Kbsail16
24th February 2011, 03:04 PM
All-
One- I need to give a blanket "thank you" to everyone whom helped us research, get advice, give thoughts, etc. on this wonderful site, BEFORE our trip.
Now that we are back in VA, USA, its time for the "Trip Report". I will do my best to keep it brief, but including pertinent details.
S and S Hip hotel: Sister Hotel of Ana y Jose and formerly "Ocho Tulum".
Quick description: Paradise, accomodating, excellent service, and I have a feeling that they could justifiably raise their rates....did I say paradise?
We stayed in rm 18, which was one of 6 "OCEAN FRONT" rooms. They have others that are more of a "jungle" view but still only about 40 yds from the beach. Hotel only has 50 people in it at max capcity. There is NO TV, no air conditioning, and if you are looking to plug in your stereo, Ipod, laptop and electric razor, go elsewhere. There is one outlet in each room. Double sinks and a HUGE dual headed shower, seperate toilet. Concrete floors and lockable front door, with safety deposit box as well. Perfect place to stay if you are interested in hearing NOTHING BUT THE OCEAN for 24 hours at a time.
We had two massages, room upgrade, free breakfast and private airport transfer (which was a HUGE plus) included in our package. What made the trip was certainly the room. The view was amazing (as you can see attached) and it was clean, simple, and spacious. It included a fan, although with the constant breeze from the Ocean, we barely used it. The BEACH IS AMAZING and I am afraid that I will never go anywhere else. The crashing waves were picuture perfect. Oh, If anyone finds a pair of women's aviator Ray Bans on the shore, please let me know:-) The "Sea Gods" took them from my wife.....bastardos!
Pros: The service. We felt very "attended" to at all times. The food at the restaurant was fantastic although we only ate there a couple of times outside of the included breakfast. The View. The beach, simply amazing. Quiet and laid back. The property, littered with sand and palm trees, it is a well thought out property, including a yoga platform and seperate massage room. The lobby had wifi, which i loved and hated because I DID check work email twice (Arrrrgh....and shame on me). Pablo, the driver from the airport. SO NICE, barely spoke English, but offered to stop to get beverages, drove fast (which I appreciated) and was VERY pleasant.
Cons: The shower was a bit "iffy" in terms of hot water. Staff barely speaks English, although I wouldnt neccessarily consider this a "Con", it added to the "international travel" feel of the trip. "Beachside" service isn't a regular occurence, but I did see some people eating lunch at the beach. My point, the waiters arent coming around every half hour asking you for a drink. They could make more money this way. Only other thing was the expense of the taxi's. I understand that this is not a direct hotel problem, but it did seem that whenever they called "un taxi" for us, it seemed to be 30 pesos higher....
Meals:
Breakfast: Every morning at the hotel. The "hot cakes" are a must and the juevos rancheros, or juevos a la mexicana (with peppers, scrambled) were great!
Lunches: El mariachi (pueblo) at the reccomendation of Pablo. Awesome. Authentic, and we "Americans" ordered chicken tacos. How boring?
-La Zebra- Best lunch on the beach. We ended going back for dinner.
S and S Hotel- Ate here for lunch and had the best guac of all we tried.
Dinner: Om Tulum- This is going to dissapoint many, but this was the least favorite of all the meals we had. Ate there on night 1. Split a pie. Used to live in NYC, so maybe we are to "Pizza snobby" but I wasn't a fan. Also, we missed out on some of their apps that apparently are great. We admittedly didnt order correctly. Beautiful beach setting though. next to S and S (north).
Ana y Jose- Amazing. Walked there.......and stumbled home. This was our most expensive meal, but wasn't too much. We also had a combined 5 drinks and each got dessert. Excellent service, and you eat with your feet in the sand.
Zamas- Taxi there....sure, I'll pay 10 bucks to go 2 miles....Best setting and actually could watch a bit of the sunset. Ordered some fried potato appetizer which was amazing a filling. PACKED! which is great because many of the resteraunts we ate at were half or less full. Veggie tacos for the wife and at the reccomendation of our waiter, I got the burger. HANDS DOWN the best burger I've ever had. Seriously. You can ask me in 20 years...get it.
