We booked the Bahía Príncipe Luxury Akumal for our honeymoon in February 2026 after reading several positive recommendations online. We were pleasantly surprised to see they offered a complimentary “honeymoon package,” which was advertised as including room decorations, sparkling wine, and chocolates upon arrival. We downloaded the resort app to reserve our à la carte restaurants 10 days in advance, but were surprised to see zero availability for a party of two on any of the days. Over the following week, we repeatedly checked the app and occasionally got lucky securing reservations. Our dining times ranged from 5:30–9:30 pm, but we were just happy to get bookings at all.
Upon arrival, the resort itself was beautiful, very clean, spacious, and well maintained. Check-in went smoothly, and we were driven to our room by golf cart. Unfortunately, when we arrived at our room, neither our key card bracelets nor the driver’s master key worked. He radioed for assistance, and we waited outside our room for about 20 minutes repeatedly tapping our bracelets before we were finally able to enter. No one followed up with us afterward to check in.
When we entered the room, there was a honeymoon banner on the door. The room itself was clean and comfortable, and the bed was quite nice. However, the toilet room had a very strong sewage smell, so we kept the door closed at all times and often opted to use public bathrooms around the resort instead. We were also surprised to find that the “honeymoon package” consisted only of a small bottle of cheap tequila left on the table.
We walked back to the lobby, where our bracelets were reactivated, and we were told by a supervisor named Jose that we would be given a late checkout on our last day as compensation. Our wristbands continued to malfunction throughout the trip, and we were eventually given a key card instead, which worked reliably. We asked about the missing sparkling wine and chocolates and were told the policy had changed, although this was not reflected on the website. While we didn’t push the issue further, a bottle of wine and chocolates were delivered to our room the following day, which we appreciated.
The resort grounds are quite nice, with plenty to explore and access to all four Bahía Príncipe resorts. Unfortunately, all of the pools were freezing cold, with none even slightly heated. Given that it was February and evenings were cool, the pools never warmed up. Even the jacuzzis, which had standard hot tub warning signs, were cold. As a result, the pools were largely empty except for guests briefly entering to access the swim-up bars.
The ocean, however, was a pleasant temperature, and we enjoyed swimming there. We even saw a barracuda, which was a highlight.
The food overall was disappointing. If you arrived at the buffet right at opening, the selection was quite good. However, the food warmers were either ineffective or nonexistent, leaving most dishes lukewarm or room temperature.
The à la carte restaurants were very hit or miss. At Katok, we were served an almost inedible steak and a large ground lamb ball, followed by a bright red, unsettling cake for dessert. We ended up going to the buffet afterward. The Tequila restaurant was extremely disappointing, despite being nearly impossible to get a reservation, it was almost empty when we arrived. Dinner was buffet-style and nearly identical to the regular buffet, but with fewer options. We cancelled our second reservation there and chose the regular buffet instead. Kuuk was acceptable. We had good experiences at the seafood restaurant, and Don Pablo was by far the highlight, with delicious food and a flaming coffee to end the evening.
The day before checkout, we attempted to enter our room and found that none of our wristbands or key card worked. We walked back to the lobby (a long walk, as we were in the furthest building in the 79s on the third floor) and were told our checkout date had been entered incorrectly and that the system had automatically checked us out. When my husband spoke with Jose again, he was told it was possible all our keys had simply been deactivated at once. Jose reconfirmed that we would receive a late checkout the following day, which had already been promised earlier. Despite this, my husband was not offered transportation back to our room and had to walk back and forth again, nearly causing us to miss our dinner reservation.
The next morning, we called the front desk to confirm our late checkout and were told it was confirmed. After going for a swim, we returned to our room to shower before our flight and again found ourselves locked out. We walked back to the lobby and were told late checkout would cost $30 USD and that we would be charged. My husband spoke with Jose once more, who was aloof and argumentative, stating we should have come to the lobby that morning to sign a document, something we had never been informed of. We were given 20 minutes to retrieve our belongings or be charged the late checkout fee. Again, no transportation was offered.
When we spoke with guest services, we were told there was nothing they could do since we were already checked out, though they confirmed it was documented multiple times that we had been approved for late checkout. We were given an email address for customer support.
Overall, this was a very disappointing experience for a trip that was meant to be special as our honeymoon. Due to the repeated issues, poor communication, and lack of follow-through, we would not return to this resort chain and will be advising friends and family to steer clear.
