Torre Diez by Grupo Amber

The location was the highlight. Torre Diez is a block from Chedraui and Quinta Avenida, and Playa del Carmen became one of my favorite cities in the Riviera Maya. The front desk team was very helpful: they let us use the laundry facilities and shared tips about getting around, transportation, food, and places to spend time. The hostess was very apologetic about the problems, though I’m not sure we’d stay again. We had trouble getting extra towels from the host, so we eventually bought one at Chedraui for an eye-gouging $22. The electric stove also made cooking painfully slow because the supplied pots and pans didn’t have the right magnets for the range. The hostess didn’t seem to understand that and gaslighted us, saying electric stoves take longer than gas ones. That may be true, but the wrong cookware was the main issue, and we had to drop some plans to cook more. There were also problems with the shower. The pressure was low, and the towel hook was inside the shower, so our towel got wet. I took apart the showerhead and found rock or mineral buildup. Clearing it fixed the pressure, but they should replace the showerhead. The biggest issue came on checkout morning, when a power outage after a rainstorm affected a good part of Playa del Carmen. The building’s plumbing runs on an electric pump, so we had to find a bathroom elsewhere just as we were supposed to leave. That was a serious crisis. Locals told us outages are frequent during rainy season. It clearly wasn’t the hostess’s fault, but it’s a major infrastructure problem to be aware of in a city where power cuts happen often.

We loved our stay and will definitely come back. The rooms were clean, spacious, and nice, and the location was amazing.

A lovely classic apartment in a condominium, with a spacious room. The location was excellent, close to 5th Avenue and especially the beach.