We just got back from the Bahia Principe Tulum. We stayed in the Club Hasienda section on the far side of the Tulum resort.

My girlfriend and I were both very pleased with the resort. The rooms were well designed and maintained as were all the facilities and grounds. The staff and service was generally very good. The attention to detail in the resort in our opinion was excellent. The largeness of the resort in this case really seemed to work for us. It offered great variety of bars, pools, beach front and restaurants yet did not ever seem crowded even though the complex can accommodate a large number of people (mind you this is probably not the busy time either). We enjoyed the quality and the variety of the food in the main reastaurant (Yukatan) and could have been happy with this restaurant as much as any of the a la carte restaurants. Of the a la cartes on the Tulum side only the Don Paublo stood out. This more due to the quality service and environment than the food itself. Although we enjoyed our food at the Don Pablo there some we talked to who did not - I would still recommend one go for the dining experience.

The resort is also close to Xel ha (a popular water park / snorkeling area) and to the Tulum ruins. Both can be easily gotten to from this resort by Taxi or by Colectivo (excuse my spelling).

Some who have written on this sight have said that they preferred rooms in certain sections of the complex. From the outside all rooms and buildings appeared to be of equal quality so I am thinking that recommendation suggestions were based on how close you wanted to be to most of the pools, restaurants and swimable areas of the beach. The Hacienda section is further away from all of these which did not bother us but may not be what others want.

Anyway I could go on and on about this place but will leave it at this. We don't see how anyone but the most fussy could possibly be disappointed.

Hints:
- This place seems suited to couples mostly. There were a number of families as well who seemed to enjoy themselves. If you are looking for a party atmosphere this is not the place although they do offer the usual nightly entertainment (and disco if you want to keep going past 12:30.)

- If you are looking for sophisticated and lengthy water sports then this is not the place for you. The windsurf equipment is beginner only - big boards and small sails. Snorkels and Hobie cats are in short supply and you have to go onto a waiting list to get them. (I suggest you bring your own snorkel and mask if you like snorkeling). The beach is not well suited to water sports as there are a number of rocks and a long stretch of rock only a little way off shore. One good thing was that a good portion of the reef off shore was accessible within the swimable area and offered some good fish viewing.

The things that were not perfect:
- The practice of reserving chairs by putting towels on them and not showing up for hours. I think there would be enough chairs for everyone if this practice were not allowed but unfortunately the club does not do enough to openly discourage this (although I have been told the club does not support this practice). Therefore a number of people on the beach end up walking by unused chairs in beautiful locations.
- Water sport equipment was too little and low quality
- Beach is unswimable in many locations. This can be nice for those who want a more secluded area to veg so I don't think this is all bad.
- Building 27 might be one to stay away from. I think this is closer to the sewage treatment area. We detected a slight sewage smell when the tram would drive by this area.
- Conquest Vacations was generally very good. But their bus to and from the airport was old. Also, I would have preferred getting to the airport later on our return and enjoying another hour and a half at the Snack Bar rather than in the Cancun airport.

Well, that is it. Enjoy your stay here. I don't think you can be disappointed.

My husband and I spent our honeymoon at the Bahia Principe Tulum. We loved it. After our first step into the lobby we knew we had picked the best. The reception staff and Apple representatives were very helpful. We arrived at the resort around 12:30 and check-in isn't until 3pm, but our room was ready by the time we ate some lunch and got back to the desk. We were in Villa 14 which was a great location! We were steps away from the quieter pool, bar, and 24-hour snack bar. We were very close to the beach and were on the Akumal side of the resort so the beach was wonderful. The further you go towards the Tulum side, the more rocky the beach. We had heard rumor that you had to be on the beach at the crack of dawn to get a good chair with an umbrella. We were out around 9 or 10 each morning and had no problems, but I'm sure there are busier weeks than when we were there. We did notice that some people "reserved" their chairs the night before by leaving rocks on them. We just laughed and picked another umbrella! We took the advice of other Trip Advisor reviews and took beach shoes with us which we used a lot. The sand when you first get into the water is very rocky, and we stubbed our toes a lot if we didn't wear the shoes. Once you got past the initial rocks, the sand was wonderful, and on calm water days you could see lots of fish swimming around you. Most days there were yellow flags by our part of the beach, meaning that it was okay to swim, but that you had to be careful. There are man-made breakers, so most days even small children were okay in the water. The last day that we were there there were green flags out and that was the day we saw lots of fish and people were out snorkeling. The grounds were very well kept, and even after a big thunderstorm, groundskeepers were out picking up the leaves that fell from the bushes! Everyone is always smiling and willing to offer a friendly greeting. The food was fairly good. To be honest, most days it was just too hot to eat. We ate at the buffet and snack bar quite often for convenience sake and the food was good. There is a different theme every night at the buffet, so you can eat something different every time you go. The breakfast buffet is pretty much the same every day and the french toast is wonderful! They always have fresh juices and the honeydew juice is something we still talk about, it was so good. For meals, finding a table either near the center of the room by the fountain, or by a window is the best bet, as a good breeze can make you at least comfortable. We had a hard time with the heat and humidity. I'm a fairly heat-tolerant person, but there were days when it was unbearable if you weren't in the water. We had dinner reservations at Don Pablo and La Gran Tortuga. The food and service was wonderful and I would recommend both. Don Pablo is air conditioned, but when we went at 5:30pm, it was hot and stuffy. We ended up leaving because it was so hot it was making us sick. There was no movement in the air, and it got very stuffy. I believe as the night goes on and the air conditioning has time to take effect that it would be nice, but at 5:30 pm it was not. La Gran Tortuga is not air conditioned, but close enough to the beach that there is a great breeze. We got a table right next to a window, and opened it wide. Temperature wise that made it comfortable, but then we got attacked by the first and only mosquitoes we saw all week! We took only one excursion, the Mayan Adventure snorkeling tour. It was great. We went to three different sites to snorkel. We saw great fish in the lagoon and ocean, an incredible underground cave, and a beautiful cenote. It was around 75USD per person, but worth every cent. We did some shopping for souveniers at the Hacienda Dona Isabel, which was only a few minute walk away, but it seemed like most of the shops had all the same things. Overall, aside from the hot dining conditions, we loved the Bahia and would gladly return for a repeat trip. I found these reviews to be so helpful that I decided to write my own. If anyone has any questions or would like to see some pictures, feel free to email me.