Hotel La Semilla — Hotel in Playa del Carmen

The Hotel La Semilla in Playa del Carmen was sold to us as a ‘boutique’ hotel was very underwhelming and rustic to say the least. When we arrived it was dark and the terrace that we had paid extra for didn’t seem too bad… however in the light of day we realised that it wasn’t worth having. Being on the ground floor the view was totally obscured by the garden that was a jungle. The closeness to the plants and greenery meant that the room was dark all the time, and unfortunately damp and dank and smelled too. The dampness meant that all of our clothes were also wet and damp all the time. The bed linen too, making my husband’s asthma worse. The dampness meant had also caused the drawers of the furniture to swell and made it impossible to close them. The ‘wardrobe’ was a piece of rope hanging from a rope… useless really and hardly boutique. The walls were covered in marks and water stains from flooding which during a storm proved to be the cause as the water poured in through the air conditioning unit, which we didn’t notice until we paddled to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The toilet didn’t flush properly which was an issue for me as a colon cancer survivor who still has bathroom issues as you can imagine. The shower was full of hair (not ours) and generally not very clean. Several days we returned from a trip to a dirty basin … and no clean towels. We were asked on arrival if we needed a room clean everyday, which we thought was odd, does ‘boutique’ mean going without the basics? We opted for the service every day which they seemed surprised by and as it didn’t happen obviously wasn’t communicated to the relevant staff. One day we returned to another puddle on the floor that had come in under the poorly fitting French doors after a downpour… we told the person on reception but nothing was done. Apart from breakfast time there was only one member of staff on ‘duty’ which basically meant sitting in the lounge area on their mobile phone. This place is sold as a ‘boutique’ product but without the basics it would at best be described as rustic and certainly not worth the price tag. We did ask for clean towels and explained about the puddles but to be honest the response was indifference.. We were very disappointed with the standard of this hotel and it’s made us question any further booking with BA… you should be aware that this hotel is well below the minimum standards expected by your customers and we feel shouldn’t have been recommended by British Airways…. It completely changed our opinion of your holiday product.

Following on from the last comments… the hotel information states that there are free drinks in the afternoons, and a beach kit available… we asked for these but they said that it wasn’t included… your information when advertising this hotel should be undated. The other thing is that although there are bikes available for guests to use, these having been left outside for years are old and rusted and the breaks don’t work, very dangerous. Reading through older reviews it seems as if this hotel used to offer many different extras like the beach umbrellas and coolers, free drinks in the afternoons, fold-down service every night… the type of touches we were expecting from BA who recommended this hotel as a flight package combo… I think it’s time you revisited this hotel because the standards and amenities have definitely slipped. It should be made very clear to customers booking room 1 (we weren’t aware there was a choice of room, only that we’d booked a room with a terrace, which in this case was unusable) that there are no views, and very damp (especially for those with health issues) and it’s right next to a noisy restaurant that starts it set-up at 6:00am and the water system is antiquated. The better rooms are numbers 8 and 9 that have daylight and sunshine that would have hugely improved the holiday. It’s sad because it was, according to previous reviews, very good… however they’ve taken their eye...

BONVOY MEMBERS BEWARE!

This hotel is listed as part of the Bonvoy program but they do not follow protocol, from Check In to payment to reporting the Elite Nights and Points.

I am a very frequent traveler and a Titanium. I am always courteous and polite. I believe every human deserves friendliness and warmth when they check in, but I was hoping they would be friendly to at the least a loyal customer to the brand. But nope, everyone is treated the same (non friendly way).

I arrived at 11:55AM and asked if the room was available. The young man immediately responded, "No, check in is at 3PM." I replied, "Even for Titanium?" At this point I already sensed his unwillingness to follow protocol because there was no standard Bonvoy welcome. It's not about wanting to be treated like royalty. It's an indication of whether you're going to get what you paid for or are entitled to.

His response was "No, Titanium doesn't matter. We are a boutique hotel."

My eyes wide open. Excuse me but you are listed as part of the Bonvoy network.

I understand rooms may not be ready. It's not about whether or not the room was ready. I travel A LOT and this was not my first time checking in to a hotel. The response I was expecting if the room was not ready was "Unfortunately we don't have a room ready as we are fully booked" because it's simply the fact. Not because EVERYONE checks in at 3PM.

