The Grand Mayan , Mayan Palace and Sea Garden are all in one Acapulco location but worlds apart in their quality. The Mayan Palace is 15 years old and the rooms show it. The pool is fine because it is shared with the Grand Mayan . The Sea Garden is about 12 years old and is very isolated from the Grand Mayan and Mayan Palace. So if you are booking an RCI stay do what ever you can to upgrade to the Grand Mayan which is a fabulous place to stay. You might try calling the week before you go and say you have to upgrade or cancel?
The food is overpriced but most resorts are this way. It requires a taxi to go anywhere and I can recommend Rubin or Edel edel_genchi@hotmail.com
The weather is tropical. The rainy season starts in May (supposedly but we saw no rain May 10-17) This means you might have periods of rain, especially in the afternoon and evenings, and some stormy weather too. The dry season is November to April and it gets progressively hotter each month.
The pools are

My wife and I and another couple in or late 50's stayed the first week in April. This was the 3rd Mayan Palace where we have vacationed and the best. We are owners and we found the property to be one of the most beautiful. Everything went fantastic from check in to check out. The meals were very good to excellent, including the snack bar with the best club sandwich. The pool area was second to none and the beach was super. Yes there was construction going on but nothing that bothered us. The only thing we can say negitive about the Mayan Palace is it's in the middle of BFE.

The best thing you can do is to hire Angel Flores as your driver/tour guide. He knows the best places to go for shopping,dinner and a city tour. He's english is very good and he's Town Car is spotless and very comfortable. He goes out of his way to do a great job for you. My wife and I are taking our 2 adult kids when we go back over Thanksgiving and we have already booked Angel.

Had a great time in Acapulco Mex. The mayan Palace was a very nice place to stay. Staff was helpful as could possibly be, management did little to enhance the experiance.

If you do not happen to be an owner at the resort, you get treated just a tad differently. This is evidenced by the different colored wristbands issued at checkin.

We were promised ocean view, but had no luck with the front desk. We were promised an upgrade if one became available.
On Monday, after what seemed like a mass exodus from the resort, it was very apparent that there were some vacancies, as the place was virtually empty. Still no consideration.

I did enjoy myself, things all considered. We were lucky enough to be snatched up by a very accomodating cab driver/tour guide named Ricardo Alvarez. 044-74-41-38-37-43 cell #. This fellow was knowledgeable about the whole scene in Acapulco. Any destination, dining, shopping etc., he is the man. Enjoy.

Stayed at the Mayan Palace Acapulco for one week (April 26 - May 3, 2008). I was joined by a guest. Originally there were to be four or five of us, but the unit, which was secured through a timeshare exchange, was supposedly comfortable to sleep five. Plain and simple, five would have been uncomfortable. Four would be the max. Second, and this is the most important point: You are greeted with lush landscapes, breathtaking views, marble floors, a "Mayan" theme and a pool and beach that does not disappoint. However, if you are staying at the Mayan Palace, I'm a little perplexed about the other reviewers on this posting board. Coming from a timeshare home resort that was a "prime" location, with a "prime" week, to be placed in the Mayan Palace (not to be confused with the Grand Mayan, which also shares the same property), it was nothing short of resembling a cheap motel. It was old and dated, the furniture (sofa, chairs, coffee table, etc.) showed wear and tear and were dingy. Never mind that depending on your unit location, if you looked out your door you were looking at the workers/cleaning area gathering spot, and if you looked out the sliding glass doors leading to the "not wide enough to stand on" balcony, you were looking into an enormous dirt pit complete with bulldozers, dump trucks and noise from sun up. When you walk into the grand lobby area, you're greeted with awe, marble, an infinity pool, lounging areas, with soothing winds, the Mayan puts on a "good show", but if you are staying at the Mayan Palace, off you go to some no-man's land adjacent and overlooking a construction site--that, I might add, you get to walking over a makeshift walkway. Not exactly what you might expect, especially if you take a short walk in the opposite direction to the Grand Mayan and you see a stark contrast--a much newer and fresher set of accommodations, Euro-style fixtures and furniture (whether you like them or not), balconies that you can actually stand on and want to stand on. Things, ladies and gentlemen, are not always as they seem. (The sickly fat rat that was suffering underneath the lounge chair on the marbled floor around the infinity pool should have been a sign of things to come. I had to take a photo.) Again, the Mayan Resorts puts on a "good show" but turn right and you're in a completely different world, especially as a timeshare owner of a "prime" resort and week and you would be appalled. Don't bother contacting anyone at the resort to assist you -- they won't return your call. I guess the blessing is, the lush landscapes and the pool. As a side note, you pay for everything possible at this resort, which is supposedly one of the best in Acapulco, from the Internet Cafe to the Aqua Park. If you have more than one child, forget it. It all adds up because the cost is per day per child and adult. They actually have a DJ that spins tunes at night, but either it wasn’t the right time of year for the younger set to be busting a groove or perhaps the Mayan does a poor job of reminding guests that this is something they have to offer. Well, if they don’t want people taking part, then that’s fine, but it’s such a waste. If you really want to go clubbing, hook up with one of the taxi drivers that know all about the hot spots and make arrangements. As for taxi drivers, we enlisted the help and services of one, Edel Genchi. He was pleasant and willing to drive us around, and even tailored a full-day tour for our needs at a fraction of the cost of what the Mayan was offering, not to mention to be available to make trips to the Walmart (they also have a Costco, although we didn't go). So what do they have at the resort other than the extra long pool, and sandy beach that stretches for miles? They have several eating places on site, an open air bar (The Bar), they have a Spa with the usual offerings. We only ate at the resort twice. We found a great family-owned shack about 15 minutes down the beach to the left beyond the last resort, and the food was delicious and affordable. Yes, we took a chance, but we didn’t get sick. Edel also took us to a great restaurant and we were disappointed that we didn’t go to more instead of both times at the resort. The local food is so much better. Finally, a word to the wise: When you’re checking out, check your bill carefully. Although it may be minor, because this is a "cash-less" resort, meaning, they keep your credit card on file and while you stay at the resort your expenses get charged to your room via your room card, read it line for line. They tried to charge me for the resort-provided bottled water. Again, it may be minor, but how many times do we really check our hotel check-out bills carefully and how many times have Mayan Resorts charged guests for things that they didn't use or they simply didn't pertain to them? It all adds up and you may think it's just a simple mistake, but I thought it was calculated and it was insinuated that somehow I was "trying to pull a fast one." (I had a photo of the bottle still sitting where it did when we checked in. Plus, what in the world would we need their water for when it seems the entire resort knows the Walmart is a stone's throw away with items at 1/2 the price?) Just, a bit of advice: You have to look at the whole picture, not just the beauty that the resort may want you to walk away with when you leave. I didn't expect to be looking at a construction pit everyday, and even without that, the Mayan Palace has seen better days. It may not be there in another few years, as it will be demolished to make way for newer digs, but it's not what you would expect when you see the Grand Mayan in all the promotional pictures coming out of the Mayan Resorts seemingly trying to make it seem like that's what the Mayan Palace looks like. It doesn't. The photos are the Grand Mayan. Don't be taken!