Villa Pescadores Tulum — Hotel in Tulum

Villa Pescadores Tulum: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: • Exceptional beachfront location with stunning views. • Outstanding beach club experience—excellent cocktails, reasonably priced and delicious lunch menu. • Comfortable, charming rooms that fully met our expectations.

The Bad: • Communication at the front desk was frustratingly inconsistent. For example, we signed up for a yoga session that never occurred. When we went to reception for clarity, we waited 15 minutes without acknowledgment before being informed casually that it was canceled. • The air conditioning is turned off during the daytime to conserve energy—commendable environmentally, but problematic after spending the day in the intense sun. We texted the front desk requesting water due to heat exhaustion, but our message was left unread and ignored, forcing us to handle it ourselves. Only after texting again, saying we’d already managed it, did the receptionist finally respond. • The dinner menu was significantly weaker than their excellent lunch menu. We wanted to eat dinner on the beach nightly, but nothing appealed to us, forcing us to dine off-property each evening. • A daily toll must be paid once per day when leaving and returning. It would be far simpler and guest-friendly if this incremental fee was included in the room rate, with wristbands provided for the entire stay. Instead, guests are forced to visit the front desk daily, waiting 10-20 minutes for attention—sometimes without acknowledgment at all, causing us to walk away frustrated more than once. • Consider renting a scooter or Vespa since taxis in Tulum can be extremely expensive.

The Ugly: • The front desk receptionist—distinctly identifiable by his excessive jewelry—was consistently dismissive, unwelcoming, and unnecessarily dramatic. Upon casually mentioning having friends staying nearby, he responded flatly and unsettlingly, “I know,” immediately making us uncomfortable. • The receptionist dramatically claimed ignorance when our room key temporarily went missing after we’d left it safely at reception, stating dismissively, “I didn’t know because I wasn’t helping you. The manager was helping you.” Only after gently insisting—like parents coaxing honesty from a stubborn toddler—did he magically produce the key he’d been withholding. During this exchange, he also made an unsolicited, gaslighting comment to my girlfriend, condescendingly asking, “Are you feeling okay? You look a little red,” heightening our discomfort. • His persistent, intrusive questioning about our dinner plans left us feeling as if we needed his permission to leave the property, reminiscent of dealing with an overly controlling character straight from White Lotus Season One.

Helpful Tips for Future Travelers: • Bring your own bottled water. • Rent a scooter or Vespa for cost-effective transportation. • Plan to dine off-property for dinner, as the lunch menu significantly outshines the evening offerings. • Confirm scheduled activities directly with staff, as communication at the front desk can be unreliable. • Suggest to hotel management incorporating the daily toll into the room fee, providing guests with wristbands to streamline the experience.

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ (Strong potential, impacted by significant communication and service issues) • Beach Club: ★★★★★ • Rooms & Comfort: ★★★★☆ • Dining Experience: ★★☆☆☆ (Lunch excellent, dinner disappointing) • Service & Communication: ★★☆☆☆ (Significant improvement needed) • Front Desk Experience: ★☆☆☆☆ (Uncomfortable, dramatic interactions)

Likelihood of Returning: ★★★★☆ (We’ll gladly return, but likely limit our visits to daytime enjoyment at the...

We just stayed at Villa Pescadores for a long weekend, and had an absolutely wonderful time. I can, without hesitation, recommend this hotel, and hope to go back soon!

Communication with the hotel was excellent from the get-go, and they connect with you on WhatsApp (if you have it, of course) prior to arrival which makes it very easy to have travel questions, room service, activity recommendation, and transportation questions answered quickly and remotely without having to call.

With only 22 villas at the resort, the atmosphere is wonderfully calm and relaxing. The rooms are very well-appointed (spring for the Deluxe King rooms with a balcony if you can!) and room service keeps them up every day. The bath products are really, amazing, and they provide their own bug repellent in the bathroom in your room, as well as bath and pool towels, and very nice bath robes. The beds are super comfy, and loaded with pillows. The rooms also have refrigerators for storage of food and beverages.

