TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

This is my 3rd time at this resort. The first time was great, the 2nd time less then the 1st, my 3rd time definitely the worst if the 3. Service has gone downhill. Trying to make dinner reservations the day of arrival was disappointing. How can I make a reservation before I arrive? How is it the whole week I am here the restaurants already full before I arrived? Taking shuttle between resorts was painful. Had to wait over 30mins to get shuttle back to my resort. The second night I ordered room services ve from Bahia Príncipe app, and it worked fine. The 3 rd night it did not work. I went to concierge and he also confirmed something was wrong with the app and told me to order through room Phone. I tried to order from room phone and nobody answered. It rang and rang and rang and rang for almost 5 mins and nobody answered. I had to walk back to front desk to order room service. It’s been so very 35mins and still nothing arrived. Also only bar at Sian Ka’an, (lobby bar) took away almost all the bottles to make cocktails, told me I can order draft beer, this was 10:30pm.

The thing I love most about this resort, has to be without a doubt, Armando in guest services. Having Armando to lean on while you’re on vacation is a guarantee that your vacation is all about having a relaxing time and of course, loads of fun! If there is any concern, he will do whatever he can to correct it. I have to tell you though, we typically don’t have many issues or concerns because he is so helpful! Of course the rooms need a bit of TLC, but they are clean which is the most important part of any room we’ve ever stayed in. We ask for extra sheets to cover the sofas and the chair - that’s an “us” issue - we like hygiene - and Armando makes sure everything is perfect with everything in our room the night we arrive, whether he is on duty or not. Armando is so helpful with booking our à la carts and ensuring our rooms are perfect upon arrival every time - and this is time 3. To put our stays here into perspective, 3 is a small number on its own - but by the time we finish this trip we will have stayed at Sian Ka’an for a total of 67 nights!! At Christmas we brought our 20 year old daughter and she had her own cot in our room - it was perfect. Our room was decorated so nicely!! Armando is not the only rockstar at this place, there are many - Armando is just our favourite and I fondly refer to him as my “Mexican adopted son”! Roberto at the front desk has been very helpful as well on all of our trips - previous trips my husband required accessible rooms and Roberto worked his magic in order to accommodate - and he still does. Ana at the buffet always makes sure we get seated in the “coolest” seats with maximum A/C which we love. Antonio remembered us from our Christmas vacation and without prompting brought us our café lattes, made just the way we like them. Miriam is wonderful too, greeting us with familiarity and kindness, always making sure my husband’s water is topped up. Fernando was often our server on past trips - not so far this trip (only full day one of 28) but this morning he was all smiles and greeted us with a warm hello! Daniel, the Manager at the buffet, this morning gave us both a warm, “welcome back” giant hug and flashed his million dollar smile. We’re really going to miss him at Sian Ka’an - he’s going - but not too far away… PSA he has been promoted to Food and Beverage Assistant Manager at Tequila!! CONGRATS DANIEL!! Be sure to seek him out when you visit there - he has only a couple days left at SK. Oh and Socorro our breakfast omelette maker at Sian Ka’an - truly one of the hardest working employees here - met us with the warmest giant smile - welcoming us back as well. Be sure to tip that girl - many don’t but WOW does she work hard to make us all happy, especially first thing in the morning when many of us are not!!! She deserves the buck or two! We’ve been to many Mexican resorts over the years, and when we find somewhere we like we tend to keep coming back. We used to be quite loyal to the Princess resort, however, they changed management and it went downhill. Our last visit there was approximately 2 1/2 years ago. That place cut all of their staff and lowered their quality so we will likely not return. That led us to Sian Ka’an - we are so lucky that happened at that other place! The staff really do make or break your vacation - because if they are on the ball, our vacations will be smooth and relaxing, as we’ve hoped for. It’s clear that Sian Ka’an also value their staff because without them, you have no loyalty. Great job SK leaders in your hiring practises as I have never felt anything but welcome here and appreciated. I sure hope the transition to the new operating principles under Hyatt recognize that the level of service is what makes this place a 5 star and do not cut back on their staffing so they can continue to deliver the five star service at SK that we have grown to appreciate. Looking forward to our remaining 26 days this vacay!!!

So, we are finishing our week and heading home tomorrow, I wanted to leave a honest and true review of our experience. Let me start by stating that I do not set high expectations, I set value for the price paid. I have travelled to Panama and stayed on the San Blass islands in a Tiki hut with sand floors, I have made many trips to resorts from 2 star to 5 star and most recent I spent a week in El Salvador at a 2 star hotel and felt the value for what I have paid has most often been good up until this trip. To start we arrived at the hotel after downloading the app and trying to book our ala cart restaurants when we received the info over a week prior to leaving, every restaurant in the 5 resorts were full every day at every time slot. This concerned me because when looking at different resorts we choose Bohia Príncipe because it was as rated 4.5 star and offered so many different options. This is not the case, but was in my mind why we chose to spend more money and get a better experience, this was our first mistake. Upon arrival, we checked in to what the website eluded was a King junior suite. When they took us to the room there were 2 single beds, now had there been 2 queens, all would have been good but the thought of sleeping in a single bed alone when travelling with my partner was not acceptable. We went back to the lobby and when I spoke to Roberto about my concerns, instead of trying to resolve the he insisted that the junior suite I chose was King or 2 twins, which of course made me feel like my comfort and enjoying the trip was not their concern, proving to me I chose the wrong option was his intent. This was day 1, not a good start to our long awaited week in paradise! After I complained, the manager was able to get us a king room, why did it have to be so difficult? Once settled, I went to our concierge to inquire about the ala carts, they were of no help and again I asked to speak to the manager. Isabelle was helpful and very nice, but the advice I was given was to keep trying every day and if one showed available, even if it said for only one person, book it and try to get both of us in. Part of the decision to come here was for the Japanese grill which we were unable to attend all week. This experience continued at every restaurant, buffet and interaction. We went to the poolside restaurant one afternoon and sat for 20 minutes while people walked by us and never spoke or cleaned our dirty table. The AC stopped working on day 3 and there was a ladder beside our door to the roof to fix it which has never been removed for the last 3 days. My overall experience made me feel like all that mattered most was upgrades and us spending more money, I truly felt invisible to the team at the resort. I usually travel 2 or 3 times a year to different destinations, as I said at the beginning, these could be 2 star or 5 star, but what I can say is I have never felt invisible. Was the trip great? Yes, but that is because of who I was travelling with, not because I felt any value for the money I spent. If you are planning a trip south, I would strongly recommend you think about you value for the what you pay, because I will never spend my hard earned money with the Bahía Príncipe brand ever again which now includes the Hyatt resorts. Sincerely, A very disappointed traveler

The hotel definitely needs to be updated in the rooms. If you have never been to a Bahia principe and are not a member of their loyalty program you cannot get reservations at the restaurants which was a big factor in choosing this hotel. You have to keep going on the app to check for cancellations but you probably won’t have time to get there if it’s in another resort. The buffet was pretty much the same all week. If you like beef don’t expect to be eating steak.

Hi just got home from 7 days, and this was the best place I have ever been on vacation. Rooms are dated, but clean and comfortable we had the penthouse suite. Bed is super comfy we had a king. Food at the buffet was extremely good. Pools were a bit cold, but once you are in is good. The magic of the jungle setting was so so beautiful. Birds and nature of all kinds. The hotel is quiet, and that is exactly what we were looking for. This hotel is not on the beach, but a short trolley trip, and you are there. Planning another trip there in April