If you're a Bonvoy Titanium Elite or higher, you know we are loyal because we know the property will be flexible with us and do what's in their control to accommodate us as long as we are reasonable. I am reasonable.

Then he tinkered with his computer, not sure what he was thinking, then he said, "You can check in in one hour. Check out is at 11am so we need time to clean the room."

Whether or not he was just trying to save face realizing his mistake, it definitely was not the attitude I expected from a Bonvoy brand.

He also never offered me a Welcome Gift. I dared not ask because he might just kick me out if I mentioned Bonvoy Titanium or reminded him what his job was once again.

He also insisted that I paid the property directly with my credit card. Also out of protocol. Normally either I prepay or get charged automatically using the payment method I use for booking via Marriott.com. So this property's entire operation is detached from Bonvoy. They're listed as a Bonvoy property and get Bonvoy customers, but they refuse to do their part of the relationship.

From then on he was very friendly throughout my 6 night stay.

Then I checked out. Now more than 3 weeks later, no e-folio, no elite nights, no points.

I called Customer Service, and they weren't able to locate the e-folio. After some research, they added 3 nights to my account.

Where are the other 3 nights? The points? The Welcome Bonus?

If you're not a Bonvoy member, then this property is probably fine. It was cute, adorable, although old and some things may not work properly.

But if you're a Bonvoy member and expect to get your elite nights, points, benefits, or even the warm welcome we typically expect, then go elsewhere.

I've stayed at the Aloft nearby and they absolutely follow protocol.

I'm never rude or demanding. Just don't treat me like my loyalty to the brand doesn't matter. My first choice is always Marriott, and that should mean something. If it doesn't matter to the property, then they should take their property off the...

Please lower your expectations for this BnB place. You will be really disappointed if you expect it to be a typical Marriott group hotel. If you expect it to a glamping experience, you may feel better as the facilities are at similar level.

Room: Room is extremely basic. No hairdryer, no Kleenex, no any amenities like shower caps or cotton swabs. They only have 1 hair dryer that you need to get at the front deck. Good luck that it’s not in someone else’s room. We had to wait until close to midnight, and my husband had to stalk the other room and waited till the guests are back past 11pm, and tell the front deck to get the hair dryer back so we could use it.

No bottled water. They provided a glass jug of water with a cotton cloth lid.. And didn’t change out the water or fill it up the next day. We of course didn’t drink any of it on the second day.

They don’t make your bed for consecutive stays.

There was NO COMFORTER OR BLANK. just sheets. We weren’t sure if that was a housekeeping mistake, or if other guests have no issue with sleeping under just a bedsheet? We had to ask for a blanket and all we got was a semi-clean cotton blanket that wasn’t thick enough at all.

Haven’t seen a queen size bed in a long time, it was too small for 2 people.

The shower products and liquid handsoap are too watered down. It is ok to claim as plant based products, but bottom line is that they need to be effective. I had to pump a ton, but still didn’t feel my hand/hair were properly cleaned.

The only bright side of the room - Strong water pressure of the shower was enjoyable.

Location: This hotel is not in the central area and not on a busy street. But noise level is still unbearable to sleep. It is because the poor noise insulation of the windows. You can hear everything happening on the street. Music at nearby clubs went on past 2am on the weekends. We had to buy earplugs at a drugstore which were pricey. Of course the hotel doesn’t provide earplugs.

The location is good, there are many good restaurants very close by. Walkable to the busy 5th Avenue. You don’t want to stay directly on the 5th Avenue, unless you don’t plan to sleep. So this location is much better in comparison. Also it is just a few minutes walk to the beach.

Service: This hotel is very bare bones. It seems to be run by under 4 employees in total, so the front desk person is missing most of the time. Staff don’t speak much English, but they are willing to help you if you ask. I appreciate that the front desk guy helped us call for taxi twice. Otherwise it’d be very challenging for us to get a taxi since we don’t speak Spanish.

Breakfast: It is the most enjoyable part of this stay. Nice setting, breakfast is at the lounge facing a small area of trees. It feels calm in the morning. It reminded me of Hawaii and brought me a sense of vacation mood. Up above the lounge, there is a small loft with cute decorations that are very instagrammy. Breakfast is fresh fruits + omelette. Same menu for the 2 days we stayed, although the actual ingredients are slightly changed each day. Not a ton of food, but does get you full.

Overall, I would not stay at this hotel again due to its lack of amenities, professional staff, and the...