Condo Magia Garden Paradise

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 the least. The staff here is amazing, rapid to respond to anything. If you were like us and stayed in resorts because it 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 leftovers, you can take them back to your condo!

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 replenish the beach sand naturally. 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. The gym is minimal, but my biggest complaint is there is A/C but no way to turn it on. 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 a keypad, and the code is quite long. The keypad does not light in the evening, 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 we had to carry a phone with us at night after a couple of struggles. Noise – I would not recommend any unit that faces Calle 1st. You get trucks, motorcycles, and LOUD party people passing by frequently. 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. We had a couple of inconsiderate groups during our stay 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 earplugs. Hotel Transportation - I would not recommend it. At pickup, instead of our driver being right outside the door with our names and 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. We’re stressed and decided we’ll take a cab at the curb if we find him. The other problem is on our departure date, and 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 at the airport for 3.5 hours. I immediately contacted the office and was told they would try to move the pickup time back, but ultimately they 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 stayed at 202B Magia for one week. The condo was spacious and recently renovated. (Very nice accommodations, everything was top notch and exactly what you need.) We also enjoyed the pool. Security was attentive, and the front desk was thoughtful. I would return, except the condo has sliding glass doors that face out to 1st and 5th, and you can hear everything. I woke up almost every hour, but the trends seemed to be 2 am and 4 am mostly. Drunk people having a great time and yelling or just the opposite but still yelling. It's too bad because we visit Playa del Carmen a lot and we're hoping we found the one, but the noise was just too much.

My husband and I have not been to Mexico in 4 long years, so we decided to go this Jan.2017 for 10 days. We have stayed at the Mayan Villas and the El Tag before. I found the Magia through the condo-hotel site and thought it looked nice. Professional pics always look great. So we arrived and checked in at the Porto Playa reception, which went ok. The front desk seems to be not too confident in what they are telling you. Maybe it's the English because we were never given wrist bands and were stopped by the security guard the next day, wondering who we were. Not a big deal. Ummm, the penthouse #2 we rented is extremely dim in lighting. Ladies, if you are getting ready to go out at night, get ready before the sun sets; otherwise, it's tough to see. The bathroom is the same, very dim. The hot tub didn't work at all during our stay. They tried to fix it, but I'm not sure why they did not know this before checking in? We got $ back, but it was a selling feature for the condo. Oh, and there are 75 air conditioners right outside your windows, so it's never quiet.BUT on a positive staff very friendly, no loud, rowdy people, close to Indigo beach 5th ave a block away quiet pool felt very safe. I would stay again but in a different unit.

We rented the Magia beachside condo on the third floor. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms with a full kitchen. The staff was 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!

Nice condo unit with view of the ocean and pool. We stayed in the studio suite with a hanging bed that gave us a spectacular view of the ocean. Some of the pitfalls were the hot tub wouldn't get above 94 degrees, the bathroom needed a new shower head and more water pressure, and there were no glass or screens on the wall full of windows. Definitely a huge difference between staying in a condo with no amenities and staying in a resort with all the amenities.