We have just come back from a 10 beautifully relaxing days at this fantastic resort. We’ll touch on a few areas that were of concern to hopefully help others through the myriad of negative reviews which in most ways seem unjust to us. We travelled as a family of 3 (2 adults and one infant at 20 months old)
Firstly - we travel a lot. We know a poor hotel from a good one! This is an excellent hotel and should receive wide praise. The property is fresh, clean and constantly being tended to by staff. One of the most beautiful modern properties we have stayed in. We had a standard nature view room in Casa 5, close to the splash park and Vela Sur / bar 360. Given the all inclusive concept, we would go as far to say the best we have stayed in bar the Maldives (which was a Pullman, I would say was similar standard).
The property at a low occupancy for the majority of our stay apart from conferences that were taking place. You rarely cross paths apart from shuttles and breakfast. The low capacity did change drastically just before our departure.
What we loved:
•The choice - there is food everywhere all the time! Want a sandwich? Head to Le Churriea, want street food? Vela Sur covers you for lunch.. want it to your sun-bed? Sea Salt has you covered… the only thing you need to decide is how you want to spend your day and choose the pool area accordingly.
The pools and splash park ahead of Casa 6 bring a family vibe, the pools directly near Sea Salt and Casa 2 bring a more chilled Ibiza style whilst the ‘main’ pools near the lobby / beach bring an all rounder feel (one being adults only).
There is something available all the time in terms of food offer. Don’t be put off the buffets can close. There is plenty of option and just plan accordingly.
The 24/7 cafe is a god send if you have children, especially when you have travelled from the UK and the time difference means they are awake at 2:30 wanting breakfast!
We have seen temperature of food mentioned as an issue. We never felt this was a problem.
•The property - the property is stunning. Not much more I can say here, but we were impressed. Clean, well presented and maintained. The location is remote (15 min taxi ride to Tulum & 40 mins from Playa Del Carmen) We never felt this an issue, however as a family not really wanting to venture out at night, we used the length and breadth of what the property had to offer to our advantage. We did a few trips which did feel unnecessarily lengthy due to the location, but we knew this ahead of time, so was our choice.
The rooms are spacious which they had plenty of storage (a rare find!)
•Service - Mainly outstanding, we may have been spoilt as the property was so quiet. At one point we were the only people around the splash park and pool adjacent combined! We had 5-6 employees serving us and us only!
It did lead to some too attentive service in the à la carte restaurants (getting through three courses on less than an hour!) but we’re not complaining! But also, what’s the rush!!?
We asked to extend our time in the room the final day which was just done. No fuss, no charge, just ‘let us update your bracelets’. This is always something I dread facing into when we have late departing flights. Here however, was a dream.
Our daughter was always made to feel welcome, which was also a plus for us! Staff were constantly acknowledging her and making sure she was ok through us. She loved the attention!
On bracelets… we preferred them to key cards. Again people complain about them. Not sure why?!?
Let’s do the areas that missed the mark for us and when I say ‘missed the mark’ I mean, ever so slightly… I wouldn’t drop a star because of it!
•Beach - there is a beach. It isn’t long and sandy. Rather adequate and rocky. It does the job, and is lovely, but don’t expect long romantic walks!
•Room Service - the menu is limited given the vast array elsewhere across the property. One night we ordered 4 glasses of wine which we knew would roughly equate to a bottle. Rather than leave the bottle the staff member continued to pour the wine into
glasses. A small thing but was just like ‘why?!?’ In terms of timings of delivery… all fine!
•Conferences - I’m putting this for no other reason than I know some may be concerned. They didn’t bother us at all! But the buffets do close in the evening when large conferences take place. There are plenty of options to dine. Use them! We had the HPN conference whilst there as well as another I can’t remember the name of! The catering for these events takes a good deal of capacity, and is obviously a market this property wants to play in, therefore be prepared and check what’s on before you go.
As mentioned, it didn’t bother us at all, but some of the people attending the conference felt they were privileged over you to be there!
•Tipping - this is only something I raise as had one incident which left a sour taste. We get tipping is widely expected in this part of the world, but it is at the customers discretion. Our last evening meal we took at Auma (probably our favourite amongst all the à la carte restaurants). Previous nights we felt no pressure to tip should we not want to, the level of service is something I expect at a Hilton hotel. We did receive, what I would class as the service akin to the resort, but after our meal, we were almost chased down for a tip. Sorry… not how it works in my book! Take that as you will. Was one very small incident which I believe worth raising.
•Capacity service - I know I covered this in our things we loved… the property was quiet, very quiet when we were there. Sometimes us being one of two tables at breakfast at 8am in a room that seats at least 200! I understand it’s not like this all the time, and September being the quietest of months.
That all changed in 15th September as many came to celebrate Mexican Independence Day (16th September). The property went from quiet to what felt like full over night, which was welcome to have some atmosphere! The pool areas were now buzzing as well as the buffet restaurants open and serving to the masses. We only really noticed at breakfast but service for the likes of Coffee delivery / items missing from the buffet / staff not wanting to replenish (had incidence where pancakes wouldn’t be made even an hour before the buffet closed) took a hit. We were probably spoilt before as the buffet felt more what we were used to at All Inclusive buffets, that said, in the past we have had better organisation at high end hotels such as this during peak times. If management can sort this, the resort would fly at anytime!
In conclusion, would we recommend this resort? In a heartbeat… a few minor areas could take this resort from brilliant to the best in class in the area. Working in hospitality, I know it takes cost to throw at these minor things to achieve that, and probably isn’t worth it from the managements side to do so. Even without this, the hotel gets a huge applause from us. Thank you for a lovely stay and would not hesitate to book again should we come back to Tulum.
