Vivaresortsbywyndham

I am writing to tell you about the worst vacation experience that I have ever had in my entire life. But before doing so, I want to give you a little background on who I am.

I have been in the travel and hospitality industry for over 30 years. Most recently, I was the Senior Manager of Groups and Meetings with a major international travel group. During the course of my career, I have placed tens of thousands of clients in resorts and hotels all over the world. I have booked over $1 billion in sales and generated millions in revenue. In addition, I attended The French Culinary Institute in NYC and owned a wine bar in NYC for several years. Needless to say, I know the industry.

I booked an 8-day vacation at the all-inclusive Viva Maya Playa del Carmen (August 2-9,2024). I was traveling with my wife and my twin, 14-year-old girls, one of which has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. The resort was supposed to be wheelchair accessible. It was anything but.

When we checked in we were told that the elevator is not working because they are doing construction. When I asked when this happened they told me weeks ago. This meant that we were not given the third-floor, Superior Pool Room that we paid for. If I had known this before I left NYC I would have canceled and picked a different resort.

They gave us a ground-floor room, nowhere near the pool. It was horrible. The lanai faced the back of the hotel which was used for storage. The lanai was filthy, with used gloves and bottles strewn about. If that wasn't bad enough, the a/c in the room was broken. The temp outside had a real feel of 105 degrees and the room was not cool. I called the desk, and they sent someone to fix it, but it still did not work. We remained in the room overnight, but couldn't take it so I demanded a new room.

We were given a new room that was on the other side of the property. No one helped us move our luggage and we had to do it by ourselves during a torrential downpour. I want you to picture the four of us, moving luggage, and a child in a wheelchair during a major rainstorm. As we were moving, my wife fell, hit her head, and fractured her finger. She went to the doctor when we returned home (see attached doctor's report).

The room was not wheelchair accessible. The shower was not wheelchair accessible. It did not include grab bars or any support whatsoever. The wifi in the new room was essentially non-existent and only worked on one side of the room. If we went past one of the beds it stopped working. I could not even text my own family when they are in the same room, let alone anyone back home. We were supposed to get two Queen beds, we got two full-sized beds.

There are four restaurants on property. One is on the third floor and can only be accessed by climbing 45 steps (see attached pictures). There isn't an elevator to get to the restaurant. We then learned that we were only entitled to make reservations for three nights at these restaurants because our stay was only for 7 nights. What the hell is that about? I never heard of an all-inclusive resort having such an asinine rule. This too was never told to us nor mentioned on your website.

All other meals had to be eaten in the buffet restaurant. This restaurant also did not have an elevator. It was located on the third floor, doesn't have air conditioning, and can be accessed via three very long, steep ramps (see attached pictures). This too was never told to us nor mentioned on your website.

Let's talk about the drinks. If you like wine, don't come here. It is garbage. I'm not kidding. It is disgusting and probably the worst wine I have ever tasted. If you want good wine, expect to pay extra for it, with a minimum of $35 per bottle.

This place is NOT a real all-inclusive resort. This is listed as a 4-star resort. Seriously? It may be a 3-star at best, and that's pushing it