KABAH Cancun Hotel Boutique

The staff are friendly, but there’s a lot that needs improvement. The elevator wasn’t working. They blamed the weather, though the reviews make it seem like this happens often. From the street, it’s a long flight of stairs, especially with luggage, followed by more stairs to reach the room. I saw a guest who needed a wheelchair taking her time going up the shaky, floating-style stairs. Even as a full-size person, I felt uneasy walking down with heavy bags. I hope management puts money into the infrastructure and linens.

The reception staff were polite and nice, and I hope these comments help the hotel improve. Still, we had a bad stay, even knowing it wasn’t an expensive place. Anyone booking should be ready for some problems. The rooms smelled terrible. In room 107, the A/C didn’t work properly, so expect a hot night. In room 106, shower water wouldn’t drain. The shared areas had no A/C either, so it was hot everywhere. The TV had no cable channels, and it couldn’t connect to the internet for Netflix, so there was nothing to watch. Breakfast was offered, but the place was empty and nobody came to take our order, so we left. At Residence Inn by Marriot Hotel Zone, where I stayed the next few days, the hotel was excellent. It cost about $600 pesos more per night. Check the reviews, you won’t regret it.

We needed to be near different places since we weren’t on vacation, and this worked out well. Costco is just across the street, Walmart is a four-minute drive, and there are plenty of restaurants nearby. It’s close to the mall, not far from the airport, and still near the resort area, which felt safe. The room was nice and had a pretty good view, so ask for the third floor if you can. Staff were friendly, and the price was a great deal. Breakfast was homemade each morning, and there’s a small gym and a rooftop pool too, though I didn’t get to check out the pool.

The room had a few usable things: the AC worked fine, and the shower was nice when it worked, though there was no hot water in the morning. The TV only got three local channels and wouldn’t connect to WiFi, so streaming wasn’t possible. After we came back from a walk, the room smelled like garbage, food waste, and exhaust. Check-in took about an hour. The woman at the desk stayed on the phone the whole time, and there was a lot of confusion and miscommunication that could have been sorted out if she’d hung up and helped us. They charged a 2000 peso deposit and ran our cards multiple times for reasons we still don’t know. Checkout was just as ridiculous, also taking an hour because the woman at the desk wasn’t handling things and was wasting our time. We finally got the deposit back and left. The hotel shares its building with several restaurants and a tapas bar we were excited to try, but they never opened. It’s a 30-minute walk downtown. Costco is across the street, with a few other restaurants around the corner. We wouldn’t stay here again. There are cheap, decent hotels around that would be glad to have your business and give you far better service and a better stay.