Hotel Casaejido — Hotel in Playa del Carmen

There are two 'compounds' that are Casa Ejido- each across the street from each other. This feels more like a hostel environment- you can swap books in the shared kitchen, borrow DVDs or enjoy a hammock. I was across the street and those were individual rooms all off of the kitchen/dining area. I like that we were able to get a room with a queen and two twins. The TV was VERY small which was a bummer because we were all sick and couldn't leave the room. Noise was an issue with other guests partying in the kitchen. If I were younger and feeling well, I would have gone out to join them though. The neighborhood was slightly sketchy- just on the edge of an area that seemed not good. It's the opposite side of the freeway from the beach in a residential neighborhood that goes from middle class on one side to rather poor (abandoned and boarded up, squatters) on the other. That said, 3 blocks towards the nicer direction is the restaurant that you get free breakfast at and it was fantastic (Evass). Wish we had been able to go for dinner too. It was a very hip place with a great menu and excellent service. Overall, this was a fantastic deal for the price. Nothing fancy, but the rooms are clean and safe (but I wouldn't leave ANYTHING in a car there- parking is on the street and unprotected) and more options for bed configurations than most...

As we arrived to the accommodation, we were led to another building to our room, though it wasn't mentioned in the booking confirmation, that we're not staying in the main building. The second building wasn't quite the same as what we've seen in the photos. This wasn't also my husband's first time staying in this hotel, so I was sure, the room would be great for it's value. But unfortunately it wasn't even close to any standards, let alone a two stars hotel.

The room we came in, had three beds (though we only booked one), some dressers and wardrobe - all of it outdated, with flaky surfaces and some crooked. The bathroom had a very unpleasant smell of humidity and moldy water. The room is right next to the pool in the garden, so maybe that is where the smell came from. The shower curtain was also far from being fresh or clean.

We asked at the reception if there was another room we could change to, but there weren't any for the first night of our stay and there would be a higher price if we'd change the room after that. The additional charge for another room would probably be okay, but there weren't any vacant we could look at or move to. So we had to cancel our reservation and start looking for another hotel.

As usual, the cost of the first night is non-refundable, which is not quite fair in this...

This place rocked, plain and simple. A couple blocks away (5min walk) is a Chedraui as well as the Collectivo/Taxi pick up point to take you to all kinds of day trips for cheap. It's a bit out of the way of the tourist area, but only a mile walk and very doable, even faster if you had bikes like we did. The security of this place was stellar, but the rooms were more like apartments! We actually went to the grocery and had breakfast in the room each morning instead of trying to scramble to find a place. Very pleasant. There is a breakfast option that comes with the hotel as well but with a whole kitchen at our disposal we didn't bother with that. Very courteous people up front. Playa Del Carmen is an easy place to turn into a 'home base', and you can really take many day trips around to Tulum, Akumal, Cancun, and other places while being able to keep your stuff all in one spot. This hotel makes a great spot. The next time we're in Mexico this is our plan instead of trying to book various hotels (we figure we can get a $10 hostel bed if we really want to stay overnight in Tulum or something) because this place had it all. Good showers, great bed, and clean facilities with a...