O Tulum Hotel - Adults Only

We stayed two nights and wouldn’t call it a favorite. The location has great ocean views and is very close to the water, but the beach is too rocky for swimming. It’s a long way from Tulum’s hub, down a dirt road full of potholes. The room was affordable, and the A/C worked. The property was more run down than the online photos suggested, with little maintenance. Broken wooden stairs felt unsafe, and the shower floor seemed like it could give way at any moment. Our room wasn’t cleaned during our stay, and we had to ask for towels and water. Most of the towels were stained. Drinks and beers cost more than at other local places, even more than the higher-end restaurant where we had dinner. That put us off eating and drinking at the hotel. We would have paid more for a properly maintained property like the one in the photos, and would have eaten and drunk here if the prices hadn’t felt so gouging.

The beach was rocky and unsafe to enter, and the sand was littered with plastic bottles, bags, and other debris. When I asked the owner about the trash, she blamed the ocean bringing it in instead of arranging for staff to clean it. In three days, nobody picked it up. A senior host had also pointed out the plastic but left it there. I saw a staff member toss supermarket bleach into a pool without measuring it or taking safety precautions, which seemed like an attempt to cover up the problem. The pools all had murky green water, and the balcony jacuzzis were filthy with green water too. Cleanliness in the room was awful. There was hair all over the shower walls and floors, both cat and human. Two cats roam the property and seemed to have access to every room, leaving allergens behind. I’m allergic to cats, and my night was unbearable. We also found used water bottles under the TV furniture. The room jacuzzi was useless because there was no hot water to fill it and the pressure was poor. The photos online were misleading. The check-in process was terrible. We had to sign a leasehold agreement over five pages, provide a copy of our credit card in case of fraud, and pay an undisclosed pet fee that we only learned about after signing. The agreement listed extra charges for stained linen and even for losing the keychain, yet the linens were old and stained already. After that first impression, the run-down property felt neglected and dirty.

We had such kind, welcoming, and helpful staff, and really enjoyed our stay. I just wish we’d had more time to enjoy the pools and ocean.

Cynthia, the desk attendant, was a star and always polite. I also liked the dinner menu. Those were the bright spots in a stay I was glad to finish. At check-in, after a long flight, I was handed a leasehold agreement over five pages long. I’ve stayed at five-star hotels around the world and never had to sign one or provide a copy of my credit card in case of fraud. An extra pet fee wasn’t mentioned until after I’d signed. There was also a whole page of charges for stained linen and even losing the keychain, while the linens in the room were already old and stained. If it hadn’t been after a long flight, I would have refused and found somewhere else. The property was run down and outdated. Rotten wooden paths felt dangerous, and an accident did happen. There was no immediate backup generator after a power cut. Room service was poor, and the pools looked like dirty puddles. The cenote or lagoons seemed cleaner. The beach was unusable. Water shoes were offered to protect our feet, but even getting to the water or loungers was difficult, and the loungers were falling apart. The beachfront location was the main selling point, but nobody mentioned the rocky shore has no sea access. I won’t complain about sargazo, since that’s natural, but the senior host pointed out plastic rubbish and said, “oh it’s not ours, it’s brought in by the tide.” She didn’t have staff pick it up, and over our three-day stay only another guest did. Shocking. The hotel is also far from attractions, shops, and restaurants, at the end of a terrible unpaved road that takes over 12 minutes to drive. They should warn guests or suggest a 4x4 or quad bike. The road is like driving through craters. The room was an okay size, but after signing that contract I expected it to be immaculate. I counted more than 10 stains on the sheets, duvet, bathrobes, and towels. There was no hot water, only lukewarm at best. The Nespresso machine had no pods, and there was no kettle.