Ana y José Hotel & Spa — Restaurant in Tulum

Where to start to express my disappointment with this place I don’t know, but I’ll try my best to make it clear this is far from being called a boutique hotel. We spent 15 days in Mexico, an unforgettable adventure trip in beautiful and unique haciendas and hotels; we left Tulum for the last, to enjoy beach and relax. From all the places we went Ana y Jose was the only one to ask payment in advance, which we did as it came highly recommended for a family of 5, 4 nights for 2 bedrooms over $3300. We got there at 4 pm, it took us less than and hour to realise we couldn’t spend 4 days there. The beach front had al least 50 cm tall of seaweed accumulated and the water was invaded by the algae, so impossible to take a swim or to rest by the beach as the smell of rotten egg was unbearable. We did know and were told of the presence of the algae on the Mayan Riviera but never expected to be on the red list. Yes, the beach in front of Ana y Jose was red, the maximum on the scale. I believe as a responsible and honest place they should tell their customers of the level of sargassum on the beach, at the moment of the reservation and/or a few days prior to arrival, specially to a family with three children. As the beachfront was deserted because of the putrid smell the swimming pool had over 20 people in it making it impossible to maintain social distancing required these days for COVID measures. We raised our concern to the reception team, only one shy girl, and asked her for alternatives or, in the absence of, leave after 2 nights and get a partial refund. The girl only nodded and said she was going to pass the message; no manager on sight after 5pm. Next morning at breakfast we were approached by a lady called Paulina, who already knew about our request. Again, we kindly asked them we were willing to leave as the children had no space to play outdoors and couldn’t spend 3 extra days. We were told about a private pool shared by 4 bedrooms facing the rear of the hotel by the main road. The kids had only a short splash as the smell of sargassum was even worst than the beach because of an empty land by the side of the hotel was used as a deposit of the removed algae. So, the first night we were not only greeted by the nauseating smell on our balcony forcing us to have the doors closed and the a/c on all day and night but also by extremely loud music played by a nearby bar! Thankfully because of the pandemic the bars have to close at 11 but the music played non stop until past midnight. The level of decibels inside the rooms with doors closed was over 90 dB. How can you call yourself a boutique hotel if there is no place to rest or to sleep??? So, during our breakfast Paulina told us our feedback and request was given to admin and that they would get back to us asap. We waited until 4:30 pm to find out by ourselves that admin sent an email to our travel agency denying any refund; again there was no manager on site, reception girls were speechless to our complains. We decided to leave the next day, two days before. We were not offered an apology, a partial refund, a bottle of wine, an hour massage, NADA de NADA. They just got our cash in advance 4 weeks before, now we understand the reason why. During our check out we were sent a team of three to check our minibars just to charge us three Cokes and two Pringles consumed by the kids watching TV the previous afternoon, such a nice customer service gesture. Our Tulum experience at Ana y Jose was extremely disappointing, nice furniture, bedding and dinnerware doesn’t make you a boutique hotel if you cannot provide excellent customer service and make the stay of your guests as pleasant at and tranquil as possible. Our bedrooms called Ana and José were on the first floor facing the road, please avoid them as very noisy at night and early in the morning as traffic starts to flow with trucks and bread vendors ringing a constant bell. Definitely one star, I’m afraid I’ll never...

Tulum-Specific Probably you came here for the tropical sea, as we did — but Sargassum seaweed will almost completely ruin that experience. In August, the sea was entirely unusable: brown, murky, and foul-smelling. They don’t clean the sea, and there are no barriers in place — only a few ineffective ones on the beach, which is a losing battle. Inform yourself before coming here.

Flies and mosquitoes were the worst we’ve experienced anywhere in Mexico. Constant use of repellent was necessary, unlike in many other places we visited. In my opinion, this is likely due to dirty surroundings and numerous unattended construction sites with open water. Our outdoor pool became unusable, as you were instantly swarmed by mosquitoes.

The town itself is not pleasant — the main beach road is unwalkable, traffic noise from motorbikes is constant, and taxis are vastly overpriced.

