Need info Bahia Principe tulum

[alessia]

Hi everyone !! I am about to book to Bahia principe Tulum at the club Diamond section in a junior suite..I find it very $$$$$$$ so i would like to know if it is worth it there ??? How is the beach?? For me it is very important because i have 3 kids and pregnant with my 4 th......Is it true that there is lots of rocks and that you can't swim????????? I saw some pics & it didn t look that bad...Should i really be worried about the beach.....Please le t me know I would really appreciate all comments...Also let me knowhow do i do to read yourcomments because i am new on this site..Thanks a lot to everybody.....Alessia

[dotty]

I was at the Bahia Tulum last year and had the same concerns you do. I found the beach fine for swimmimg . The water was calm and the rocks can be gotten around. We had a geat time.
Dotty

[alessia]

Thank you Dotty. Does anyone has any pics to send me of the beach ??? Let me know please.

[alessia]

Hi everyone Can someone please send me some recent pics of the beach at Bahia principe Tulum..Thanks It s really appreciate it

[TAPPY]

check out my trip report - there are a few pics in it.

CLICK HERE FOR MY TRIP REPORT

We loved the Bahia...my 12 year old had a blast.....there are plenty of nice beach spots on the resort.

If you want to see more pics, send me a pm with your email address and I will send you the link to my photos.

[orchardm1]

In my opinion its worth every penny. We have been to Bahia Principe Tulum for the past 2 years. We paid 850 British pounds per person each time and that was for 2 weeks. That was everything, so that works out at about 1500 US dollars.

We took our son who was just 8 months old on the first trip, so he didnt cost anything. The 2nd time he was almost 2, but we wanted to get him his own plane seat so we just had to pay 299 pounds, (approx $500 US). His stay at the resort was free!!!!!
Just a couple of points, we did a lot of research before booking, and our main criteria was the food hygeine situation. The Bahia had rave reviews on all of the sites. We were more than happy with the selection and standard of ALL of the food and drinks at this hotel. Some people had complained that the selection was not very good and the food was a bit bland.......Absolutely not!!!!! We had no complaints at all. The added bonus was that none of us got sick the whole time.
Some people also say that the resort is just too big. that it takes 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. These are negative reports. From the main reception area, if you walk between the theatre and villa # 1, then past the kids club and the snack bar, past the smaller pool, around the back of the Tortuga restaurant and follow the path, you actually arrive at the Dive school, on the nicest beach. Even with a 2 year old in tow, It takes about 7 to 10 minutes. The beach by the dive school is sorta in between the Tulum and Akumal hotels and is just pure white sand, no rocks, no coral, just SAND. The staff are just superb, my other half speaks excellent Spanish so communication was not a problem, i guess if you only speak english, small problems COULD arise, but i would doubt it.
The ONLY negative thing i would say is the Chair bagging/reserving. It annoys the hell outta me. Most days we were desperate for a shade/palapa because of our little one, we ended up buying a pop up tent type thing for him, and we would watch chairs with palapas sit empty all day, just a towel and perhaps a book getting all of the benefit of the shade, and then at 3 or 4 in the afternoon 2 folks would return from a trip somewhere and plonk themselves down for an hour or so and then leave. I fumed at this for 13 days on our first trip and on our very last day i got down to the beach at 7.30 am and bagged a palapa and 3 beds. I then went to our room and got our little one ready for the day ahead, then we went to get some breakfast. Quite smug in the knowledge that we could take our time and go occupy one of the best spots on the beach. At about 10 am we strolled along to our RESERVED spot, and some #@$%^& had moved our towels and books and kids toys to a big pile in the sand. I WAS FURIOUS. There were now 4 beds where our 3 had been and a different set of towels and stuff. However there were no peeps there, i found out 15 minutes later that they were all in the sea having fun. Now im very placid but i was not gonna take this lying down. I proceeded to dump all of their stuff in a heap in the sand and i set my little family up in the spot that was rightfully ours. When they came out of the water, they were surprised to say the least that someone would dare to move their stuff. However i never found out how they really felt because they all started conversing in a foreign language. UHU YOU GUESSED IT, THEY WERE GERMAN!!
They picked up their stuff and stomped off to the pool. I saw them at least 3 times that day and it looked as if id ruined their entire vacation. Ah well, whats good for the goose is good for the gander. I was very pleased with myself.

