TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This was our 19th time at Sian Ka’an and we’re already booked for December. The staff will go out of their way to please you. The food is excellent at the buffet and at the à la cartes. The atmosphere is relaxed. The rooms are clean.

The rooms are old and depressing, and smell strongly of dampness and mold. The drinks are of low quality, and they try to charge extra for everything. The front desk staff is incompetent, the food is of poor quality, and the location is very far from the airport, making the cost of transportation to get there exorbitant. I would not recommend the Bahia Principe Luxury Sian Ka'an; it is, without a doubt, the worst hotel I have stayed at in Cancún—a complete waste of money.

I feel the need to review since I read so many before our trip! We chose Sian Ka'an for the adults-only/luxury experience. Unfortunately, I should have taken note that many of the reviews mentioned that Sian Ka'an was an older crowd and we ended up spending most of our time during the days at Tequila as we were looking for a bit of a faster pace. That being said, Sian Ka'an is a beautiful jungle setting and I enjoyed walking every morning before my friend woke up. I saw monkeys on the first day along with lots of other wildlife. The bar and breakfast buffet at Sian Ka'an were great. We ordered room service a couple of times from the Cenote snack bar and did not have a great experience either time but others were raving about the food there. The trolley to the other resorts wasn't a major issue, however with the older crowd at Sian Ka'an I would probably just book at Tequila or another of the resorts if I were to return and avoid the 10 minute trolley ride back and forth. The trolley also only goes until 2am and I had one night where I waited a long time around 1:30am and was concerned that I had missed the last trolley back to Sian Ka'an! Make sure you book your a la cartes on the app 10 days prior to travel. We did this and had no issues getting reservations. A la cartes were all great. In terms of our favorite to least favorite: 1) Mikado (Teppanyaki) - the food was amazing and such a great experience if you can book the teppanyaki 2) Ku'uk - so delicious, get the pork rib 3) La Gran Tortuga - so fun and a ton of food 4) Katok - the t-bone was huge and delicious! 5) Portofino - the Caprese salad was bomb. The complimentary bread with oil was also really good. 6) Frutos de Mar - great if you like seafood, wasn't quite our taste though! Only minor complaint was that we requested two beds when I booked and they only had a king bed. We made do with the king but would have preferred two beds. The rooms are dated and somewhat musty-smelling but it didn't bother us as we spent little time in the room besides to sleep. Cleaning was great and anything we requested was delivered to the room promptly. Overall, we had an incredible holiday and met so many amazing people and staff. I will be recommending Sian Ka'an to others in that age demographic but would probably book Tequila if I were to return as that was more of the vibe we were looking for!

Only two restaurants at resort. You had to take A half hour ride on A golf cart to go to other restaurants. And the beach but it was full of seaweed. Great golf course but poorly run. They didn’t have A starter at the first hole like my home course does. So we tee off and the next group would tee off 5 minutes later when it’s supposed to be ten minutes apart. The two guys that teed off 5 minutes after us complained to the marshals that we were going to slow. If they had A starter at the first hole this would not happen but they don’t know how to run A golf course smoothly. So they made us skip the tenth hole and go to the 11th hole. When we came back to finish the tenth hole they tried to say to us the there were three groups on the ninth hole. And wanted us to quit without finishing our round. So I asked the marshal are you going to give me back my money because you’re not letting me play A full round. He said no and let us go. But the course has lizards that come out and steal your golf ball’s. So you can’t hit big drives there because of the lizards. They come out and steal your balls. The course was the PGA Riviera Maya Championship.

My wife and I stayed for a week, and it was just what we needed. Our room was clean, everybody working there was friendly and helpful, the pools were relaxing, and we had a lot of fun. Food: You MUST book a la carte restaurants 10 days before you arrive via the app, because they fill up quick. The best were the Gran Tortuga, Katok, and we heard that Mikado was really good but we didn't get to go. I wasn't thrilled by Alux or Maiko, they were average. Having access to all of the other resorts and restaurants was great, but the buffet at this resort was superior to all the others. Entertainment: If you're wandering the resort in the evening make sure you stay around for Brenda's trio playing covers. They absolutely killed it, they sounded better than the "house band" playing at the shows. Those were disappointing, but might be aimed at an older audience that is a little more forgiving of the audio quality, skill level, and set lists. Resort: Like I said, our room was bare bones but was clean, well-stocked, and worked for us. Pro tip: the pool to the north, off to the side from the rest of the resort, is always quiet and has seats. There is no food there, just a cooler stocked with drinks and a nut dispenser. But if you're looking for some serenity, that's the spot. Special shout out to Israel at the Gran Tortuga, Eloise at the Sian Ka'an spa, and Jose and Juan at Katok. They all elevated our experience. And another shout out to Brenda's band, genuinely so talented and professional.