La Zebra- GREAT dinner on our last night. Get the stuffed chile rellenos. Again, another beautiful beach setting. You can't go wrong here.
Activities: Shopping at Tulum Pueblo. I do realize that everyone's tastes are different, but unless you are interested in straw hat that says Corona, a "day of the dead" freaky statue, a colorful poncho that could only be worn on Halloween or after midnight after you are "pretending to be in Mexico and have had 12 tequila shots", don't bother with the shopping.
Day 2, Tulum Ruins. Absolutely gorgeous. We taxi'd there and didnt do a formal tour. It wasn't that crowded and was definitely a trip highlight.
Day 3, Rented bikes and rode up to the Zamas area for some shopping. A great ride and bike rentals, across from OM Tulum, were only $10 USD.
Note, every morning we were up by 6:30 and every evening, in bed before 10:30. I am interested to see what the group has to say, but I've noticed that if you go to Tulum, it is easy to exercise frequently as long as you walk on the beach everywhere....we did at least 2 miles everymorning and the views NEVER got old. Made me feel a little better after eating my Zamas burger.
Summary: This was a trip for my wife and I, alone, without the kids whom are 4 and 2 years old. Hence, our first "vacation" in 4 years. It was arguably the best beach I've ever seen with my own eyes. I kept telling people "we are going to a place to recreate our own Corona commercial", little did I know, all Corona commercials are filmed in Tulum (courtesy of corona resteraunt menu fact in Miami Airport). That it was. The people and mix of cultures were amazing. It was certainly "care free" and the service of the Mexican people was second to none. I am also glad I took two years of Spanish in high school, gracias Senora Baggett. The hotel recieved some bad reviews, and arguably, I can not agree. I do however recognize that the hotel was in a transition in the past couple years, but I feel like they are getting it right. I would also ONLY stay in an Ocean front room, but I am spoiled.
Best to all,
Keith
PS. I am not good at uploading photos, use photobucket or something???
HELP! I have many more to upload
One- I need to give a blanket "thank you" to everyone whom helped us research, get advice, give thoughts, etc. on this wonderful site, BEFORE our trip.
Now that we are back in VA, USA, its time for the "Trip Report". I will do my best to keep it brief, but including pertinent details.
S and S Hip hotel: Sister Hotel of Ana y Jose and formerly "Ocho Tulum".
Quick description: Paradise, accomodating, excellent service, and I have a feeling that they could justifiably raise their rates....did I say paradise?
We stayed in rm 18, which was one of 6 "OCEAN FRONT" rooms. They have others that are more of a "jungle" view but still only about 40 yds from the beach. Hotel only has 50 people in it at max capcity. There is NO TV, no air conditioning, and if you are looking to plug in your stereo, Ipod, laptop and electric razor, go elsewhere. There is one outlet in each room. Double sinks and a HUGE dual headed shower, seperate toilet. Concrete floors and lockable front door, with safety deposit box as well. Perfect place to stay if you are interested in hearing NOTHING BUT THE OCEAN for 24 hours at a time.
We had two massages, room upgrade, free breakfast and private airport transfer (which was a HUGE plus) included in our package. What made the trip was certainly the room. The view was amazing (as you can see attached) and it was clean, simple, and spacious. It included a fan, although with the constant breeze from the Ocean, we barely used it. The BEACH IS AMAZING and I am afraid that I will never go anywhere else. The crashing waves were picuture perfect. Oh, If anyone finds a pair of women's aviator Ray Bans on the shore, please let me know:-) The "Sea Gods" took them from my wife.....bastardos!
Pros: The service. We felt very "attended" to at all times. The food at the restaurant was fantastic although we only ate there a couple of times outside of the included breakfast. The View. The beach, simply amazing. Quiet and laid back. The property, littered with sand and palm trees, it is a well thought out property, including a yoga platform and seperate massage room. The lobby had wifi, which i loved and hated because I DID check work email twice (Arrrrgh....and shame on me). Pablo, the driver from the airport. SO NICE, barely spoke English, but offered to stop to get beverages, drove fast (which I appreciated) and was VERY pleasant.