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Hotel-Specific Staff are friendly and do their best, although waiters could be a little more enthusiastic, especially given that they suggest US-style tipping ranges.

Rooms are maintained only passably. We had one of the most expensive accommodations in the hotel — a private villa costing over USD 1,000 per night (breakfast only) — yet there was an unidentified animal moving inside or above the ceiling, making loud running and dropping noises all night. It was almost impossible to sleep. Worse still, in the morning, the living room floor was covered in excrement.

Staff investigated and discovered it was an opossum or a rat. They placed traps in the ceiling, but in the evening, the animal was running freely through our living room before being killed by staff. Half an hour later, the same sounds returned — even louder. I believe there was a rat’s nest in the villa’s inner roof (which is completely open to the living room due to the architecture). We demanded a room change and were moved to a smaller but rat-free room. Unfortunately, this led to nearly two sleepless nights, upset children, and a generally unpleasant atmosphere.

Eventually, the hotel offered an upgrade for our remaining two nights to a seaside private villa as compensation — a kind gesture. However, there was still some animal inside the ventilation system, disturbing our sleep as well.

Other issues: • No mosquito nets on the windows of our room. • Insufficient water supply — it could stop entirely in the middle of a shower. The hotel advised calling 10 minutes in advance so they could divert water to our room. • Air conditioning in our first room was partially broken and produced random, loud, crackling fan noises during the night. • Restaurant quality was sub-par and far too expensive for what is offered, especially compared with general standards in Mexico. There are almost no alternatives nearby (see above). • The hotel’s private beach area was poorly maintained. By around 4 p.m., food and drink remnants were scattered everywhere, and sun loungers and cabanas were full of sand. • Loud traffic noise in some rooms and villas. • A substantial ant trail ran alongside our private pool and outdoor...

I visited Ana y Jose on the second week of August. My group of 5 had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The booking process was fairly simple and easy. If you contact them through email they make you aware of any offers or deals available for your dates and you can save some money that way, as it is pricey but 100000% worth it. Nancy with the reservations team got us a good deal for the 4 days we stayed, and we went with the full experience option aka all-inclusive. All of the staff is extremely helpful, friendly, and quick with service. Melissa at the front desk was welcoming and gave us a tour of the place when we arrived, explaining all amenities of our rooms in great detail down to the costs of the mini bar and wifi connections in different areas of the hotel. There was a small issue with our door getting stuck on the first night but Melissa was quick to find us at the beach club to let us know we would be getting upgraded to a different room and that maintenance would help move our items for us. The menu at the hotel was exquisite, our favorite was the lunch menu as that one was the one with the most options on it. Rafael was our waiter at the beach cabanas and he made sure we were taken of throughout both of the two days we spent whole day on the beach, suggesting different drinks to try and accommodating our group to the cabanas we wanted. Omar was our server at the club dining area during every dinner of our stay and he was amazing as well. He was a very memorable part of our stay as his personality was splendid. He gave us suggestions on the menu and worked with the kitchen to put something together that would accommodate all of our likings and tastes. He was helpful to suggest places for us to go outside of the hotel but still within the area which was what we were looking for. Gustavo and Maria gave us excellent service for breakfast as well. All of the staff was very hospitable and we were treated like royalty. I would definitely recommend staying here, the location is beautiful and sits directly on the beach. They do a good job about picking up the seaweed in the mornings as well, the beach at the hotel is the cleanest one compared to neighboring hotels. It seems to be a family friendly place good for all ages as it is pretty calm and relaxing even during the busier times of the day when there are more people there. I've seen some reviews mention about noise from neighboring nightclubs/restaurants, and while the noise can be heard from certain areas of the hotel, they provide earbuds to make up for it and most places in the area close at 1 am so its not too bad. There is security on the beach at night as well so as long as you're not causing a ruckus, we felt safe taking a short night stroll on the beach under the moonlight. Overall, we enjoyed our stay and had a lot fun, would definitely...