Poor customer service

we had a decent short vacation (5 days) but this resort is NOT what I was expecting. Before I launch into the play-by-play, this resort has too many people and not enough a la carte restaurants. They do not prepare you at check in (a la carte reservations should be suggested, safe key supplied etc). Our room NEVER had suitable AC, it barely worked and we were lied to repeatedly (maintenance never arrived) both over the phone at when we walked all the way to the front desk. We complained every si [... read more]ngle day of our trip, NOTHING I repeat NOTHING was done. Eventually on the last night our AC died completely due to repeated power outages beyond their control. I KNOW the AC was not standard because other guest rooms we went into were frigid in comparison. Some staff are wonderful but the majority are at best aloof, at worst rude and inconsiderate. When poor weather hit the resort, it descended into complete chaos. We saw a piece of rusted support beam and paint fall on to a guests head in the Akumal bar in the main lobby, and the rain that covered the tile floor resulted in people falling like flies

Daughter LOVED IT

My spouse and I have been to Mexico before - Puerto Vallarta and we loved it. This vacation was more for our daughter (3) as this was her first time being on a plane etc etc. We loved the resort. Our first day wasn't too pleasant as this resort is the only one I know of that made you wear a long sleeve for dinner at the buffet. Only know of that rule when eating at a la carte's but that's ok. The grounds were beautifully kept, and the staff were always pleasant! Our room was cleaned everyday, an [... read more]d just wanted to throw it out there we didn't use the safety deposit box, and none of our items went missing. We took the taxi to the Tulum ruins and we had the best cab driver ever! David! He took us there, told us how it would be like offered to be our guide, let us know that if we bought the tickets at a certain stand it would be cheaper than buying it at the ruins, plus he waited for us until we were done so we didn't need to flag a cab back. PLUS he took us off the highway to show us a few underground rivers that run beneath the highways. The only off thing was the sea-weed but that isn't their fault. I am an ocean baby and would prefer to play in the ocean over the pool anyday but the large amounts of sea weed washing up was too much for me. They clean it everyday its just it was alot for ME personally. I would definitely come back here and recommend this place to others.

Awesome holiday!

The Bahia chain is one of my favourites. The staff was amazing. We were upgraded to the Luxury Akamal which allowed us to use all of the resorts and the butler service was very handy. My favourite restaurants were the Don Paublo in Tulum and the Japanese restaurant in Coba. The beach is good for Mexico but the sand isn't the beautiful white sand of Punta Cana or Cuba. Very long beach for walking. This is a large resort but the trolleys are always available if you don't want to walk. Don't believ [... read more]e the weather forecast, it was suppose to rain 10 - 20 cm for 3 or 4 days while we were there. Other than a few drops in the daytime, most of the rain came at night and only lasted for a few hours. We will be back.

Grand Bahai Tulum

At the Grand Bahai they know how to take care of guests. Excellent service, rooms, grounds and pools, friendly staff and great food. This was our second visit and we came back because of the great experience the first time.

Awesome resort!

My boyfriend and I went to the Grand Bahia Principe Tullum April 28-May2 for a quick getaway. It was his first all-inclusive experience so I wanted it to be a positive experience for him. I contacted the resort ahead of time to make arrangements to celebrate his birthday. The resort accommodated our requests and ensured all our needs were met. Service was excellent. Food was great and plenty. We will definitely return.

Avoid at all costs - esp for groups/weddings!

