I traveled to Playa Del Carmen so you don’t have to.
Since DC MEXICO is coming up in a few months, this past week I flew to Playa Del Carmen to explore our new venue, test out food options, and of course, determine which rock band on the beach covers Jon Bon Jovi's 1984 hit "Runaway" with the highest level of fidelity.
Yes, I am willing to do the hard things.
Here's my report!
First, a quick word on our host city. There's no question that Playa is no Mexico City as a travel destination. But what it lacks in cultural sights, Michelin stars, and multi-year livability, it makes up in convenience and fun.
We chose to host DC MEXICO in Playa because we'll maximize the amount of time we're spending with each other.
Let's take a look…
To get to Playa Del Carmen, the easiest way is to book a flight to Cancun.
From Austin, Texas it took me 2.5 hours.
I was lucky there was no line at immigration, so I was officially stamped into Mexico 10 minutes after landing.
Depending on the time of day, it's a ~45min / 1hr drive from Cancun to Playa Del Carmen. There's a bunch of transportation at the airport. The staff there are friendly and helpful.
One fun option is to book premium vehicles from a company like STP Caribe. You can get a fancy SUV or limo, and you can order drinks or snacks to ride to playa in style.
The drivers are friendly and professional.
Mexico is unique in that they have beverage stations (the locals call them "bars") directly outside of the airport exits.
In the interest of testing, I ordered this exotic mango margarita. It was delicious, and although not strictly approved by Andrew Huberman, I found my focus and mood improved slightly during the drive.
When we arrived at the Grand Hyatt I noted that it is directly smack dab in the middle of all the action.
Step outside of the resort and there's 100's of restaurants, bars, activities, services, shops, and more. All along the lively walking street of "5th avenue."
Step back inside the Hyatt, and there's tons of common spaces to spend time together.
Most of the rooms face the large lobby area. There's tons of seating and places to hang out.
They serve great sushi and drinks as you overlook the beach.
We walked down to the beach to check out the sand and water.
Here's looking back from the stairs back at our venue.
The beach and water were great. I know there is a lot of seaweed at times in PDC, but there's resort staff who clean it in the mornings.
There's multiple pools to choose from right on the water.
It's easy to grab a snack anywhere on the property…
On the right of this photo, you can see the ferry that takes people to Cozumel, a famous diving destination.
I love reading books on the beach.
I grabbed a free lounge chair (included in resort stay) and read this great title by Paul Millerd.
For those of you who prefer working out, they have a lap pool in the spa complex.
There's a decent gym if you're sculpting a beach body.
The conference facilities are just below the main lobby. There's a lot of breakout rooms as well as a big ballroom.
What impressed me most about the venue from a conference perspective was the abudance of quality spaces to have conversations.
Even though there's 100's of shops just outside the property, you never need to leave the place if you don't want to. Look at this stylish swimwear just by the check-in desk! Don't worry if you forget your Crocs.
Here's the view from my "partial ocean view" room. It was nice! My room didn't have a big desk workspace like they do in the Conrad (instead, they have a table). But otherwise, the rooms are spacious with nice touches.
When you ask for extra pillows, they say "what kind sir."
Which is nice or awkward depending on how much you know about pillows.
For those of you with kiddos, they have an excellent indoor/outdoor play area. You can drop your kids off there, but if they are very young, they need to be accompanied.
The spa facilities at the Hyatt are beautiful. The enclosure above is an artificial cenote.
There's a small pool inside that fits about 15 or 20 people.
I didn't want to pull out my camera and be 'that guy' though.
The massage rooms look nice!
They also had full cold plunge and sauna rooms, but I didn't take any photos in there either.
In the evening, we decided to leave the Hyatt to see what's what around town.
Playa is easy to stroll around and find stuff to do. It's all walkable. This street is leafy and quiet, but many of the main streets are filled with holiday makers and lively restaurants.
If you find yourself missing Thailand, there's a good place close to the venue.
Food at "Don Mario" close to our hotel.
The food in Playa is remarkable for its quality, and perhaps a little bit out of left field, the Italian food in PDC is excellent. The reason is obvious: if you reverse the Mexican flag, it becomes the Italian flag.
It all makes sense.
One of the nicest steak places in Playa is called "Harry's."
It's a great place to discuss business deals!
I told the staff "please don't bring me the cotton candy thing."
They brought it anyway, and apologized: "…it's Harry's protocol, sir."
I share this as a way of saying, the staff and service were friendly all around.
There's music everywhere in Playa!
These guys did not know Runaway by Jon Bon Jovi, though.
After walking around all evening, I finally found the very best cover band in Playa del Carmen just a few doors down from our hotel. Their rendition of Jon Bon Jovi's Runaway was a 9/10, so I asked them for their card and will continue to follow their career on Instagram.
Having been satisfied by timeless rock jams, we contentedly wondered back to our hotel.
Here's what the entrance looks like from the street.
All in all, we had a wonderful 3 days at the Hyatt. I did consider extending, but figured I'd save it for May.
I believe it's going to be a great canvas for us to build DC stories.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all on the beach, talking business, having fun, and enjoying DC traditions in a new location.
Dan Andrews 🤘
PS, our events are 100% for members who’ve been through our vetting process. You can read more about our Mexico event here.