Condo Magia Garden Paradise

We rented the magia beachside condo on the third floor. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms with full kitchen. The staff were able to go and get groceries for us when we emailed a list. There was a small fee for this but given that the closest grocery store was a 15 minute walk it was well worth it. The view from the condo included the water but it was not facing the ocean. Pools were clean and quiet. At night you will need a flashlight to enter the code to get in- too dark. Security 24 hours was comforting for three women. Housekeeping did a great job. Front desk staff eager to help. A great place to stay!

Location - Great, walking distance to just about everything. One block to the beach. However, 24 hours (well past the cancellation period) before my arrival the hotel notified me there had been a storm and it would take time to naturally replenish the beach sand. I’m not sure what they were saying because I had visited the property one week before (again well past the cancellation date) and the beach was no worse than it was on my arrival date. Don’t be surprised if you get this late notification. The beach area is not very nice, no chairs, narrow beach, hawkers trying to sell you fishing trips and fishing boats with their anchor lines well up on the beach area. The main office for all the properties they manage offers a shuttle to another beach about four times a day but it’s about 15 minutes each way. Grounds – lovely and well maintained Staff- Friendly and helpful. Great security felt safe and again very nice. Gym it’s minimal but my biggest complaint is there is A/C but no way to turn it on. Breakfast plan- The beach restaurant about two blocks from Magia is not very good which is too bad because it was nice to eat on the beach. The other option on Calle 1st (about one block away) is excellent! Try the “green juice” in the morning it’s quite good. Property – Some issues. The doors entering the property are electric with no attendant. They open by keypad and the code is quite long. In the evening the keypad does not light so we had difficulty entering the code without our phone lights. I like to leave the phones in the room when we go out especially at night but after a couple of struggles we had to carry a phone with us at night. Noise – I would not recommend any unit that faces Calle 1st you get trucks, motorcycles and LOUD party people passing by frequently. Also the entry area to the elevators is unfinished concrete and combined with the adjoining open star wells it is an echo chamber which exacerbates the noise problem. During our stay we had a couple of inconsiderate groups who while waiting for the elevator would hoot and holler until the guard came over. You rarely get that in a hotel at this price level but at least that’s temporary the traffic is not. Our unit had 20-foot glass windows facing the street with enormous plastic shades. Every time the A/C started the air blows these large shades against the window frames. I got up the first two times because I thought someone was trying to break in. Finally, we figured out what was happening. So if you are noise sensitive bring ear plugs. Hotel Transportation - Would not recommend. At pickup instead of our driver being right outside the door with our names along with all the drivers he was leaning against a post as far away as you could be without being in the parking lot. So we were looking at all these drivers and none of them have our names. So now we’re stressed and decided we’ll just take a cab at the curb did we find him. The other problem is on our departure date we were notified by the airlines one hour before our scheduled car pickup that our flight was delayed by 1.5 hours. The hotel car service requires that you leave three hours in advance of your flight one-hour driving time and two hours for international check in. So we were now looking waiting in the airport 3.5 hours. I immediately contacted the office and was told they would try to move the pickup time back but ultimately the could not. For that reason, you are better of using a taxi o one of the many local car services. We hope this will be helpful to fellow travelers.

We rented a 2 bedroom condo here, and we loved it. We have been coming to Playa since 2000 and have always stayed at a resort. This was the first time we tried a condo and it was a hit for our Family of 3. The 2 bedroom condos are very roomy and the complex is very very quiet. You do get a little road noise at night time but this did not bother us in least. The staff here is amazing, vey quick to respond to anything. If you were like us and have stayed in resorts because it just seemed easier, try a condo once. All of the restaurants that we walked to were unreal and were amazing! And don't worry if you have left overs you can take them back to your condo!