Royal Hideaway to Chichen Itza
 

We will be staying at the Royal Hideaway Playacar and are interested in seeing Chichen Itza. Can anybody tell me how far it is and any recomendation on how to get there(rent a car, hire taxi, bus tour etc.)?

Take the bus tour ,it's an all day trip.
You will have lunch there with a Mexican band playing and some nice little Mexican girls doing a dance for you, and a guided tour to explain all about Chichen Itza.
The Mexican call it "Chicken Pizza"( for a joke)
Percy

We did a bus tour in December. We were on the bus longer than we were at Chichen Itza. The buffet was horrible, the guide mediocre. I'm sure some tour set ups are better than others. But, personally, if we had it to do over again, I would bargain for an all-day rate with one of the taxi drivers.

When we stayed at the Iberostar Tucan, we found a tour outfit in Playa del Carmen that offered a much cheaper package than you can find at the hotels. It was a van, not a bus--so no toilet, etc.--but there was only a small group of us, which definitely had its advantages. Made several pit stops (always with shopping opportunities, of course), the tacky show with (passable) lunch, a lovely swim at a cenote, and lots of time at Chichen Itza. Our guide was excellent; you would really miss out on a lot if you didn't have one. Overall it was a fun experience, with plenty of activity (we had three young kids with us, and they enjoyed it--didn't mind the time in the van). The other folks aboard were interesting. I don't think we would have enjoyed it as much if we'd gone on our own.

Sandra,
Do you remember the name of the tour outfit? Renting a car in Mexico makes me really nervous, so we need to find a tour company. Did you take any other tours?
Thanks

Consider this: tours usually leave 8:00am and return after 7:30pm. They will stop for food and shopping (nothing great). A guide will usually be provided, usually 1 for 30+ people. They get to the ruins about 12:30-1:00pm which depending on the time of the year is very hot and crowded. On the way back they will stop at a cenote for snorkeling, swimming, etc. Prices are from $50-70/person.

Personally, I would rent a car. A one day car rental cost $70 for a 4 door with A/C (we were there in August). We left PDC area around 7:00-ish, got to the ruins about 10:30am. The parking lot had maybe 4 cars and no buses. We spent 2 hours there and upon leaving, the parking lot had many cars and buses, the line to get in was 75 people or more, plus it was now extremely hot. We were able to drive back to the resort by 3:30pm and still had plenty of time for other things.

Many little cool places to stop and shop on the way. We took the road to Tulum and then across (near Coba) which had many critters to look at on the way. The spiders were the size of basketballs!

We took a regular bus (from Cancun), but if doing it again I would definitely take a car. We got to the site around 11:00, after taking the earliest possible bus. The earlier you can arrive the better - crowds and heat. If you don't want to rent, do consider the suggestion above about hiring a taxi for the day. We used a taxi to go from Tulum to Coba, For about 1 1/2 hours of driving and two hours at the site, we paid $35. Of course, you will need much more time for the drive to Chichen-Itza and should allow at least three hours for the site itself.

We did Chichen Itza from the hideaway on a luxury bus tour. It was a bit more money but the bus had comfortable seats with arm rests, air conditioning and food and drink included on board. This made the long drive quite comfortable. I don't remember the name of the tour operator but there was only one that offered this service so the hotel will know it.