Papaya Playa Project — Hotel in Tulum

So much hype on this resort that we wanted to check in out ourselves. Family of 3 stayed here 6 nights.| |Upon arrival we were greeted by security who directed us where to park. We were than greeted by another gentleman who assisted us with our luggage.|Reception desk is located in a hut setting which is kinda cool. Angel was assisting us without our check in. He was great. New to the property himself. We were there early so our room wasn’t ready. So, we walked around and ate at the restaurant which had the best view in the resort, overlooking the beach. Drinks were kinda watered down but oh well.|Received a text at 3pm our room was ready so headed over to the reception hut. While we waited a gentleman was there complaining how he had sent messages via whatsapp 3 hours go for some assistance and no one has responded.|There were two other employees at the reception desk who didn’t even move to assist him, so we were a little confused. Angel assisted him and then got us checked in. All guest communication is done via whatsapp but didn’t sound like the staff were responding to the txt messages promptly. We got to our room which was a very rustic feeling room with a tree branch that gave me the Flinstone vibes. Room was gorgeous and different. Shower is located behind your bed, but the divider bar is high enough to give you some sort of privacy if you have kids sharing the room with you. Outdoor pool located is useless, as it was dirty with tree branches and leaves, water was cold, and it is in the shaded area so zero chance for warm swim unless you enjoy a cold plunge. I read reviews of room being dirty but ours was clean. Had two robes, mini fridge, towels, and all amenities. There are food nooks outside/inside so you can place your dirty dishes from room service, but you must be very careful to close it well to avoid racoons getting inside your room. Few reviews complained about this, but this can be avoided with some attention. We waited an hour for our luggage no one came so we walked back to the reception and were told the person who was supposed to deliver your luggage left for the day. Glad we walked back to check if not we would be waiting for a while ! Restaurant service is good. Food is yummy but limited. The entire stay they were out of Fish, so no fish tacos, fish, or chips which was odd. Beach club service was ok, we had Otto and Antonio, and both were awesome and hardworking. Made sure we had everything we needed while lounging at the beach. They do run out of towels or things to cover the cabanas. Which again was odd. Cocktails were so watered down that we opted for wine. Every Saturday the resort has a party and there are over 100+ people that come to attend it and it gets crazy busy and loud. Music goes on thill 3am and who can hear it. There are SO MANY staff on this resort but surprisingly the service is VERY SLOW. Slow enough to test your patience. We went out of the resort to dine most of the time. You are 5min walk to some awesome restaurants on the strip with good drinks and food. The resort itself is beautiful, the jungle vibe, early morning Yoga classes, disconnecting form technology was perfect for the mental health. WIFI and network is very weak here. They have it but it is weak. Walking around this resort gives you a blissful feeling which I loved. The have gratitude trees everywhere, peacocks walking around, iguanas chilling but nothing too scary. Our room was closer to the restaurant etc so we didn’t have to walk far to get to places. It is dark when walking around so can get a little scary. The resort amenities are worn out and need some attention so from the other reviewers, I agree for the price you pay to stay here you expect quality which this place lacks. If you don’t like wildlife or to be disconnected this place is not for you. Not sure if I would return to this property, I liked it but it needs...

So much hype on this resort that we wanted to check in out ourselves. Family of 3 stayed here 6 nights.

