Astral Tulum — Restaurant in Tulum

Great glamping experience overall. Armando and Nacho were always helpful when needed. Armando arranged a sunset catamaran cruise for us and answered questions all week in English and Spanish (so we could practice).||||Our bubble was clean, air conditioned, close to the beach, and wonderful for looking up at the sky day or night. We had running hot & cold water, flush toilet, and a mini fridge. There was no microwave or coffee maker, but we knew this before arriving so we brought our own Keurig and pods. Opening times for, and availability of, coffee nearby were hit & miss from what we found so be forewarned.||||We had a complimentary rechargeable flashlight, battery powered lantern, and telescope in our bubble along with two bottles of filtered water which would be refilled each day if we drank them. Cozy is the best way to describe the bathroom. There is no door, only a walk-around wall which has a mirror above the sink and small countertop on one side, and the shower and toilet on the other.||||Standing inside the shower I measured 29" width and depth, which felt smaller than an old-school phone booth. As proof, the showers have custom doors which slide to/from one corner, since there's not enough room for a swinging shower door out of or into the shower on any side. Size notwithstanding, there were two shower heads - one fixed about 6'9" high and the other on a flexible hose with an adjustable holder that could be set from about 4' to 6' high. Our bottles of shampoo and soap were refilled every day by room service.||||No matter how skinny you are, your butt cheek will be up against the exterior of the glass shower wall whilst sitting upon the throne to do your business. To that end, since there's no bathroom door I suggest air freshening spray. As an alternative, and what I did to maintain domestic harmony, was to put my liquids in the bubble's toilet and my solids in the public toilet stalls for the bar between our bubble and the beach - within 25 yards of our door. It was the beach equivalent of me going to the lobby restroom in a brick & mortar hotel for the same reason. Do not put toilet paper in any toilet, especially the bubble's. Due to its rather remote location, I don't think a plumber's response to a clogged toilet would be quick.||||We could hear music and people's voices from the bar of an adjoining property, but never past about 9PM. Overnights were very quiet. Almost every morning, we noticed a commercial truck with potable water, propane, or septic pumping services doing what they do at Astral.||||Out the airlock door of our bubble, named Aquarius, it was a 50 yard walk to the beach. We could turn left or right and find restaurant options in both directions with an easy walk of just a few minutes. We rented a car for our stay in Tulum, and parking at Astral was private and gated. During the day and evenings we had to leave our key with the front desk so the car could be jockeyed around other cars when necessary, but that was never an issue for us. The site is located inside Jaguar National Park along the beach. We found several of the nearby restaurants closed by 6PM. This isn't Europe, so if you plan to eat late make sure the place you're going will be open.||||Gaining entrance to the park during daytime hours, especially noon to 5PM, was the only difficult part of our stay and not the fault of Astral at all. The park had only one entrance when we were there in January, 2025 - from the south - on a paved road with one narrow lane in each direction. During our longest wait, we sat for 1 hour and 20 minutes in line with other cars just to get in to the park, which was the only way to access our room. If you plan to scuba dive or sightsee in the mornings and rest in the afternoon, you might look elsewhere. There is no way to access Astral during mid-day without waiting in line to get in the park. If you'll be out all day then the daily park entrance traffic jam won't affect you at all. There is no entrance fee after 5pm when the park ticket...

Great glamping experience overall. Armando and Nacho were always helpful when needed. Armando arranged a sunset catamaran cruise for us and answered questions all week in English and Spanish (so we could practice).

Our bubble was clean, air conditioned, close to the beach, and wonderful for looking up at the sky day or night. We had running hot & cold water, flush toilet, and a mini fridge. There was no microwave or coffee maker, but we knew this before arriving so we brought our own Keurig and pods. Opening times for, and availability of, coffee nearby were hit & miss from what we found so be forewarned.

We had a complimentary rechargeable flashlight, battery powered lantern, and telescope in our bubble along with two bottles of filtered water which would be refilled each day if we drank them. Cozy is the best way to describe the bathroom. There is no door, only a walk-around wall which has a mirror above the sink and small countertop on one side, and the shower and toilet on the other.

Standing inside the shower I measured 29" width and depth, which felt smaller than an old-school phone booth. As proof, the showers have custom doors which slide to/from one corner, since there's not enough room for a swinging shower door out of or into the shower on any side. Size notwithstanding, there were two shower heads - one fixed about 6'9" high and the other on a flexible hose with an adjustable holder that could be set from about 4' to 6' high. Our bottles of shampoo and soap were refilled every day by room service.