Breakfast on the beach each morning is one of the highlights of the trip, and the food is absolutely delicious. Each day there’s a decidedly Mexican option available, as well as a more American/European (scrambled eggs, omelette, etc.) option. Each morning we were provided with a fruit plate or pancake starter option in addition to the main breakfast entrée.

The thing that really makes this hotel shine, other than its stunning location (make sure to check out snorkeling with the sea turtles which departs immediately next to the hotel!) is the amazing staff. They are all very kind, and hard-working to make your stay comfortable.

A note about park entry: the villas are located within a national park, which makes things a bit stranger than they need to be. No reusable plastic or alcohol is permitted, and they do search bags/cars periodically, so you have to be a bit creative with regard to those two items. If you enter between about 9 a.m.-6 p.m. you ALSO have to pay an entry fee to the park, even though you’re a hotel guest. It’s 60MXN, and the hotel will reimburse you for it once.

Transportation into town is a nightmare of over-priced taxis (25USD each way) as they have successfully made Uber illegal. If you can, try to find a private driver prior to your arrival to keep costs down. Also, if you arrive at the new TQO airport, be aware of the insane taxi prices, which can be up to 210USD one-way (yes, you read that right). We took the ADO bus, which was 7.50USD one-way into Tulum Centro, and then a taxi to the hotel for 400MXN. Considering there were three of us, that saved a ton of money. We found a private driver for the trip back to the airport direct from the hotel for 800MXN, which was nearly the same price as it would have been to take a taxi into Tulum Centro and then the ADO bus to...

My fiance and I really agonized over where to stay for our honeymoon, eventually choosing Tulum as the location but debating between several hotel options. It was Villa Pescadores' cabanas and well-reviewed restaurant that won us over. We are SO glad we made that choice!!! It was absolutely perfect, and everything we hoped for and more!

Alejandro was so helpful via email when we booked and helped arrange a shuttle to pick us up from the Cancun airport, which was indeed there waiting for us. When we arrived at the hotel, we learned that Alejandro and the staff had secretly collaborated with our friends to surprise us with a bottle of champagne in our room! They also went above and beyond facilitating gifts from our friends of a breakfast, a dinner, side-by-side massages, and a day tour of our choice. Alejandro, Angel, and Angela at the front desk staff were so nice and helpful when making those arrangements.

The hotel's grounds are like paradise on Earth! We loved the sand and palm trees, and we enjoyed a lot of time in the adirondack chairs on our deck with an ocean view or in our comfortable hammock. The cabana itself was wonderful: one part rustic and nine parts romantic, spotlessly clean, with gorgeous curtains, a heavenly bed, and nice amenities like hot running water and a large, ceramic dispenser of drinking water. There were also thoughtful details like cute towel sculptures and incense!

The restaurant did not disappoint! We ate the vast majority of our meals there and tried almost everything on the menu. Every dish was fantastic, especially the nachos at lunch and at dinner, the fried Oaxaca cheese, octopus, steaks, stuffed chicken... We were really impressed. The restaurant manager, Jonathon, and the staff - Patricia, Wykic, Gonzalo, Sandy, Jose, Tony, and more - were always very friendly. We also loved the cocktails, specifically the Sea Grass and El Pescador.

The beach club is wonderful, too. The views were spectacular, the atmosphere relaxing, and the drinks and ceviche from the beach bar delicious. There are options for boat and snorkeling trips right there, but we preferred sitting in the chairs or lounges, enjoying the beach and the sound of the ocean.

Other than being on the beach, Villa Pescadores has a fantastic location. It's one of the closest hotels to the Tulum ruins - a 10-15 minute walk up the road! We also walked to the town itself, though bikes and taxis are plentiful and would save you a lot of time. But going on foot is definitely possible.

All in all, we are thrilled that we chose Villa Pescadores for our honeymoon! We had high hopes, but it was so idyllic we barely wanted to leave. We hope to...