Eco Hotel El Rey Del Caribe — Hotel in Cancún

The good; The hotel is located in Cancun, which is good. The beach is so far from everything else that a taxi is $15 more (USD) each way. The room was clean and the cleaning lady was wonderful, even providing more pillows when my doctor required elevation. (I was there for medical treatment.) When a neighbor made a hugely annoying repetitive sound the owner went looking for it to stop it. (The maintenance man next door was crushing cans in an alley that echoed for blocks. Mexico doesn’t use insulation so everything echoes!!) The Not so good; the hotel double charged my credit card. It took 4 months to get it straightened out and no one at the hotel could speak English when I called. (Everyone could while I was there.) The mosquitoes were a misery all day and all night. The cleaners leave the door open while working allowing more in everyday. That lovely jungle look has a downside. The owner’s have a dog that yaps constantly when on the property. I needed to rest. That was not an option until I went to find someone AGAIN and tell them the dog is a problem. Each unit has a small kitchen, the reason I chose the hotel. But the burners aren’t maintained so I couldn’t light it myself. I could only make soup while the cleaning woman was there because she could light the stove. (Well, she could light the half burner that would light.) The hotel does have WiFi but you can’t use it. It isn’t strong enough to use by guests. I had one or 2 bars. I bought a SIM card for a second phone that gave me a hotspot for the 30 minutes each morning that I needed to communicate with my office and do my company’s banking. And finally, the construction crew hammered and yelled all day during the week. Rest was not an option Monday through Friday. This is not the place to do that then or any other time. If the owners are up, everyone is up and the owners are on the property. The echo, dog, lack of courtesy and pool inside the walls means it’s noisy during the day.

Regarding the cold water; like everything else in Cancun, you have to speak to the staff. The water gets hot eventually. Mine took 20 minutes. You’ll want to ignore those signs about saving water and let it run while you’re making coffee if you want a warm shower. And ignore the staff when they extort tips. The front desk clerk told me she was not going to be working for the next week so I should tip her now. She even told me how much she wanted and how how much to tip housekeeping. (She wanted $30. Housekeeping $2.) She was back at her desk the...

Overall, this is a great hotel at a great price in the heart of Cancun. While the amenities and rooms are a mild 4 stars, the customer service makes this a 5 star review.

TLDR; hotel is beautiful, clean, has plenty of amenities and staff is excellent. Only flaw is transportation if you plan on taking tour buses

Transportation: 3/5 While there is an ADO station nearby, its crowded and has very limited times post Covid. You'll find better luck on the R-1/R-2 buses to travel to the hotel zone going southwest down Ave. Tulum. For travel outside Cancun, DO NOT trust the tour buses when they say they will pick you up at your hotel; they only do that for hotel zones passengers. If you do not feel comfortable taking city buses , bargaining with taxis, or renting a car, this is not the hotel for you.

Atmosphere: 6/5 Absolutely beautiful to wake up and to see the vegetation in the courtyard with the sunlight trickling through. Plenty of birds and lizards going about. It's a very authentic feel you won't get anywhere else in another hotel.

Amenities: 4/5 Breakfast included, yoga classes, spa (extra $), full sized beds, TV, fridge, camping stove burners and AC (air conditioning). TV and fridge did not work.

For AC, 3.5/5 this is an eco hotel, so the AC is not crazy and will not freeze your room. But given the high temps in Mexico, you will be glad to have it. There is also a high speed fan that helps a ton. Note that your room key is connected to the AC, so when you leave the AC will turn off.

For breakfast, 4/5 they have a simple but tasty breakfast, hot cakes, fruit, tea, etc. I would note to eat early because they cut up the fruit early and leave it out on top of the coolers in the kitchen. The fruit will be warm if you wake up late and won’t taste that good.

Cleanliness 5/5 The beds were made every morning and everything was very clean upon arrival. Nothing better after a long day of travel than laying in fresh sheets

Customer Service 5/5 Unfortunately, due to Covid, our original reservation could not be made (non refundable). However the owner Eduardo was very nice and called internationally to check in and granted us 3/5 days to book for another time. On arrival, staff was always friendly and helpful. Even the security guard got us forks for takeout! Overall was...

From the time I read about this unique Hotel, I wanted to stay there and love my stay. The moment I arrived at the Hotel, I loved the wonderful appearance, the many huge trees, the sound of the birds and the general look and feel of nature surrounding you, a precious little jungle in Downtown Cancun Mexico. AFTER checking in, the many problems experienced overwhelmed the expectations. NOTE TO THE NEW OWNERS: These are common “comforts” travelers expect nowadays and in their absence any hotel stay becomes uncomfortable and disappointing: STRONG SHOWER - When water pressure in a shower is very weak, a shower head that has a narrow pattern enable one to be able to get wet and rinse-off the soap. The completely RUSTED OUT SHOWER HEADS created a dismal experience not being able to feel clean after the weak water stream spraying all over the shower stall, instead of my body. USABLE WIFI INSIDE THE ROOMS - Showing that the Hotel has WiFi, should mean there is usable WiFi signal INSIDE THE ROOMS – not just in the Courtyard. There was NO Internet access du to the WiFi signal fluctuating from 1 to 2 bars at best. I spoke to the Manager and he clearly does NOT understand the difference between WiFi speed and signal strength. The Hotel needs to get stronger WiFi equipment and position them differently to ensure strong signal inside the rooms. ENGLISH LANGUAGE TV PROGRAMMING - Catering to tourists from the USA, Canada and most European Countries (Except Spain) the TV service should provide the primary ENGLISH LANGUAGE Channels, like BBC, CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS and some free Movie Channels. Providing only a handful of Spanish language local Mexican channels is inconsiderate. It appears the new owners are renovating the hotel, but seems like their priorities are wrong. I would expect that lower-expense items, like: New shower heads Stronger WiFi devices Few English language channels Would be handled first to ensure basic visitor “Comforts”, before other major renovations are handled.

Summary – If the above basic comforts are handled, I would highly recommend the Hotel and stay there the next time I visit Cancun. Without these basic comforts getting fixed, I would never stay there again and warn tourists to consider these problems...