Selina Tulum — Hotel in Tulum

In need of an urgent refurbishment................... I was very much looking forward to staying at Selina Tulum. The pictures online made the place look amazing, and the price on Booking.com seemed fair, especially considering the beachfront location and the pre welcome text made us feel we had chosen the right place. Unfortunately, my experience fell far short of expectations.

Early Check-In Woes:

We arrived one hour early and were told no early check-in was available this has never been an issue before or we are happy to pay extra or pay extra for a different room nothing offered. They promised to call us when the room was ready, which never happened. We returned just after 3 pm, the standard check-in time, check in procedure was swift and nothing else we were shown to our block not our block not even to our door.

A Dismal View and Neglected Space: While there was technically a sea view better from the side of the balcony, it was mostly obscured by the large yoga and massage building directly in front of the balcony. More importantly, the entire property displayed signs of neglect. It desperately needs refurbishment.

A List of Disappointments: Stains on the walls and under/ side of concrete bed base.

Some Windows screwed shut.

Cracks in the walls and peeling wallpaper above the bed.

A dirty bathtub with past guest hair around it.stains on the toilet roll Holder.

Low water pressure and lukewarm showers.

outdoor furniture piled haphazardly on the bench and out dated deck chairs around the pool

Pool chair cushions with more stains than a baby's diaper.

Faulty handrails leading to the room.

An unpleasant sewage smell upon returning at night.

Dirty pool water and black mold on the tiles.

*The list could go on.

High Winds, Rattling Doors, and Missing Towels: While the high winds were outside the hotel's control, the rattling patio doors made sleep difficult. We resorted to stuffing the gap with our only two towels we had to mitigate the noise. No hand or bath mat provided.

The Saving Grace: The attached bar and restaurant were the only redeeming features of our stay

The check- in staff was friendly and did their job to the brief. Nothing more nothing less.

Disheartened Staff and a Promise Not to Return:

I felt sorry for the staff who seemed to be working with limited resources. The lack of care and investment from the owners or management is evident. We couldn't wait to leave and will not return unless a complete refurbishment takes place.

Overall: This stay was a major disappointment. I would advise caution to anyone considering Selina Tulum in its current state. Much better value and up today on offer around...

The location is great, you're at the beach and that's why we booked this place, however, the overall experience wasn't that great. Upon arrival, they made us wait until around 5 pm to check in as our room wasn't ready, they gave us a ground floor room that is right in front of the common area bathrooms and our room smelled like poop all the time so we requested a change 2 nights in because it was nauseating. Every night there was extremely loud music until passed 2 am, the bass is so intense that the walls throb (we were on a second level) so keep this in mind because there is no heads up from Selina, this area is popular for partying but this loudness happens everyday, we were there for a whole week. Guests that party out on their balcony are also rude and loud, Selina doesn't seem to interfere to guarantee all guests' comfort so I would say this isn't really the place to come and relax on vacation. The music in the restaurant and the next door beach clubs sucks so bad, the have the same playlist on repeat multiple times a day so prepare to be driven to insanity. Also, be ready to lay on the most disgusting beach beds of the area ;) The common kitchen is disgusting, who knows when the last time the fridges were cleaned out, I put in a tub of yogurt in and when I took it out it had a bunch of grime and chunks of old food stuck to the bottom of the plastic tub. The trash can is big and has no lid and there's dry old rotting residue on the edges. I walked in two different days and there was an open package of chicken breast, salmonella in the making. It rained a few times so this kitchen becomes a waterfall inside. There was also no forks or spoons, have fun eating with butter knifes. I requested some while my husband and I were having breakfast with a group of European girls and the staff said they'd bring some shortly, we waited and I got desperate so I went to a restaurant to buy some plastic cutlery off them. I never saw forks and spoons supplied.

And on our checkout day, we woke up to find that someone in the parking lot had hit our rental car and the security guards had not noticed, not to mention that they're always looking on their phone. So they had to go and look in the CCTV footage to see if the hit and run did actually happen at the hotel and it did, but since their not doing their job, they don't keep track of the hotel and beach club guests and license plate numbers so yeah, you're paying quite a sum of money to stay here and you have to really...

First of all, I never write lengthy reviews for anything. However, I do feel it is my duty to be honest with you all so you avoid the mess that is this place.

My friends and I arrived on Nov 10. The front desk staff were okay. But it was around 9pm so I'm sure staff were tired.

My room was in the E building on the third floor. As soon as I walked into the room, it smelled like mold. The bed sheets felt moist and the air was muggy. The A/C worked so that helped bring things to a comfortable level. Also, the room had a safe that you can't lock. It looks like someone broke it. I had to carry all of my passport and important documents with me just in case.

The bathroom was not cute. The tub looked dirty (very lazily cleaned.) There were only 3 towels (one for myself, my friend, and for the floor to avoid falling.) They were gross towels. The shower curtain rod kept falling because the curtain was so heavy with moisture.

There is construction noises all day. You could hear the hammers and other tools all morning.

Cleaning service was not good. They would take forever to come into your room and they don't replace towels. I don't even know what they cleaned because it never noticed a difference.

If you value sleep, stay away! There is super loud music playing everyday and you could feel the bass through the walls.

The beach was okay. They had the sunbathing chairs (which were few) and they constantly moved people from them to accommodate weddings. It was annoying since they had beach beds but you had to have a minimum tab of $50 PER PERSON! That operation is run by Mia (the restaurant in the hotel.) Their servers were super friendly to us.

The pool in the hotel is incredibly gross! No one ever went into that thing cause it literally looked like swamp water!

There were always heavily armed officials all over the entrance and walking down the beach. I appreciate the patrolling but the weapons carried were very intimidating.

I was just so grossed out by the place that I missed my comfy bed at home in cold Chicago! The incredibly high prices and awful rooms did not make my stay at...