TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I am really confused about all of the reviews for October 2024. We are currently staying here in this resort. This resort has been our favorite for over 20 years. This is the first time we have been back since Covid, what a huge change, for the worst. Firstly, we were told that only parties of four are allowed in the a la carte restaurants. We are here for our wedding anniversary and with two couples. This did not make any sense. Then we were told that there are only two restaurants available for us during our two week stay. We asked to speak to a manager. They said the manager is never at the resort. A young girl came out after us waiting at the desk for 1/2 hr, and then were able to get two more days with a repeat of one restaurant and they will try to accommodate a table of six but it is normally not allowed. Then we went to take our towels back to the towel shed. The girl said she was closed even though there was a pile of towels behind her. She also said that there are only enough towels for one per person per day and we could not trade them out in the afternoon. The food is good with good selection, however, the dishes are empty quite often and you are waiting a long time for a refill as you wander the buffet. We had asked for an adjoining room with one of the couples and the same building for all three of us couples. They did not have an adjoining room even after I emailed them 7 days prior to coming and asked specifically about that and about booking the a la cartes. I received an email back saying the a la cartes would be no problem and the adjoining room should be okay as well. Why make those promises if you can’t accommodate them? I seriously think that the staff here are trying and I am sure that Covid made every hotel take a huge hit financially and with staff, but Coba was always our favorite and this is only our first day here and I am extremely disappointed. I hope the next 13 days go better, otherwise this will be a long couple of weeks. I will update the review at the end of our stay.

It was not a poor experience, but I would not come back anymore. Cons: beach is disappointing, small area and completely full of chairs, hard to move in the area and sand is full of rocks, it does not look like sand. Drinks are also disappointing, any drinks beside beer and water tastes awful, not sure why, but any juices or alcoholic drinks tasted like medication LOL, even sodas also tastes bad, I think they use regular water in the soda machines instead of sparkling water. The resort also gets really crowded in the weekends, lines for bars are long during weekends. Pros: good food and great variety. Resort is clean. Lots of nature including a few animals that I never seen before. Children activities are fun and pools are nice too.

Amazing resort with virtually everything you can imagine, want or need! Plenty of bars, Lots of kids entertainment, a pharmacy & doctors, a casino and its own little gift mall. Beautiful grounds with lots of wildlife, including Coati’s, Mexican Agouti & iguanas seen all around the grounds, even a raccoon ?? Food variety in the buffet restaurant was never an issue, even the fussiest of eaters will always find plenty and it was of a good standard too. We only booked our holiday 36 hours before flying so were limited on availability in the a la carte restaurant's, we did manage to book the French Le Gourmet, which was delicious, highly recommend. Definitely recommend you download the hotel app so you can make a la carte reservations in advance. Staff were friendly & helpful at all times. The only negative aspect we found was the cost of pharmacy meds…so ensure you bring any over the counter meds you may need as the resort pharmacy is expensive! It’s a HUGE resort so if you have mobility issues I’d recommend making contact directly with the hotel to request a room near the reception as ours was about 1/2 mile walk, this wasn’t an issue for us and we definitely got our 10000 steps every day (which with that amount of food is probably a good thing lol) but I can imagine it would be hard if you have difficulty walking All in all we loved it here and would definitely go back

I’ve never been so anxious to go on holiday after reading the reviews for Bahía Príncipe Grand Coba - however I am pleased to write we had an amazing time! I’ve never been to Mexico so I didn’t know what to expect but we were incredibly happy and pleased with the experience - visited middle of September over the Mexican day of independence. Check in - this seemed to be slow but we were incredibly tired after a 10 hour flight. We chose to up grade our bands so we could access all the Bahia Principe restaurants, pools and beaches - this I would HIGHLY recommend. Room - the room was huge with a well appointed large bathroom. We had two double beds - my major complaint would be the bed was incredibly uncomfortable (too hard for me) but this is personal preference. The air con worked perfectly and was absolutely needed! Bathroom had a shower and jet bath - very nice! The rooms do appear a little dated but I think this was mainly due to the yellow and orange walls. Everything worked well. Note I took a Dyson hair dryer with me - this did not work so don’t waste the space in your bag. Pools - we never worried about finding a bed or shade, we always had both, the pool area was also clean. The Coba main pool has a swim up bar. Only thing to keep in mind is the water became very hot throughout the day and started to feel like you were having a bath - if you wanted cool water the beach is for you! Restaurants - we used both buffet in Coba and Akumal. Coba has no air con in the restaurant and can get very busy, we would go to have food early to avoid large groups and the room not be so hot. The buffet in Coba always had a good variety. We used the Akumal Buffett for lunch, they had air con and the variety/presentation of food appeared nicer. Speciality restaurants we tried were Tequila (Mexican in Tulum hotel - this was lovely), Le Gourmet (table service mixed food in Coba, this was very nice, really nice steak here), Mediterranean in Coba not overly impressed by this one, and Brazilian in Tulum hotel again this was okay but not impressive. The buggy’s - the buggy services is fab, you can get pretty much anywhere you just need to ask the correct buggy driver. They’ll take you to hotels but not directly to your room, when we were checking out our buggy didn’t arrive and we ended up walking. Beaches - we used Akumals beach, very clean, always had a bed and shade. Bar ladies walking around every 15 mins or so taking drink orders. The sea is far cooler than the pools and we throughly enjoyed the beach over the pools. Shops - there are shops dotted throughout hotels and the grounds. You can buy touristy bits and amenities that you might have forgotten. We took Pesos and not US Dollars. Check out - we checked out the night before out leaving day. This way we didn’t Que to check out. Make sure you pay the tourist tax before you get to the airport. Trips - From this hotel we went on a trip to Chichén Itza (3 hour drive), Coba Ruins (1 and a bit drive), Xel Ha (very close by) and a free trip to Playa Del Carmen (close by) for shopping. I will warn you the free trip takes you first to a jewellery shop and a tequila shop. They push very hard for a sale but after you have 2:30 hours of shopping time, so if you can put up with the sale pitch go for it!

This was our 30th trip so we've seen some changes over the years. Overall we enjoy our stays and really find no faults. Staff makes the trips Nicolas at Coba always ensures a smooth trip. Animation team greets us like family. Ofelia in Coba is a gem. Daniel at Sian Ka'an buffet runs a flawless experience; along with Faustino and Eglady. Please bring back four chairs to each table at Sian Ka'an terrace. Every night was a scramble to accommodate a party of four. Finally, why is a lower end rum such as Bacardi Solera removed? Used to be a staple and now I have to bring a bottle or two with me. A small issue but bringing my own liquor to an all inclusive is ridiculous. See you again soon