Where to start... We were a group of 27 people attending a destination wedding. Our Ages ranged from 25-84. We booked between December and January for the beginning of May, and we submitted our booking information to the wedding planner well in advance, on the premise that we would all be placed "close" (in the same or adjoining villas, close to the beach). As soon as we got there, the problems started: - No one seemed to know what was going on with our reservations. - There was apparently no t [... read more]race of a 'group' arriving (but upon insisting, in Spanish only, that they search their records, the reservations were found, of course). - Our rooms were as far away from the beach as possible. - Not only were the group members NOT close together, but we were dispersed haphazardly throughout the hotel complex. - We requested a ground floor room for the 84-year-old grandmother who barely walks; we were told that she was on the 2nd floor and that the hotel was 'fully booked'; after 30 minutes of arguing and insisting (again, only in Spanish) a room miraculously appeared on a ground floor. - My in-laws checked into their room and went to dinner, only to find a stranger walking OUT of their room upon their return. The stranger was frustrated because that was apparently the THIRD occupied room that she had been given in the last 3 hours. At least we weren't the only ones having a bad time of it... - The instructions for a la carte reservations were unclear, resulting in our group being unable to get space for a dinner together other than the wedding dinner. The beach It was more of a glorified salt-water wading pool. It's a fake beach that's protected from erosion by giant sand banks covered by tarps and anchored to the sea floor. If you look on Google Maps, you can see them just off the coast. In person, they look like giant semi-submerged whale carcasses in various stages of decomposition (some are new and therefore the tarp is black; some are older and covered with puke-brown seaweed and polyps). The sea-pool is so shallow that I hit my feet against the sand when I tried to swim in the deepest portions. And to add insult to injury, the sea bloomed while we were there, producing an algae cover over this shallow water that looked like an undulating puke-brown carpet. The hotel's solution to this (annual) occurrence: have 3 guys manually raking up masses of seaweed into standard-sized garbage bags. No trucks. No mechanical raking. Moist, rotting seaweed piling up on the shore. Sand fleas galore! And if you think that the Akumal side might be better because the hotel's more expensive... think again! We walked 1-2 km in both directions from the main Tulum beach, and the picture's the same: small fake beaches, dead whale carcasses as barriers and shallow wading pools of water. The wedding I can't comment much because I wasn't heavily involved in the organization, but I CAN say that between December and May the wedding coordinator was changed SIX TIMES! Naturally, no communication seems to have been made between all of these different coordinators, so every new person had to be re-briefed by the wedding couple. I do NOT recommend this hotel to ANYONE who: - wants to come to Riviera Maya for the beach - doesn't have a relatively respectable level of Spanish (for arguing) - doesn't want to spend 2-3 mornings at reception arguing - is traveling with a group - has made special requests (that they expect to be fulfilled) - is holding a wedding/celebration/event of any kind If this was a hostel in Amsterdam or Thailand, I'd say the experience was great! because I would have got what we paid for. However, at $1500 per person X 27 = $40 500 for the group, and in a 4-5 star hotel, this experience was a disgrace!

Lives up to Bahia past experiences

The only issue I had was that the beach was not as nice as other Bahia resorts I have stayed at. There was way too much seaweed. The shoreline of the beach was really short and the water was not crystal clear and very rough waters, There was a red flag posted for the whole week we were there. We made the best of it but I don't know if I would return to the Bahia in Mexico again. The resort was too far from the airport as well.

Not so amazing resort

We felt the property was beautiful, the food was great. We did not get great service (with the exception of one server), our room had a noisy fan and a poor quality air conditioner - we complained twice and never got satisfaction

Beautiful Resort!

Grounds were impeccable, food choices at Yucatan buffet were endless. The "A la carte" restaurants were amazing. The only negative point is the air conditioning in the rooms; this needs to be improved.

Not bad

My husband got food poisoning after our first night. I recommend you take durokol before you go. Also, we are used to cruise buffets where they make you sanitize your hands before you eat. This is not a requirement, thus, easy to transfer germs. In comparison to cruise ship buffets, both Tulum and Coba buffets were not as good. Aside from that, the resort is not bad. We chose Tulum over Coba because it is right on the beach and I'm glad we did. Coba is busier because most of the restaurants are  [... read more]there. You cannot snorkel as the waters are too rough. They have tennis courts & bicycles available but you have to book 1 day in advance. If we were to go back, I would aim for Akumal as it is the luxury version and on the beach, plus you have access to all 4 resorts & a la cartes whereas Tulum and Coba resorts only has access to each other and not Akumal nor Sian Kaan, and a limit on the number of a la cartes. We also found the service was not really consistent throughout Tulum/Coba.

Amazing resort with lots to do and very clean

The hotel grounds are pristine with a lot of attention to detail. Rooms are amazingly clean and so are the dining rooms which have a lovely décor. The public area is kept very clean and has lots of seating, lots of bars close by and the entertainment was very good as well. Transportation on the resort is efficient getting you from Tulum to Coba resort without delay. We will be back, no question.

Great resort for couples & families alike!

We went with friends (another couple) in mid April and stayed in the Tulum section of the resort since it is closer to the beach. The resort itself is about 1.5 hours away from the airport and is massive (three resorts in one). Pros: You have access to all the resorts. Coba is the newest and largest, which has the best restaurants and a nice lobby bar. The buffet is also better at this resort. Akumal has the 'cleanest' beach and a little more private. The excursion tours are great and the (up [... read more]graded) excursion to Chichen Itza + diving in the underground cave was a particular highlight. Highly recommended. Food is excellent - particularly the French restaurant (Le Gourmet), Seafood restaurant and Mikado (Japanese). Free dolphin show at 11AM at Tulum. Cons: The beach has a lot of seaweed at this time of year, the locals try their best to cleanup but there are better beaches elsewhere. The rooms are OK but not stunning - perhaps upgrading might be a good idea. Overall I would recommend this resort due to the pros stated above. The weather was phenomenal at this time of year and definitely do as many excursions as possible.