Other than that, i highly recommend this place.

[alessia]

Thank you so much to all of you for all these infos...........I think i am going to book overhere...I will be 6 months pregnant in July ..I just hope that the buses come often to pick up the people because i don't think the kids would like walking..So can someone tell me if the little buses come often ???? so like that you don t have to walk..Thanks to all of you once again

[orchardm1]

The busses are actually large golf type carts, some have 2 or 3 carriages being towed behind them. There are lots of official shaded bus stops where the busses are scheduled to stop, i think they come every 10 minutes, maybe every 15 minutes, certainly no more than that. So the longest you'll ever wait is 15 minutes.

They are constantly buzzing about everywhere, and you can also just flag them down as they are passing by, you dont really have to wait at an official bus stop.
They use them to shuttle you between the 2 resorts, and also around the resorts. They have a different bus to take you to the Hacienda shopping area. Its a kind of fun bus, brighlty coloured with music playing.
They ferry all of your suitcases to and from your room, one night it started raining hard as we left a restaurant on the Akumal side, and we were nowhere near the disignated bus route. There was a guy dropping off some cases to someones room, its not these guys job to ferry passengers but he gladly offered us a ride back to the Tulum hotel.

They are a great idea

[MidLife]

Just returned last week from a family trip to BPT. Without exception, we had a wonderful time. Let me put things in perspective, I travel quite a bit on business and am used to staying in nice places. Also, we have 5 children aged 5 - 11, so we were big users of all the facilities at the resort. My impressions:

Beach: Nice, but rocky. Wore crocs all week and still stubbed my toe occasionally. Spent most time at the beach just to the BPT side of the dive school area. Small rocks and coral very dense in first few feet of water, then it gets much nicer. But it's a warm, beautiful ocean and a pretty beach. I'd take the crocs and not worry about it.

Rooms: Considering that you're in a less-developed area, I thought the rooms were great. Absolutely all that you needed. We were upgraded by the resort to a pair of connecting Jr. Suites in building #4. Had a beach view out my window. Very attentive service and housekeeping was extremely good. Beds were a little on the hard side (fine by me), but pillows were like stones. Air conditioning worked too well. We shut it off at night and just ran the fan. Very comfortable.

Food: We were allowed to select 5 ala carte sitdown dinners. We actually took none of them. We loved the buffet and chose to eat there each night. The food was fresh, hot and delicious. Every meal had at least 6 to 10 choices for entrees, along with all the fresh salad and fruit you could stand. Desserts were to die for. Two of my children have food allergies. The staff is very willing to point out what dish has which ingredients, or to make something special for them. They also have a "kids section" with hotdogs, chicken nuggets etal. Very family friendly, while very satisfying for mom & dad. Don't miss the strolling mariachi band in the evening. A big hit with everyone, and a great photo opportunity.

Service: My recommendation for the main dining hall is to turn to the right (away from the food) once you enter the main dining room and go all the way toward the wall closest to the sea. Look for a server named Hippolito. He took great care of us all week. For example, the tables in that section were made up for 6. Each night, he preset one for 7 people just for us. He also learned our favorite beverages and had them waiting for us. I wish he could work for me in the US. Good example of the value of a $1 tip here and there. Used the Gran Tortuga for the occasional breakfast and lunch to break things up. Also used the "snack bar". It's really an open-air shady resturaunt that has both buffet offering available and does short order cooking from a menu. Great midday alternative.

Trams: Don't count on them to get back and forth from the room to the beach. They run frequently from the lobbies to the hacienda (shopping district). It's also a nice walk, well lit and with a guard at the gate. Felt very safe all week, even at night.

ATM: At the shopping area in a small room with a locking glass door. Safe way to get extra pesos when you need them.

