TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This is the second time I had the pleasure to experience this beautiful corner of paradise during the Christmas holidays.. Overall I had a great time with my wife and kids, but I wanted particularly thank the entertainment team for creating a wonderful atmosphere with a special thank you to Faby, Johnatan and Giovanni for delivering a great service on the activities you were on daily. Also a special thank you to the kids Club staff for making my kids experience amazing. To finish I need to mention one of the Tikalito Snack restaurant waitress Alma, who was previously on the main buffet area… My kids really love her, during the entire year between the 2 occasions we have been to the Bahia Principe Akumal they kept saying that they couldn’t wait for the holiday to happen because they wanted to meet Alma again!! She is so friendly and definitely a great asset for the resort!!! I will definitely try to come back again!! Massimo

We had a great time at this resort (adults and teens). This is a turn-key holiday - you just show up and basically everything works well. We stayed in a non-renovated room to start, then moved to a suite closer to the lobby. I personally preferred the non-renovated room because it had an amazing view of the ocean and was much quieter than near the lobby, where there is traffic. Also, the smell in the upgraded suite was sometimes a bit sewage-y, and the bathroom light turns on automatically which is a bit annoying. The vibe is lively and fun, but not so busy that you have to wait in long line ups. Lots of families with kids of all ages, young couples, older couples. A few highlights for us: The coatis and agoutis are adorable and really fun to watch. The snorkelling (we brought a snorkel mask from home) was really easy and fun - both by the main beach, near the rocks, and down at the end of the resort near the second beach bar/snack bar. The food is good and plentiful, though if you go at later times there are some items missing (passion fruit, berries, etc). We really liked the coffee bar for proper coffee drinks in the morning. The service is very good, and people are extremely helpful and kind. I noticed some less than polite behaviour by guests, which was disappointing. The a la carte restaurants are nice changes but I think in the end our large group preferred the variety of the buffet. Still good to change it up with some a la carte reservations. We took a collective into Playa del Mar, which was easy and a fun day away. We liked the less touristy part of the city, and had fun eating in a small restaurant where I had to practice my small amount of Spanish. The coconut water people sell on the street is delicious too. It was fun to be able to visit the other resorts, making it feel like there were more places to walk/explore but we spent most of our time at our resort.

We sent for a week get away prior to the Christmas Craziness. As Privilege club members we have access to not only the Bahia Principe Luxury Akumal resort but the the other 4 Bahia properties nearby. First thing to note was the excellent service. Gustavo, our Privilege host was amazing. He was so helpful and pleasant to deal with our entire stay. Give that man a raise! They other thing we noticed was the cleanliness of the properties, both our room and the communal spaces. Very quiet as well but we were away from the main buildings. We tried several of the ala carte restaurants and all were very good. The informal lunch spots and Dinner Buffett was also excellent. We had been to this Bahia (Tulum property) in 2022 and post covid they were struggling with staffing and quality of the experience. I'm happy to report that Bahia seems to be back up to their usual high standard. If you aren't a privilege member it is worthwhile to pay a bit more to access all 5 properties as they are all nearby and you can walk to them ( except Sian Kan). This gives you more pools, bars etc to check out. The local Amstar rep got us hooked up with some fabulous local excursions ( Rio Secreto-very cool, snorkeling with turtles-also cool) for a good price. Jet Ski rental on the beach was a bit overpriced but still fun. Finally overall a wonderful vacation and good value for money. We are going again in 2026 (we don't usually repeat at the same resort in back to back years) as it was so nice.

Its unrealistic to have the word Luxury in the title. Trying to get a booking at a restaurant is impossible. Quality of the food at the Buffets isnt that great - we got sick twice. Nothing is very hot and often resembled what had been served up the previous day but with a sauce or gravy. We paid extra to be in the adults only section of the hotel. An utter waste of money. Nobody monitored if guests used the facilities that had not paid to be in this area (yes it is a holiday upgrade and costs more). The Beach area turned into a Spring Break with groups of loud, rude American youths who had no regard for other guests. I would not use the Beach towels to dry my dogs, they were that old and tatty. This trip was not cheap by any means - I will not be returning.

