Bahia Principe Luxury Sian Ka'an - Adults Only - All Inclusive

Sian Ka’an — Luxury, Frayed There is a lot happening at this resort and across its sister properties. If you are willing to explore and put some miles on your walking shoes, you will find plenty of hidden corners and interesting places to spend time. That said, the resort does not entirely match how it is advertised. Several amenities listed on the website are either no longer offered or are difficult to access. Restaurant reservations are a good example. Guests are technically allowed seven during their stay, but the reservation app rarely shows availability. Room service is also advertised as 24-hour, which is not the case. There is still plenty to enjoy, but it helps to approach the stay with some flexibility and a willingness to go with the flow. The most important point: aside from the difficulty reserving à la carte restaurants, the resort is not directly on the beach. Access requires a trolley ride. The trolley system generally works well, although carts occasionally fill up and wait times can increase. It adds extra time if you plan to move back and forth frequently. There is also a significant amount of seagrass along the shoreline. In some areas it piles up a foot or two high and several feet wide, so you often need to step over it to reach the water. We knew about this before arriving and, aside from the smell, it did not bother us much, but it is worth noting. Another drawback is the “towel game” around the pools. Many guests reserve chairs early in the morning by leaving towels on them, often before 8 a.m. This leaves many empty chairs while some pools appear fully booked. At times we had to change pools simply to find a place to sit. The Room Bright, airy, and attractive. Some reviews describe the rooms as tired or dated, which may be partly true, but everything functioned as expected. The shower occasionally ran cold, but otherwise there were no issues. The bed was firm and comfortable, and the air conditioning kept the room as cold as we wanted. Our room also had a solid wood slab table, which worked very well for room-service meals. Room Service The menu is limited—basic but good. We had several enjoyable breakfasts and dinners in the room. However, we are early risers and were disappointed that no room service of any kind is available until 7:30 a.m. Buffet Acceptable but not outstanding. Food quality declines the longer items sit out. A good strategy is to have food cooked fresh at the grill whenever possible. Snack Trucks (Bars) Excellent. The menus are small, but everything is cooked fresh and consistently good. Service Very good overall. Staff were efficient and friendly throughout the resort. Exploring the Property One of the strengths of the resort complex is how much there is to explore. The Hacienda is essentially a large marketplace with a casino and a Mexican evening show, along with many vendors selling souvenirs. There is also a wellness center that is technically outside the resort but accessible for a fee. Yoga classes are offered there, and the surrounding residential area is interesting to walk through, with a mix of condominiums and homes. The golf club is another worthwhile stop even if you do not play. The course looks impressive, and the clubhouse itself is worth visiting. We took a glass elevator up to the roof for the view. North of Tulum beach there is a somewhat hidden pool that sits away from the main pool area. We spent a lot of time there and found it quieter and very enjoyable. At the lobby of Akumal we often sat on the steps with coffee, simply watching people come and go. The Sushi Bar Pool was another favorite. It is shaded, relaxed, and rarely crowded. The water is shallow but comfortable. It is no longer operating as a sushi bar, but it offers self-serve beer, soft drinks, and wine along with snacks like peanuts and pretzels. Highlight The highlight of our stay was the adults-only sister resort, Tequila. We spent much of our time there, especially in the evenings. After dinner they had live rock-and-roll music, and the pool area had a great atmosphere with a good mix of guests of different ages. It was easy to find chairs, and the overall vibe was lively. Conclusion The guest demographic leaned older and more relaxed, and most pools were fairly quiet. If your goal is to sit back, relax, and enjoy okay food in a calm environment, this resort will suit you well. However, if you are expecting to easily book seven à la carte dinners, you may want to look elsewhere. Reservations were consistently full in the app, yet the restaurants themselves often appeared only three-quarters occupied. If you prefer a livelier atmosphere, the Tequila resort may be a better choice. The trade-off is that guests there do not have access to all five resorts—Sian Ka’an and Akumal are excluded. Even so, the sister property across the highway is likely where we would choose to stay on our next visit. —

It is our first night at sian kaan and we just learned that all the alacarte restaurants at our hotel and all the sister properties are booked for our entire week stay. We brought clothes to dress up and we’re looking forward to the restaurants. Starting our trip very dissatisfied and sad.

We booked this particular resort as friends at stayed there previously and assured us that it would be a quiet and relaxing place. It was not disappointing. We had a week of relaxation lounging by the pool enjoying various new beverages. The hotel does need to be updated, but our room was very clean. The best thing about staying at this resort is we could venture to the other resorts at the complex and enjoy their restaurants. The food was excellent. The main problem we had was trying to book the à la carte restaurants on the app. The app needs to be reconfigured as we had many problems trying to book. This was a concern with most guests. Overall a great stay!

Firstly we absolutely had a great vacation! As usual the Mexican people are the sweetest!! We’ve been vacationing in Mexico for 30 years as well as other parts of the Caribbean and typically stay at 5 star resorts. Unfortunately this one is in need of repair and didn’t meet the standards we’re used to. The resort has a lot of repeat visitors and I think the reviews are skewed because of the loyal return customers, but the pools are in bad shape and the food in the buffet was barley edible. Our vacation was good because of the people and the fact that we were able to use the facilities at Luxury Akumal. The food was far superior and the pools were immaculate! The vibe was also more our speed. Sian Ka’an tends to cater to a much older crowd. We’re in our mid 50’s but young mid 50’s and enjoy a livelier atmosphere. We would not return here but wish them well

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

The food was very poor. One hour after buffet opened they ran out of food. I tried to book ala cartes and the guest service person told me they would get back to me and never did. I booked a beach party for 500 pesos at akumal and upon arrival I was informed it was cancelled because of rain. When I returned to sian Ka’an I was told it was not cancelled. Food and drinks at quiet poolside sushi bar never restocked. I will never stay at this place again and will tell everyone I meet how bad it is.