Book Your Riviera Maya Vacation with LocoGringo.com

Don’t let the name of this brilliant booking site fool you! It might be an irreverent term for “crazy white person,” but the folks behind this Riviera Maya vacation reservation website are anything but nuts – LocoGringo.com agents are friendly, patient and oh-so knowledgeable about the Riviera Maya, which stretches from Puerto Morelos (just south of Cancun) all the way down to Tulum on Mexico’s eastern coast. It’s a favorite vacation destination for my family (we’ve been at least a half dozen time since my daughter was born in 2000), and now that I’ve discovered LocoGringo.com, I likely won’t ever book a trip there without consulting the site first.

My most recent (and first!) experience booking with LocoGringo.com was a complicated one — but reservationist Natalia handled all of the back-and-forth emails and my incessant questions with ease. You see, my extended family – husband’s siblings, their spouses and their children plus my mother in law – are all heading to Playa del Carmen this summer for two weeks to attend Spanish language class. That’s 13 of us, and we wanted three separate condos within walking distance to the school, located in downtown Playa.

My sister-in-law Kerry actually filled out the reservations inquiry online to begin the process. She had booked with LocoGringo.com before; I took over once we received an email back from Natalia with rates for some condos that Kerry had found close to the school by perusing  the LocoGringo.com accommodations options in Playa). From there, I think Natalia and I emailed back and forth more than a dozen times over the course of a couple weeks. I had a bunch of questions about the cancellation policy (it’s generous), the bed configurations in the condominiums, exactly where the condo units were located in the complex, how could we transfer to the condos from the airport, whether this was the best place for us given our budget… with every question I asked, Natalia responded quickly and with such grace! I felt like the most bothersome client, but she never made it seem like I was annoying her at all — which I very much appreciated!

The crystal-clear Caribbean Sea is just one reason why I love visiting the Riviera Maya.

Needless to say, because Natalia was so patient, and because she could quickly get me the factual information I needed, I felt completely at ease booking many thousand dollars worth of condo reservations through LocoGringo.com. I was confident we were getting the best deal out there — indeed I did some comparison shopping on other websites, and nothing could come close to what LocoGringo.com could offer.

Another plus for booking with LocoGringo.com — the operation is based in Akumal, on the Riviera Maya. LocoGringo.com CEO Kay Walten makes her home in the Riviera Maya, and all of the reservationists have either lived there at one time, live there now or visit the area regularly. Truly, these people know the Riviera Maya intimately. Just check out the site and all of the vacation information on the multiple pages of things to do and see. It’s an excellent travel guide for visitors to the beautiful Mexican coast.

For still more firsthand advice of where to stay, eat and play in the Riviera Maya, check out the LocoGringo.com forums, which have been going strong for 15 years. Holy cow, these are some hopping bulletin boards! It’s an awesome place to ask specific questions about where you might book your lodging (i.e. “Is the beach in front of XYZ hotel good for snorkeling?”); chances are someone on the forum has been there recently, and can answer with firsthand information. What a nifty community made up of people who truly love the Riviera Maya!