Pool: We all loved the pool. Biggest complaint was the ever-popular chair saving. A very bad concept that kept us from fully enjoying the pool. Also, found the towel situation to be poor at times, as laundry is done. Having said that, however, we always ended up getting towels, just had to wait for them sometimes. Main pool is really about 4 pools that are tangent to one another, but not really all together. The pool with the best kids area is right next to the large thatched roof bar just off of the Tulum lobby. Always was able to snag a plastic table and a few chairs from the bar to have a place to set our stuff while the kids were swimming.

Palapas: As I said, the pool chairs were unreal in terms of being reserved early. Our best success was with palapas at the beach just out from the Gran Tortuga. Another good reason to eat breakfast/lunch there. Never failed to find chairs under the thatched roof and had to settle for watching the ocean instead of the pool.

Intangibles: A couple of our kids, along with mom& dad, overdid it in the strong sun. One of the kids actually came down with an illness that required immediate attention. The english-speaking Dr and pharmacy at the shopping area came to our rescue. Traveling with kids is tough, but traveling with sick kids is miserable. Knowing this is available should give you piece of mind.

Tours: We went to Xcaret. Good all-day thing with a marvelous beach for the kids. Mom & dad could sit in beach chair with table service, hydrate, snack and watch them. Big hits were butterfly pavillion, maya village and underground river. Make sure you have plenty of cash if you want handicrafts since vendors in maya village can't take credit cards.

People: Everyone VERY helpful.. I loved it. Best vacation in a few years, even with a couple sick ones.

Special Commendation: Heather at Playa Tours. Wanted badly to take the Tulum and Beyond tour. She moved mountains to make it possible with very short notice. Then, kids get sick and we need to cancel at the last minute. Very helpful, pleasant and professional. Anyone can take you on a tour when things are going smoothly, but it's when things don't go so smoothly that you really get some insight into people's integrity and character. They are dependable, and they did right by me when it wasn't good for them. I'll always use them in the future.

[alessia]

Thank you once again.... My only concern is really the beach ...since a lot of you are telling me that it s very rocky i am scared because my youngest one will be 1 year old & i don t want her to get hurt.....So is it really that bad where rocks all over the place ?????????????????????????

[desoto541]

Hi,

We too had a Junior Suite booked at the Bahia Principe Tulum and switched to the Barcelo Maya Colonial. It has the best beach in the region, newer facilities, a little closer to some things like Xcaret and Cenotes. Higher rating on tripadvisor.

Check out;
http://www.unofficial-barcelo-maya.com
This is the BEST site on the net for resorts, done by a tourist in Canada.

If you go to www.barcelo.com and check out the 75th Anniversary specials you might be really pleased. Some people are getting 7 day all inclusive packages for 75% off...under $1,000.00. Check different dates for different specials.

Any questions just email me.
Demi
desoto541 [at] msn [dot] com

[TAPPY]

I have been to both of the resorts (and loved them both).

Here is my take on both resorts -


BAHIA VS BARCELO - CLICK HERE

[jugi]

Hi,

I also want to book a holiday in the Bahia Principe. What is the better part? Akumal or Tulum? Coba is a little away from the beach, so I think I would prefer one of the other, because of our small kid (1 1/2 year old).

The trip would be from 14. to 28. April.

How long does the transfer from Airport to the hotel take?

Any hints?

Regards
Juergen

[alessia]

Thanks Tppy for letting me know the Pros between both...You told me that The Akumal side is really nice...But what about the Tulum side????? since my travel agent wants to send me on that side ???? Is it far for me to walk from the Tulum side to the Akumal ? And am I allowed to go on that side ??? Thanks again

Originally Posted by TAPPY

I have been to both of the resorts (and loved them both).

Here is my take on both resorts -


BAHIA VS BARCELO - CLICK HERE

[alessia]

I was talking obviously about the beach sorry Tappy for not beeing clear in my last message....

Originally Posted by alessia

Thanks Tppy for letting me know the Pros between both...You told me that The Akumal side is really nice...But what about the Tulum side????? since my travel agent wants to send me on that side ???? Is it far for me to walk from the Tulum side to the Akumal ? And am I allowed to go on that side ??? Thanks again