West Bay, Grand Cayman
23 nov 2008

This hotel has a charming courtyard area and the staff is pleasant. The place is very clean and AC worked well. Room was on the small side (I had a standard ground floor unit). The location right on 5th Avenue was terrific.
My biggest complaints were:
There is no parking at the hotel itself. So, beware if you have a rental car, you will have to park on one of the side streets near the hotel.
The bed was extremely hard and uncomfortable. I heard this is typical of Mexican beds, but the hotel where I stayed in Cozumel was much more comfortable and it also was a budget place.
The noise from people opening and closing their doors was horrible. Due to the courtyard setting, everything echoes and the doors just slam. Luckily, it was quiet at night and not a party type place so I was able to still get a good night's sleep - but forget about the ability to take an afternoon siesta.
All in all, if you are on a tight budget and want to be in a good location and safe, this is a good choice. If you are expecting anything more than very average accomodations, you will be disappointed.

Brenda & Tony

Montréal

Mar 17, 2009

With three of my friends I went to Posada Mariposa in PDC. We loved the place. We had two rooms; one standard plus and one junior suite both on the third floor. The one overlooking the 5th avenue was a bit noisy but since there is a separate door between the kitchenette and the bedroom, it stopped most of the noise.
Our room (standard) was large enough with a big closet (all clothes, shoes and luggages for two girls fitted in the closet). The beds are hard but I prefer it to too soft. We had a little balcony, a mini-fridge and a large shower with enough water pressure.
It is well situated in the old Italian area where you have access to bars, restaurants, internat cafes, shops but without the crowd. the beach is less than five minute walk and with the hotel discount it costs you 15 pesos for a chair and an extra 15 pesos if you want a palapas.
You will find restaurants on the beach and sometimes you will see locals selling fruits on the beach too.
All in all, I loved my stay at Mariposa and would recommend to all my friends to at least once, experience the carribean not in an all inclusive resort. And I think Playa del Carmen is just the place for.

Lucy

Los Angeles,CA

Mar 14, 2008

My mother and I just returned from a 5 night stay at the Posada Mariposa. We both enjoyed our time very much at this quaint little hotel. I've traveled for work and pleasure quite a bit and stayed in all kinds of accomodations( from hostels and Motel 6's, mainstream Hyatts, Marriots, to luxury and boutique hotels such as those of the Kor group).
My mother is slightly obsessive about cleanliness, and I am about service. We chose this hotel as opposed to an all-inclusive resort because we knew we were going to be gone site seeing the majority of the time and just needed a safe, and clean place to lay our head at night and help point us in the right direction when needed. So we weren't looking for a lot of bells and whistles, just clean and safe. I was a little apprehensive getting there because it seemed to good to be true ( especially since we booked last minute). I emailed and spoke with Nadyelli quite a few times even before arriving and always got a prompt and courteous response.
She was so patient, helpful , informative, and happy to be of service. My only dissapointment was that I never got to meet her personally to thank her for all her help. Alfonso and Axel at the reception desk wear many hats ( concierge, bell hop,etc). They also were very helpful, informative, nice, and always delivered service with a smile! They are the kind of guys you could easily just hang out and chat all day with. On our last day, our airport shuttle came 45minutes early. Axel sent someone to the restaurant we were having brunch at so we would not miss our shuttle. They always went above and beyond the call of duty and did so happily. You can't get this kind of service at a large chain hotel anymore.
Surprisingly, the maids cleaned our rooms to my mothers satisfaction. So overall I would have to say that the service was one of the best things about this hotel. Hotel itself: FREE internet connection if you bring your laptop, SANS phone( but someone at reception will be happy to make a local call for you for free, and there is a calling booth right across the way) simple, clean, natural al-fresco garden setting, 23 total rooms, staircases only, firm mattresses, TV ,mini fridge, A/C, ceiling fan,outdoor seating, fun towel sculptures. Just the bare necessities. Think a budget version of the TIDES hotel without any bells or whistles.)
So much to see and do and so little time. Be sure to take the time to talk with Axel and Alfonso, they are very helpful and nice.

Cindy

Stockton, Ca

Jun10 2009

Well just returned from Playa del Carmen 06/01-06/09 (3rd time). We had decided at the last minute (1 month ) to plan to go. Well first the hotel we have stayed in the past was booked and it was a perfect location off 5th and next to the beach.
So I started to look at my options for what we wanted or could get. I seen the botique hotel Mariposa Posada availble and the location sounded great and to the beach not bad. So I started to read reviews and read more good than bad. So we gave it a shot. As we arrived it was in a great location off of 24th and ON 5th which I prefer to stay on that side of 5th less crowded it seems.
Very cute and clean hotel. The staff very,very pleasant! our room was on the ground floor #14 and like I mentioned very clean,no smell to bathrooms as someone had mentioned in a blog?? room are not fancy just like on the website pretty basic .
Beds are very firm and actually I got great sleep. We forgot our iron and they were nice enough to provide us with a rowenta for the whole week. The room does have a mini refrigerator,cable and were always provided with clean towels.
Noise level was quiet but someone was doing construction for one night and I did hear that but not bad. Walk to the beach was 5 min and lead you behind Mamita's or Kool. I have to say if you are looking for an affordable, clean and great location I think you will like this place. I would MOSTdefintley come back again.

