INTI Beach — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

We happened upon INTI Beach by chance as my daughter wanted a restaurant by then water. We showed up without a reservation around 9pm on a Wednesday evening and the five of us were seated right away at very nice table overlooking the bay at the edge of the sand. They had several small fire pits lit into the sand which really added to the ambiance. Our waiter was very informative and patient with us going over the menu. As our drinks sweated onto the table our waiter was there diligently wiping it away keeping the table tidy. We were given a plate with various types of bread and a chili infused oil for dipping. We were also presented with a gift from the chef, a small taste of calamari with a sauce that was described to me. I cannot recall what it was but I do remember it being delicious. We each ordered a different entree and everyone was very satisfied. The price for drinks, dinner and tip was about $52 usd per person and I feel I got a very good value for the price. A few 1 star reviews claimed there was a mandatory tip and a minimum price per person but we experienced neither. If we come back to Playa del Carmen we will definitely go eat...

So initially i left INTI a five star review, but after todays experience, i have to downgrade it harshly. I have been here three times already so when i came to INTI today morning i was greeted by the hostess and my regular waiter Jose. I asked for my regular seat in the empty restaurant(which is fairly regular. Its rarely packed and i like it this way) so i asked to be seated where i normaly seat and this time the hostess tell me that the seat above the empty lounge chairs is 500 pesos. I had explained that ive been to the restaurant 3 times and have never heard of this but she called Jose over. He told me that the hostess just forgot the previous times. I told him that makes no sense and he just said that "i should leave then or pay" i told him this was fked up and laughed and he said " well fk you" i was super surprised a decided to take my business elsewhere. Keep in mind i tipped Jose quite handsomely on my last previous trips. Im totally caught...

This is a gorgeous venue and I’ve been wanting to try it for some time unfortunately we went for dinner and it was very disappointing.

The venue itself is very cool and they have a live DJ playing great music but that’s the highlight. The hostess was great and even one of the servers when we were leaving took our picture and was so friendly but other than that the rest of the service needs some polishing. The food was mediocre. I ordered an Old Fashion but that was also very disappointing. Perhaps their breakfast and lunch is better? I really don’t know, but the pics from other reviews seem way better than dinner. There was a raccoon sitting on the ceiling, there was a lady (perhaps the owner) with her dog roaming about as well. Really not what one would expect when paying so much for a meal at what appears to be a high end venue. All that being said it is a nice place and good for some photos so you should probably check...