Ahau Tulum — Hotel in Tulum

This is Shangri-La!🦚

🌴The grounds are manicured exquisitely with perfectly arranged Palapas like in a movie.

🦜Electro/ Chill music is flowing in the distance. Your senses come alive while entering this secret paradise. Sight, smell, and touch.

🐚 I wanted to see everything all at the same time. We were greeted soulfully by the Bell Captain and given mini tour.

☀️I wanted to run down to the beach and take in the nine shades of turquoise of El Mar / Yucatán peninsula! Ekkk!

🌍In my opinion, the 286 miles of coat line in the Riviera Maya is the most exquisite stretch of beach on the planet!

⭐️Overall, I would gracefully give Ahau five star because of all it has to offer.

💧There are no negative stars here, only a heads up to travelers, who perhaps have never been to Mexico before…

💫Tulum is a gorgeous up-and-coming area ( we used to live in the Mayan riviera in the late 90s- a lot has changed!) …it is getting to be a bit like Miami. Tons of people, traffic and noise. Although we did not experience any of this behind the walls of Ahau…as soon as you leave the gates and go back to the street it’s a bit hectic.

🌾 for anyone that has never been to Mexico before you must know, but the plumbing is not the same as he would get in the United States. The water pressure here is very low - in the shower and the toilet. Their septic systems are completely different, and they ask you not to throw toilet paper in the toilet because it will clog it. They simply give you a basket to throw it in next to the toilet in order to keep everything running smoothly. This might seem odd to some people, but if you throw toilet paper in the toilet, it will clog it immediately. Which brings on a bigger mess. Tulum needs to update their plumbing and waste management. As of now septic tanks have to be disposed of regularly kind of like an a camper. There is no electricity on the beach. Everything has ran by generators.

🌞 Yucatán peninsula is known for its hot and humid climate. Humidity here is about 100% the majority of the year except for rainy season in the fall. That is my favorite time to come between September and December because the temperatures during the day are in the 70s instead of the 90s. It’s much easier to enjoy a day of trekking and exploring without the humidity. If you are a beach bunny, and prefer to sit in the pool or ocean all day, perhaps you would love the humidity.

🪸Also, a heads up for travelers coming to Ahau please be aware that this is a five star property. You will be paying Miami prices even though you are in Mexico. The beach is beautiful. That’s right amigos …the view is not free. One of my favorite things for lunch was the shrimp tacos accompanied by a side of guacamole and of course their famous maracuya Mezcal handcrafted cocktail. Simply delicious! No mames guey!

🐲I adored the sculpture garden park next door, which cost about five dollars to enter the lady of light in which you can walk through and take pictures… ahhh… Ahau!!

🍀One of my favorite things about Ahau was the staff - I found to be amazing, super friendly and down to earth. Thank you all for your help, time and dedication. We’re excited to return. Viva Mexico...

We stayed for three nights as part of our mother–daughter tradition, also celebrating my mother’s early birthday.

Rooms: We stayed in the Deluxe Bali Hut on the upper level, styled in a lovely minimalist rustic design. The bathroom is spacious, light and airy. There is only one mirror in the hut being a small one above the sink, which isn't sufficient. The bed, advertised as a “full bed,” felt more like a small double and wasn’t the most comfortable. Rooms are not soundproofed—neighboring beach clubs play loud techno until around 3AM, and mopeds/quads can be heard from the road as early as 6–7AM. Living space is limited with no indoor seating, but the balcony offers outdoor seating. Nice touches included a bucket of water to wash off sand, biodegradable insect repellent (much appreciated with the mosquitoes), and fresh beach towels delivered daily to the room.

Breakfast: The rate included an American breakfast—coffee and orange juice, a fruit plate, and a choice of chilaquiles, eggs with bacon, or pancakes. We found this somewhat limiting and would have preferred the full menu to be available. Of the three, the chilaquiles were the most enjoyable.

Lunch & Dinner: Lunch options were tasty and generous—octopus, grilled chicken, shrimp tacos, fish tacos, chicken tenders (order was mistaken as we had ordered fish), and a burger. Portions were so plentiful that one day we skipped dinner. The beef rib at dinner was soft, flavorful, and easily enough to share. Room service is included at no extra cost, though it ends promptly at 10PM.

Beach Club & Pool: The beach club offers a varied selection of seating—double beds, chairs, and beanbags—all very comfortable. Unfortunately, sargassum meant swimming was not advised. The pool is small with just two loungers and a sofa, which were often reserved by guests who weren’t present, and staff did not monitor this. Live music on Sunday created a lovely atmosphere.

Wellness Programme: Held above the restaurant with a beautiful ocean view. I attended “Open Your Heart” meditation and mind/body Vinyasa with Eli (Monday morning), and a sound bath with Mau followed by Vinyasa flower yoga with Leia (Tuesday morning). All mats, blocks, straps, and bolsters were provided, with towels available on request. It does get hot as there are no fans or AC, but both sessions were deeply powerful and memorable.

Other Highlights: Relaxed atmosphere and well-kept grounds. WiFi throughout. Friendly staff.

Nearby Attractions: Art With Me Park is right next door, with free entry for hotel guests. The installations are beautiful, including Ven a la Luz. The hotel is also within walking distance of shops and...

While the hotel grounds and beautiful and the rooms very nice, the service and follow from the management is terrible. Think twice before staying here. We booked our room months in advance and upon arrival were told our reserved room was not ready - seems the prior guest had caused significant damage in the room (we learned this later). They offered is an upgrade to a nicer room but we’re told we would have to change rooms the next day. We came to this hotel to relax and unwind - we did not want to change rooms in the middle of our stay so we asked to simply have a room that we could stay in for the three nights we planned to to be there. They would not provide us another option that to take the upgrade and then move the next day. We were told the move would be early in the day and would smooth and on time.

That was not the case and we essentially waited around all day to make the change. Not once did the hotel management come to us to let us know when the move would take place and every we hour we were told a later time for the move but then at that time we received no updates or information. We ended up losing the entire day waiting around for the move and finally at 4pm were notified the other room was ready. We were told all of our bags would be moved but an hour later our bags had not been moved. Once again we had to chase down a manager vs. anyone following up with us. Being that we lost a full day of our time there, we requested not to pay for the first night. At the time we were told that there was no one on site that could authorize the free night. For the next 2 days we continued to follow up and follow up yet no one came to us for an update. Finally on our last night we were able to meet with the GM who agreed to refund us our first night. We completed some refund paperwork and checked out expecting a refund within a few days. Over the course of the next 2 months I contacted the hotel over a dozen times without any success and receiving our refund.

Do not trust the word of the management there! They will blow you off over and over and once you depart you will receive the same terrible service. We have been to Tulum 10 times and I assure you there are many other hotels that do actually provide great service and do what they say.

Try Coco Tulum - we have stayed there many times and it is a fantastic hotel honest and trustworthy employees.

STAY AWAY...