Wonderful Stay

Well deserved of it's positive reviews. We've been to many 4½ and 5 star resorts and this one is one of the best that we've experienced. The staff were all friendly, food was wonderful and the facilities well maintained. We were there Easter week and although we were told that the hotel was fully booked, we never had problems finding empty chairs by the beach or pool. We stayed by the smaller family pool which was less hectic and more tranquil than the main pool. Perfect for couples who like to [... read more] relax and enjoy the resort amenities.

Very Good

Food was great. Tulum is a very large resort compared to Akumal where I have stayed before. The beach does have issues with continuous sea weed daily. They try very hard to clear it but it is an ongoing battle.

Relaxing Stay!

Our stay at the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum was terrific! The food was overall some of the best I have experienced on a resort and there was always entertainment available. By having a room in a more private area of the resort we were able to enjoy our peace and quiet, but also go and join into the fun of the larger common areas. The only negative was the distance away from the airport, but the drive was worth the wait.

Excellent family vacation

Resort is very large and spread out. Trams run every 5 minutes taking you from your room to lobby area, shopping areas and Coba resort. Not one complaint from our group of 16 about the food or drinks. At at 3 a la carte restaurants (our favorite was La Gran Tortuga- best beef I've ever eaten in the Caribbean). Mini fridge filled every day with beer, water and pop. No problem getting loungers under the Palapas at 8 or 9 a.m. at the Coba beach area. A little disappointed in the coral and stones in [... read more] the water and the amount of seaweed at the beach, but the staff worked continuously all day raking it away.

Bahia Principe Tulum

What a great resort this is. Very large, clean and friendly. Not much to complain about other than the beach is not the greatest, lots of coral. The pools are clean and always lots of entertainment every day. Entertainment staff work very hard to keep everyone entertained. Shows at night were OK, same at most resorts. Food was EXCELLENT. The rooms were clean and always cleaned in a timely fashion. Grounds were beautiful. The ride from the airport was between 2 2-1/2 hrs but went quickly. Would d [... read more]efinitely go back here again. You can never go wrong choosing a Bahia Principe property down south. We have been 4 times and were never disappointed at any of them. If you look on the map and choose a specific area where you would like to have your room, never hurts to send off a nice email a week or two before your departure date. I have always done this and almost always end up with an ocean view(If available) and often get a few extras in the room like champagne and fruit baskets. They really aim to please at these properties. We had a few little hiccups during the week we were here like the toilet running and the safe not working properly but with a call to the service desk they were quickly fixed. It is a very large resort and you have to expect that things will break but it certainly is not going to ruin your vacation.

Amazing resort

Beautiful resort and well maintained. The food was fantastic at all restaurants except I wasn't a fan of the Brazilian because of the food and service. The beaches were great, we had sea weed get washed in on the first few days but that is a natural occurring event not the resorts fault. Overall I would highly recommend this trip to anyone interested in great food drinks beaches and service with a beautiful ocean to look at.

More tben we could of expected

our recent vacation at gran bahia principe tulum was wonderful..first of all i would have to say that we were so very well treated by our travel agent TanyaSmith from trip central. who worked so hard finding us a great resort.beach location and at the right price.. i had e-mailed tne manager directly from the resort and had requested that we were traveling 3 couples and we we like to have rooms i im the same villas if possible.. they quickly responded and said they could not promise but they wou [... read more]ld do there best to accommodate your request... on arrival .they immediately took our luggage and brought us over to the premier lobby and we registered quickly .Rene was so very pleasant and then we all found out that all three couples were indeed in the same villa and we were in rooms 33315.33316 and 33317...the employees and management we're excellent.the service level was awesome... the staff at the snack bar went far beyond our expectations...all in all .we were 3 happy couples...the beach area is rocky and this year there was lots of seaweed but its mother nature..they had staff working so very hard from sun rise to night... we could not help but feel bad for the workers...great vacation resort. would recommend..and can not understand how people can complain so much..so not fair.

Fantastic Resort

The food was amazing. Staff were attentive, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!!! The only negative was that it was a long drive from the airport to the resort, but still a great holiday experience overall