Hotel CasaBakal - A pie de Laguna - Bacalar

The lagoon setting is lovely, and the water sports team seemed experienced and popular. We asked them about excursions and they were very helpful. The restaurant breakfast was decent Mexican beach club food, nicely made but nothing special. Drinks at the bar cost extra, and it shut at 10 pm every night, which was frustrating since the center is at least a 30-minute walk away. The kitchen looked like a beach club kitchen, and there wasn't much extra to ask for, such as a domino set or board games. The big issue was the gap between the price and what we found. We booked CasaBakal through a major holiday site, and the photos made us expect a high-end hotel. We wanted something closer to all-inclusive, or at least large, well-equipped, clean rooms and service with food and drinks after hours. With more careful searching, we might have realized it was more of a different kind of stay, with shared bathrooms, but the photos online were misleading and didn't represent the place well. The lagoon location is great, though the town center is quite a walk away. The main building is past its best and looks weathered, like it needs investment. Our lower-category rooms were tiny cabins, each barely larger than the bed, with shared bathrooms and showers outside the rooms. That setup may have some charm, but not at prices on the level of five-star Cancun. Both cabins had door problems. One door stuck, and the other wouldn't close at all, so that cabin was moved to what seemed to be a standard room, which was bigger and had its own bathroom. We ended up with two standard rooms. One was by the street and much too noisy to sleep in, with every footstep audible, let alone a motorcycle. The other was in a better spot. Both were quite worn, with stained walls from humidity, troublesome light switches, and locks that took practice. Bugs also got inside and ran around. I know it's nature, but there were a lot of insects. The staff weren't at fault. Everyone was kind and tried hard, and some even tried to make up for the big difference between the price and what was offered. On the final night, after we complained about poor sleep in the street-side room, two family members were moved to what appeared to be a higher category, and that room was closer to what we expected from the website. It felt like a luxury youth hostel. That could be fine at a suitable price, but the way it's presented should match. We and apparently several other guests felt very disappointed and a bit robbed for what we paid. We should have checked more carefully before booking, but I hope they invest in the place. It has a lovely spot and could become a great hotel for locals and tourists.

We loved the restaurant's food and the staff were amazing. Everything felt beautiful and peaceful, from the room and pool to the incredible lagoon view. We had a really good three-day stay.

The furniture throughout the rooms, restaurant, pool area, and lakeside is very dated, and the facilities need maintenance. The old poolside chairs and lakeside beds weren't comfortable, and the chairs outside the room don't make a good first impression. We couldn't get clean swim towels when we asked. At breakfast there weren't enough cups for tea and juice, and service was slow. We waited 20 minutes for a cocktail even though the hotel wasn't full. A few straightforward investments could do a lot to improve the place.

The water sports staff were extremely professional, and the bar staff member somehow kept everything on track. The rest of the service felt untrained: basic instructions were missed, orders came out wrong, and staff seemed more focused on chatting with each other than helping guests. We booked a glamping cabin on the water, expecting a more luxurious stay, but this wasn't it. Ours was basically a mattress on the floor with an air conditioner, almost no storage, no bathroom or shower, and mold around the edges. The shared facilities were two combined shower and toilet rooms for 14 guests plus restaurant users. We often had to wait for a toilet, and after showering we had to walk through a crowded restaurant, which felt uncomfortable. The bathrooms seemed almost never to be cleaned. They were moldy, smelled awful, and lacked basic cleanliness. Most days we chose to bathe in the lagoon because it felt cleaner than using those bathrooms. Overall, the amenities were quite run down. This wasn't worth the money, and we won't come back. The facilities need updating, and the accommodation should be shown honestly.