No matter how skinny you are, your butt cheek will be up against the exterior of the glass shower wall whilst sitting upon the throne to do your business. To that end, since there's no bathroom door I suggest air freshening spray. As an alternative, and what I did to maintain domestic harmony, was to put my liquids in the bubble's toilet and my solids in the public toilet stalls for the bar between our bubble and the beach - within 25 yards of our door. It was the beach equivalent of me going to the lobby restroom in a brick & mortar hotel for the same reason. Do not put toilet paper in any toilet, especially the bubble's. Due to its rather remote location, I don't think a plumber's response to a clogged toilet would be quick.

We could hear music and people's voices from the bar of an adjoining property, but never past about 9PM. Overnights were very quiet. Almost every morning, we noticed a commercial truck with potable water, propane, or septic pumping services doing what they do at Astral.

Out the airlock door of our bubble, named Aquarius, it was a 50 yard walk to the beach. We could turn left or right and find restaurant options in both directions with an easy walk of just a few minutes. We rented a car for our stay in Tulum, and parking at Astral was private and gated. During the day and evenings we had to leave our key with the front desk so the car could be jockeyed around other cars when necessary, but that was never an issue for us. The site is located inside Jaguar National Park along the beach. We found several of the nearby restaurants closed by 6PM. This isn't Europe, so if you plan to eat late make sure the place you're going will be open.

Gaining entrance to the park during daytime hours, especially noon to 5PM, was the only difficult part of our stay and not the fault of Astral at all. The park had only one entrance when we were there in January, 2025 - from the south - on a paved road with one narrow lane in each direction. During our longest wait, we sat for 1 hour and 20 minutes in line with other cars just to get in to the park, which was the only way to access our room. If you plan to scuba dive or sightsee in the mornings and rest in the afternoon, you might look elsewhere. There is no way to access Astral during mid-day without waiting in line to get in the park. If you'll be out all day then the daily park entrance traffic jam won't affect you at all. There is no entrance fee after 5pm when the park ticket...

It’s one thing to sleep here for a few days vs stay at the beach club. When you pay over $1400cdn (this was the discounted price bc of last min booking) for 4 nights to sleep, you would expect to have a fully functioning shower with hot water (you have to wait anywhere 10-30mins to get scorching hot water which you cannot cook down because it goes completely cold so you have to pay attention when it’s getting warm and take your chance; yes, we brought it up with staff but clearly the showers were not properly installed and felt like a temporary fixture), you can hear other guests with ease (so it’s luck who you get), the generator is loud (so if you are staying to the right of reception I can understand those that complained about the noise, preferential treatment at the beach club (maybe have discounted prices at beach club for food/drinks (latte was 3x more expensive then in tulum town) or designated seating), and free or discounted bike rentals (not $50 for 2). There is definitely an attitude shift from the first day to the last day from the front desk staff - from a warm welcome to little acknowledgement near the end of our stay. Personally, we didn’t care about the staff’s attitude bc we didn’t want it to ruin our experience but I can see how others would care especially when paying such a large amount of money for a “glamping” experience. On the positive side, the included breakfast was decent, the beach club staff was ok (clearly they are bored & tired when the place lacks people to attend to so they have to stand in the hot sun on the beach to try and get more business while being on their feet for 12 hr shifts; there is way more staff then needed), and the BEACH/location is what you are really here for. Cleaner beach then in tulum hotel zone, more chill vacationers, gorgeous sunrises, and white sand. The location is in a natural park, you have to pay 60pesos per day to enter (valid for the entire day, they give you wrist bands). The car/biking path from entrance up until tulum ruins is new & clean (night & day in comparison to tulum town/hotel zone). A few decent restaurants are in the area; cinco next door had great fish tacos. The coffee place on the beach was closed/out of business; that was a disappointment. Overall, we came to tulum to be on the beach, we knew we would spend more money then what it is worth, & when you have lower expectations you cannot be disappointed.

Side note: Avoid using a taxi, total rip off (they tried to charge $50 for a 5 min ride). Get a rental from a private company - $500 for 4 days unlimited/automatic. Avoid hotel zone if you don’t want a party scene with a bunch of rich kids/hooligans (we avoided a shooting at taboo beach club). Avoid Mayan riviera if military presence makes you uncomfortable because they are everywhere. For great Mexican, go into Tulum town and shop local. Buy groceries where locals buy - prices are way cheaper. Avoid cancun if you want to swim in the ocean (tides are way too big). Prices in Mexico have tripled in 5 years. If you have a large family, rent a villa with a chef and avoid resorts; save $. Driving to Tulum from Cancun - avoid rush hour; maps will have you take toll road which is new/great but takes you in a loop from cancun to playa del Carmen and double the time (close to 3 hrs) vs going on local...