) but if you want some privacy and plenty of space to roam, then this place is perfect. I don’t think there’s any way I could accurately describe how magical this resort was. Every pathway was lined with towering palm trees and meticulous landscaping. Every single day we were there we saw employees continuously improving the grounds.
The beach is huge and they have tons of cabanas and chairs. Typically, Michael and I love swimming in the ocean. On this trip though we didn’t go in once, which I was kind of surprised at! Something to note is while we were there, only part of the ocean area was swimmable (due to rocks/seaweed). We weren’t sad though because the pool they have is one of the biggest in Mexico (I’m serious). So we loved lounging by the pool (there were multiple pools throughout the property). Of course, there were multiple swim up bars and all kinds of fun things at the pool. There were also areas that were more quiet if you just wanted to veg out.
THE EXPERIENCE
This resort was an all-inclusive. Originally, I did not want to go to an all-inclusive because TBH I thought they were a little cheesy! I was just worried that because they were feeding all these people, the food would be subpar gross buffets. Another reason why we booked this resort is because of the rave reviews of the food. Like, incredible reviews about the food. The food lived up to all the glowing reviews because let me tell you it was incredible. Ugh, I want some right now! Breakfast and lunch were technically “buffets”. Which I hate to even call it that because I think of a weird buffet at Golden Corral or something. But anyways. The “buffets” were more like spreads for a king and they had tons of traditional Mexican foods which I loved. So, so many options. We did not go hungry! For dinner, we had different options of sit down restaurants. They were so elegant and first class. When we were seated my chair was always pulled out for me and every time napkins were laid on our laps. We thought this was such a fun touch — we never get this treatment in the states!
There was also an awesome gym. Michael and I were both very aware that we let our bodies (and health) slide a lot this past holiday season. We worked out/went running every night except one, when we had too many drinks at the pool lol. Their gym was so great because the weights and ground work section were completely outside under a tiki hut.
OTHER RANDOM THINGS
Something to be aware of is this resort is right off the highway, and you cannot just go out the front gate and explore Mexico. We knew this when we booked it, so we were okay with it. We opted out of any excursions which we have no regrets about. The concierge can easily book trips for you — but they come at a pretty penny. I hope to return to Mexico many, many more times and plan on exploring all there is on future trips!
Whew. Okay I think I’m going to end there. Obviously, I think you guys can tell we were crazy about this place! If you have any questions at all, please always feel free to reach out! The quickest and easiest way is to tweet at me or leave a comment on IG.
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