Just got back from this resort with my partner over New Years and overall it was very good- but with a caveat. Here is my review and hope it helps others :) Drinks Were great. Bars everywhere. They have almost everything you could want. If you just ask them for the name brand they don't give you the house stuff (ie: the house vodka tasted weird until we realized we just had to ask for Smirnoff or Absolute). Generous with pours/ booze is not watered down. Same with the house wines... they do have better options if you ask, and the wines at the a la cartes are actually really good. For drinks in the room, there is only beer (Dos Equis) in the minibar, but if you tell the bartenders you want stuff 'to go', you can bring whatever back to your room. If you throw them a dollar or two they will hook you up with anything. Food and Restaurants As you will read from many other reviews, it is extremely inconvenient to get into the a La Carte restaurants, which was the main pain point/ stressor of our trip. When we got there, we went to log into the app to book our dinners and there were NONE. I was initially thinking there was something wrong with the app, but then we were told we had to book them in advance of even arriving. Like, how were we supposed to know that? Lucky for us, there was a really sweet girl in customer relations who told us she would keep her eyes open for cancellations, and she did end up getting us resos the first couple days at the Japanese & Italian & Gourmet restaurants, which were surprisingly good for an all inclusive. She also booked us into the special New Years Dinner which was BEYOND our expectations. It was a literal 6 course meal. So shout out to that girl (the original relations guy we talked to wasn't helpful and basically told us tough luck) and good thing she helped, because New Years day we had to go to the buffet for dinner and it was like Lord of the Flies- with lots of angry Americans yelling at the lack of food. lol. Speaking of the buffet, for breakfast and lunch it was really good. The adults only buffet at the very far end of the resort is the best by far and has great 'beach like' ambiance. They had stuff like Ceviche, Paella and fresh fish - although the main buffet was the only one that had make your own tacos (so check that out there too!). There was even freshly made Coconut ice cream... which I was sad I only discovered on the last day. Room Service Try the room service for sure, especially for Breakfast. They bring you delicious fruit trays and fresh juices and you don't need to wait in line for the omlettes lol. The other room service food for snacks was decent too. Sandwiches, nachos, pizza etc. Beaches and Pools The beaches were good in that you never had to fight to get good loungers like other all-inclusives we've been to. There are signs saying to not reserve them and it seems people listened. There was drink service on the beach at all times too, which was great. The actual water/ beach was REALLY rocky (be careful!) and overall not the white type sand you get somewhere like in Dominican. So know that before booking- from the photos I did not gather that. At the far end there was whiter sand and less rocky water, but with kids everywhere. If you go down to the end where the Adults only pool there is this cove where there are millions of fish to see even if you just wade in--super cool. The infinity adults only pool was pretty cool and overlooking the ocean. The rest were just average pools. The main one is loud with kids and people doing aerobics. Entertainment and New Years Party Um, what? We were literally not expecting anything but the folks here pulled out all the stops. They had been setting up the stage for days and we were like "what is happening". There was an incredible show, sparklers, drinks were flowing. There was even girls in costumes like at the beginning of the Eras Tour. We overheard some guy later in the week saying it was the best New Years Party he'd ever been too. LMAO. We also found ourselves stopping to watch all the cool shows throughout the week- something we never really care about- lots of crazy fire tricks happening. The people really put a lot of effort into the entertainment. The Room The room was great. No complaints, nice sheets, nice bathroom. We had a 'garden view' which was cool cause there animals running around that we watched everyday. Speaking of that, there are animals all over the resort, which is fun. Staff & Service The people here were SO nice and we hardly experienced bad service and barely had to wait for a thing (except there was one really grumpy bartender on the beach but that was sort of funny). We felt very welcome, everyone was always smiling and saying "OLA!" to us. For the room, whenever we needed anything (ie: an extra towel, water, issue with the safe, etc) someone was sent within minutes. The Trip We flew from Toronto through Transat. The whole trip is actually quite long (almost 2 hour drive from Cancun airport on top of the flight, waiting, etc). So be ready for a long travel day. Overall Overall this resort was great. We paid a fortune (booked last minute + it was over New Years) so understandable. This was our fist time in Mexico (we usually go to Punta Cana) and the food, drinks and service are better here. However, if we didn't get into the a la Cartes (which were A+) I would have been totally pissed and it would not have been worth it at all. Because of this uncertainty, I don't know if I'd 'chance' this resort again and rather go somewhere where the restaurants are guaranteed--like it should be if you pay premium.