new years/anniversary in pcola🤍 new years/anniversary in pcola🤍
5 years ago under the night sky we said “I do” 5 years ago under the night sky we said “I do” to forever. happy anniversary @mdhadel !
cozy patio hangout (obsessed with these oversized cozy patio hangout (obsessed with these oversized chairs from ikea!!)📙🍂
October 2020 in Mississippi 🍂✨🎃 http://lik October 2020 in Mississippi 🍂✨🎃 http://liketk.it/301h2 #liketkit @liketoknow.it
wish there was a Jeep emoji 🥺 wish there was a Jeep emoji 🥺
happy 30th(!) birthday to my love @mdhadel 🤩🎂 with each year that goes by you get more handsome, more wise, and better in every way (altho the mustache is questionable). I love you!!! #dirtythirty #gettingold #justkidding #kinda
home sweet home in Mississippi! we closed on our h home sweet home in Mississippi! we closed on our house last week that we bought 2,000 miles away in San Diego via FaceTime. major thanks to my angel parents @barnabypie & @ranger.steele who drove down from Ohio at a moments notice to check out this house for us in person before we made an offer. we love it so much and are so excited to get settled! #visitorswelcome #mississippivacation #notsandiegobutitwilldo
WE’RE MOVING!! 🚚 After 3 years in sunny San D WE’RE MOVING!! 🚚 After 3 years in sunny San Diego, we’re moving back to Mississippi. Back to the deep south, humidity, and gas station BBQ. Michael and I first lived in Mississippi as newlyweds when he was in flight school. This time around he’ll be an instructor and we’ll be able to put some roots down as we’ll be there for at least 3 years. Now we’ve just gotta pack up and hit the road. We’re moving ourselves this time around (full DITY move) and the pandemic is def adding extra flavor to the whole experience. Here we goooo! #ditymove #pandemicmove #gitrdone
one last time exploring mount laguna! one of our f one last time exploring mount laguna! one of our fav places in San Diego county 🥾🤎
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Beach, Travel · January 19, 2017

Honeymoon in Mexico Tell-All

cabanas at valentin imperial maya

lounging in Mexico

palm trees in Cancun

lounging at Valentin Imperial Maya

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).

the view above of Cancun

the grounds at Valentin Imperial Maya

palm trees in Mexico

honeymoon at Valentin Imperial Maya

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.

lounging by the pool in Cancun

lighted gazebo at Valentin Imperial Maya
flower pathways in Mexico

the great hall at Valentin Imperial Maya

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.

the porch at Valentin Imperial Maya

hotel room at Valentin Imperial Maya
hotel room at Valentin Imperial Maya

hotel room at 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.

cactus walkway in Mexico

breakfast in Mexico

pool at Valentin Imperial Maya

pool in Cancun

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.

palm trees in Mexico

beach at Cancun
the pool at Valentin Imperial Maya

the grounds at Valentin Imperial Maya

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.

Honeymoon in Cancun

honeymoon in Mexico tell all

the grounds at Valentin Imperial Maya

walkway in Cancun

the estate at Valentin Imperial Maya

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.

 

In: Beach, Travel · Tagged: honeymoon, mexico, vacation, valentin imperial maya

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new years/anniversary in pcola🤍 new years/anniversary in pcola🤍
5 years ago under the night sky we said “I do” 5 years ago under the night sky we said “I do” to forever. happy anniversary @mdhadel !
cozy patio hangout (obsessed with these oversized cozy patio hangout (obsessed with these oversized chairs from ikea!!)📙🍂
October 2020 in Mississippi 🍂✨🎃 http://lik October 2020 in Mississippi 🍂✨🎃 http://liketk.it/301h2 #liketkit @liketoknow.it
wish there was a Jeep emoji 🥺 wish there was a Jeep emoji 🥺
happy 30th(!) birthday to my love @mdhadel 🤩🎂 with each year that goes by you get more handsome, more wise, and better in every way (altho the mustache is questionable). I love you!!! #dirtythirty #gettingold #justkidding #kinda
home sweet home in Mississippi! we closed on our h home sweet home in Mississippi! we closed on our house last week that we bought 2,000 miles away in San Diego via FaceTime. major thanks to my angel parents @barnabypie & @ranger.steele who drove down from Ohio at a moments notice to check out this house for us in person before we made an offer. we love it so much and are so excited to get settled! #visitorswelcome #mississippivacation #notsandiegobutitwilldo
WE’RE MOVING!! 🚚 After 3 years in sunny San D WE’RE MOVING!! 🚚 After 3 years in sunny San Diego, we’re moving back to Mississippi. Back to the deep south, humidity, and gas station BBQ. Michael and I first lived in Mississippi as newlyweds when he was in flight school. This time around he’ll be an instructor and we’ll be able to put some roots down as we’ll be there for at least 3 years. Now we’ve just gotta pack up and hit the road. We’re moving ourselves this time around (full DITY move) and the pandemic is def adding extra flavor to the whole experience. Here we goooo! #ditymove #pandemicmove #gitrdone
one last time exploring mount laguna! one of our f one last time exploring mount laguna! one of our fav places in San Diego county 🥾🤎
got the full set of pics from Michael’s homecomi got the full set of pics from Michael’s homecoming — love them so much! 🤍 thank you @rachael_mariephotography ! As Michael’s time here is coming to an end, I’m really glad we could get these pics with the C2 #flynavy
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