Upon arrival we were greeted by security who directed us where to park. We were than greeted by another gentleman who assisted us with our luggage. Reception desk is located in a hut setting which is kinda cool. Angel was assisting us without our check in. He was great. New to the property himself. We were there early so our room wasn’t ready. So, we walked around and ate at the restaurant which had the best view in the resort, overlooking the beach. Drinks were kinda watered down but oh well. Received a text at 3pm our room was ready so headed over to the reception hut. While we waited a gentleman was there complaining how he had sent messages via whatsapp 3 hours go for some assistance and no one has responded. There were two other employees at the reception desk who didn’t even move to assist him, so we were a little confused. Angel assisted him and then got us checked in. All guest communication is done via whatsapp but didn’t sound like the staff were responding to the txt messages promptly. We got to our room which was a very rustic feeling room with a tree branch that gave me the Flinstone vibes. Room was gorgeous and different. Shower is located behind your bed, but the divider bar is high enough to give you some sort of privacy if you have kids sharing the room with you. Outdoor pool located is useless, as it was dirty with tree branches and leaves, water was cold, and it is in the shaded area so zero chance for warm swim unless you enjoy a cold plunge. I read reviews of room being dirty but ours was clean. Had two robes, mini fridge, towels, and all amenities. There are food nooks outside/inside so you can place your dirty dishes from room service, but you must be very careful to close it well to avoid racoons getting inside your room. Few reviews complained about this, but this can be avoided with some attention. We waited an hour for our luggage no one came so we walked back to the reception and were told the person who was supposed to deliver your luggage left for the day. Glad we walked back to check if not we would be waiting for a while ! Restaurant service is good. Food is yummy but limited. The entire stay they were out of Fish, so no fish tacos, fish, or chips which was odd. Beach club service was ok, we had Otto and Antonio, and both were awesome and hardworking. Made sure we had everything we needed while lounging at the beach. They do run out of towels or things to cover the cabanas. Which again was odd. Cocktails were so watered down that we opted for wine. Every Saturday the resort has a party and there are over 100+ people that come to attend it and it gets crazy busy and loud. Music goes on thill 3am and who can hear it. There are SO MANY staff on this resort but surprisingly the service is VERY SLOW. Slow enough to test your patience. We went out of the resort to dine most of the time. You are 5min walk to some awesome restaurants on the strip with good drinks and food. The resort itself is beautiful, the jungle vibe, early morning Yoga classes, disconnecting form technology was perfect for the mental health. WIFI and network is very weak here. They have it but it is weak. Walking around this resort gives you a blissful feeling which I loved. The have gratitude trees everywhere, peacocks walking around, iguanas chilling but nothing too scary. Our room was closer to the restaurant etc so we didn’t have to walk far to get to places. It is dark when walking around so can get a little scary. The resort amenities are worn out and need some attention so from the other reviewers, I agree for the price you pay to stay here you expect quality which this place lacks. If you don’t like wildlife or to be disconnected this place is not for you. Not sure if I would return to this property, I liked it but it needs...

Update: The hotel’s GM called and apologized and offered a workable solution to the issues described below. That was very professional and helped resolve our concerns so they do care about customer service. I’ve changed the review from 1 star to 3 stars as a result. ——- This is our 3rd stay(we came in 2018 and 2021) and it will be our last one. I have outlined the reasons below.

Service: 1- We put up the green “clean room” sign on Thursday. No one cleaned the room. 2- The safe in our room was broken and our valuables were locked inside. We had to ask the front desk two times for help opening it on Saturday and they never resolved it for us. Ultimately after waiting 75 minutes we fixed the issue by finding and flagging the security team ourselves without the help of the front desk. 3- Upon complaining about the safe issue outlined above, the manager indicated that he could upgrade our room for the last night of our stay. We declined given the hassle of moving for one night. He offered us a 50% discount to our bill at checkout instead. We agreed to this 50% discount. 4- At checkout on 26 February, we waited 35 mins for service (note our car was scheduled to leave at 4:45am so we could make our flight). 5- At the actual checkout, the 50% discount the manager offered was NOT reflected in the final bill. Given how long we had to wait for checkout, we did not have time to fully explain the 50% off discount agreed to as we had to get to the airport to make our flight.

Cleanliness: 6- The seal below the front door was broken so there is a wide gap on the ground between our front door and the outside. We had to stuff towels in the gap to prevent bugs from coming into our room. 7- Bathroom sink not working properly: when you turn it on, water sprays outside of the sink bowl directly onto you making a mess of the bathroom floor. To keep water within the sink, you can only turn on the faucet at a drizzle. 8- 3 cockroaches found in room. This should go without saying, but you cannot have a cockroach problem and charge more than USD 600/ night for a room. 9- There was dirt and debris falling from the ceiling in the room. It falls directly onto the toilet so when you go to the bathroom, dirt falls on your head. I understand there are some drawbacks of thatched roof construction but this is a cleanliness issue. That experience is unpleasant at best and disgusting at worst.

Other: 10- This is not the hotel’s fault but there was a lot of sargassum on the beach. Be aware if you are booking a beach trip to Tulum. We traveled 22-26 February 2023. 11- There has been a lot of beach erosion since our last visit in 2021. I’d estimate ~10 feet of beach front has eroded away since that trip. The sargassum on the beach makes it feel even more narrow. 12- They host a big party on Saturday night. You can hear the bass throughout the hotel late into the night.

Conclusion: The sheer cost of staying here in terms of dollars or Bonvoy points (I used 252k points on this stay for 4 nights and the cash rate was ~USD 600 per night) was not proportionate to the quality of the experience. The service and quality of room was akin to that of a backpacker hostel, not a high end Marriott property at this price point.

Ultimately the problem throughout this stay was the consistently poor service and room quality which is reflective of a broader customer service issue and not an...