Anne

Istanbul

Oct 15, 2008

I stayed at Posada Mariposa at very beginning of October 2008 and spent 4 nights. It is not a luxury hotel but had everything I needed. I had a such a good time there, felt like home and very safe even I was travelling alone.
Very warm, nice atmosphere, very helpful and nice people. They are always there to answer your questions. Hotel is right on 5th Avenue of Playa del Carmen and 2 minutes walk to the nicest beach Playa Mammita
I would definitely stay there again and recommend it to everybody.
P.S. Have dinner at Babe's if you like Thai Food on 5th Avenue, Calle 10, very good....

Havva

Kamloops

Feb 26, 2009

My wife, my cousin and I stayed here from Feb 15-24 and loved it. We had the mini suite which had two beds and a kitchenette. We were there for a friends wedding, which most of the guests stayed at the "The Royal." We wanted to experience with a little more culture and decided to stay away from the all inclusives. The Posada Mariposa was fantastic.
The location is close to everything, (the beach, restaurants, shopping, Walmart for groceries) yet suprizingly quiet. All the bars and nightclubs are about 4 blocks south on 5th Ave, and you can't hear them at night. I would stay here again any day, and would highly recommend if you want a vacation that is more than just free drinks and fancy marble, this is the place for you.

Ohio

Feb 3, 2009

I travel to Playa all the time, and have stayed in multiple hotels, but I really like the Posada Mariposa. It is on la Quinta Avenida (5th Ave) on the north side, but has consistently been one of the best values.
This last trip was positively excellent. We arrived early and they kept our bags till our room was ready. The ground floor room (#15) was excellent! The staff has always been wonderful and the hotel spotless.
The TV had an enormous number of English channels (for my husband) and great reception. One of our favorite restaurants (La vagabunda) is right accross the street so very convenient.
One of the quietest hotels in Playa. A/C worked almost toooo well. Maid service perfect and her towel oragamis were positively gorgeous, including a lady sitting reading a book. Had never seen that one. Amazing. Lots of vegetation in the open common areas. I would recommend this hotel over most all others for value and comfort. Even the beds were not hard as a rock!

Nelson

New York
Aug 15, 2008 Trip type: Couples

My boyfriend and I stayed here as part of a package we booked with Expedia, and paid around $60/night. For that price, I thought the hotel was great.
It's similar to other budget hotels in the area, e.g. Luna Blue, but I prefered it because of the location and the cleanliness of the hotel.
There was some construction noise, but I think that's just because all of Playa is under construction it's sort of unavoidable.
The front desk staff was very nice, the beds were comfortable, the AC worked, and the room was clean. Overall I would definitely recommend it for travelers looking for a good deal who don't

John & Mark

Jun 20, 2008

My boyfriend and I went to Playa del Carmen in late May for a much needed vacation. We learned about Posada Mariposa through our travel agent and thought it sounded great (i.e. 1 block from the beach, literally steps away from La Quinta Avenida, etc.) so we booked it. I've never been greeted with such warmth at check-in.
The concierge, whose name I didn't catch, showed us to our room and basically treated us as family, which, believe me, is beyond awesome after a long day of traveling. There was a safe which was big enough to put all our valuables in, and we never had any problems with stealing, dishonesty, etc., that I've heard tell of from other tourists.
I guess it was sort of weird not being able to flush toilet paper down the toilets, but you get used to it after a day, and besides, that's the way it is in any non-resort place, or so I hear. My boyfriend thought the beds were a little hard, I agree but they didn't stop me from getting sleep he also thought the noise from the remodeling was too loud I'm from Manhattan so I wasn't aware of any noise and I slept through it. There's a security guard on at night so I felt completely safe at night the entire area is pretty safe too.
Mariposa is situated far enough from the loud nightlife, but close enough to get there in 5 minutes or so. Beware: they will charge you for damage we accidentally had some sunblock spillage on of the sheets, and they charged us $25 this didn't bother me much though, because they sent it to the cleaners and it didn't come out, and they also told us a few days in advance of checkout that we might get charged for it, so it wasn't like "Oh hey, you're getting charged for this" kind of thing at checkout 5 minutes before you leave for the airport. They also make you put down a deposit at check-in so it's not out of the blue.
The rooms are charming old style Mexico, unlike your typical cookie cutter resort. There is a working air conditioner a god save on those days, they'll hold your room key at the front desk if you want to keep it safe while you're at the beach, they have a discount on beach lounge chairs, they called us a cab the day we were in a hurry to get out of the airport, they help with your baggage, bottom line: we'll be returning for sure.

Rafael & Paula