Cons: The shower was a bit "iffy" in terms of hot water. Staff barely speaks English, although I wouldnt neccessarily consider this a "Con", it added to the "international travel" feel of the trip. "Beachside" service isn't a regular occurence, but I did see some people eating lunch at the beach. My point, the waiters arent coming around every half hour asking you for a drink. They could make more money this way. Only other thing was the expense of the taxi's. I understand that this is not a direct hotel problem, but it did seem that whenever they called "un taxi" for us, it seemed to be 30 pesos higher....
Meals:
Breakfast: Every morning at the hotel. The "hot cakes" are a must and the juevos rancheros, or juevos a la mexicana (with peppers, scrambled) were great!
Lunches: El mariachi (pueblo) at the reccomendation of Pablo. Awesome. Authentic, and we "Americans" ordered chicken tacos. How boring?
-La Zebra- Best lunch on the beach. We ended going back for dinner.
S and S Hotel- Ate here for lunch and had the best guac of all we tried.
Dinner: Om Tulum- This is going to dissapoint many, but this was the least favorite of all the meals we had. Ate there on night 1. Split a pie. Used to live in NYC, so maybe we are to "Pizza snobby" but I wasn't a fan. Also, we missed out on some of their apps that apparently are great. We admittedly didnt order correctly. Beautiful beach setting though. next to S and S (north).
Ana y Jose- Amazing. Walked there.......and stumbled home. This was our most expensive meal, but wasn't too much. We also had a combined 5 drinks and each got dessert. Excellent service, and you eat with your feet in the sand.
Zamas- Taxi there....sure, I'll pay 10 bucks to go 2 miles....Best setting and actually could watch a bit of the sunset. Ordered some fried potato appetizer which was amazing a filling. PACKED! which is great because many of the resteraunts we ate at were half or less full. Veggie tacos for the wife and at the reccomendation of our waiter, I got the burger. HANDS DOWN the best burger I've ever had. Seriously. You can ask me in 20 years...get it.
La Zebra- GREAT dinner on our last night. Get the stuffed chile rellenos. Again, another beautiful beach setting. You can't go wrong here.
Activities: Shopping at Tulum Pueblo. I do realize that everyone's tastes are different, but unless you are interested in straw hat that says Corona, a "day of the dead" freaky statue, a colorful poncho that could only be worn on Halloween or after midnight after you are "pretending to be in Mexico and have had 12 tequila shots", don't bother with the shopping.
Day 2, Tulum Ruins. Absolutely gorgeous. We taxi'd there and didnt do a formal tour. It wasn't that crowded and was definitely a trip highlight.
Day 3, Rented bikes and rode up to the Zamas area for some shopping. A great ride and bike rentals, across from OM Tulum, were only $10 USD.
Note, every morning we were up by 6:30 and every evening, in bed before 10:30. I am interested to see what the group has to say, but I've noticed that if you go to Tulum, it is easy to exercise frequently as long as you walk on the beach everywhere....we did at least 2 miles everymorning and the views NEVER got old. Made me feel a little better after eating my Zamas burger.
Summary: This was a trip for my wife and I, alone, without the kids whom are 4 and 2 years old. Hence, our first "vacation" in 4 years. It was arguably the best beach I've ever seen with my own eyes. I kept telling people "we are going to a place to recreate our own Corona commercial", little did I know, all Corona commercials are filmed in Tulum (courtesy of corona resteraunt menu fact in Miami Airport). That it was. The people and mix of cultures were amazing. It was certainly "care free" and the service of the Mexican people was second to none. I am also glad I took two years of Spanish in high school, gracias Senora Baggett. The hotel recieved some bad reviews, and arguably, I can not agree. I do however recognize that the hotel was in a transition in the past couple years, but I feel like they are getting it right. I would also ONLY stay in an Ocean front room, but I am spoiled.
Best to all,
Keith
PS. I am not good at uploading photos, use photobucket or something???
HELP! I have many more to upload