Dune Boutique Hotel Tulum — Restaurant in Tulum

We were lucky enough to stumble across this absolute gem of a hotel in Tulum. ||Having arrived in Tulum we were not at all happy with our hotel in Aldea Zama and thankfully had the good fortune to come across Dune Boutique Hotel while out exploring. We had an absolutely brilliant stay here from the staff to the rooms, facilities and food we couldn't have asked for more. ||Rooms and amenities:|As with almost all beach accommodation in Tulum this is an eco hotel. The rooms were clean, spacious and well appointed with everything you could need (including bug spray). Additional items not included with your room such as an iron and hairdryer are easily requested and provided from reception. This is a beachfront hotel. |The hotel offers free yoga sessions which we really enjoyed. |There are water stations throughout the hotel for you to fill up. |Not a negative for us but useful information there are no TVs or fridges in the rooms. |Cleaning and standards throughout the hotel were exceptionally high. The hotel has its own hydroponic growing and garden area. |The hotel has a stunning spa with the very charismatic Gloria. While I didn't partake my husband had an excellent massage and Gloria kindly provided a personal photo shoot for us on the cargo net! lol!|The hotel has a reasonably sized pool and pool area for those days when the seaweed is just too much. Plenty of loungers and towels available.||Location:|As I mentioned this is a beachfront hotel around half way down beach road. Conveniently there is a GoMart just across the street. Hotel includes parking. ||Food:|We had breakfast and lunch during our stay. Breakfast is excellent with a array of choice to suit everyone. Lunch was good value for the Tulum beach area. |Drinks are fantastic with a wide ranging menu. ||Staff:|The jewel of this stunning boutique hotel - the staff. Firstly huge shout out to Alex who was a super star throughout our stay. From we initially walked through the doors until we left Alex (along with all the staff) could not do more to make our staff amazing. Alex kindly showed us each of the rooms available and gave us time and space to think over and consider our option, at no point was there a hard sell or any pressure which we really appreciated. Alex regularly took the time to check in with us and if there was anything we needed. |All of the staff from the restaurant, service staff and front of house were friendly, helpful, approachable and just hands down amazing throughout our stay. The only issue we had was that our stay was just too short. ||In summary this is an amazing small boutique, beachfront hotel. If you are looking for a quiet stay with a personalised touch this is the place. Beautifully decorated and laid out with all you could need for the beach Tulum beach stay. |We can only hope that if we are ever back in Tulum we have the good fortune to return to Dune...

Our stay at Dune FAR exceeded my expectations. We originally wanted to stay at a different hotel, closer to all of the “action” on the beach, and I am so happy Dune is where we ended up instead!

Location: The hotel is located perfectly as it’s close to everything, but far enough away that you don’t hear the loud music/partying all night long. Tulum has a pretty big party scene, but fortunately we weren’t bothered by it where we were at Dune, especially while we were sleeping. Any place we wanted to go was accessible by bike, provided for free by the hotel. 10 minutes to the best restaurants/bars, 20 minutes to the ruins, 25 minutes to town. We loved the location!

Room: Dune is the true definition of a boutique hotel at only 22 rooms. The front desk staff took great care of us, especially Claudia. We were kindly upgraded to a partial ocean view for free, and it was so wonderful. We were in room 12 and loved it. The room has everything you need in it, including many thoughtful toiletries, refrigerator, and more. Raquel also did a fabulous job cleaning our room! The only comment I have for the rooms is the bed- it’s extremely firm. Maybe add a mattress topper.

Food: the daily included breakfast is HUGE and so, so good. This really added a lot of value to our stay as we would have easily spent an extra $500 having to go out for breakfast elsewhere everyday. I’ve seen some comments about people being charged for things they thought were included- there was zero confusion for us. Our server was very clear about what was included, and what wasn’t. The options for food included in the daily breakfast is quite vast and I can’t imagine someone not being able to find something they didn’t like included in the daily offering. We also had lunch and dinner there and enjoyed the selection. The chef worked in Italy for a few years so some of the Italian fares are really, really good. We recommend the lobster pasta! So yum.

Drinks: truly in the top three cocktails we had our entire trip. We loved the spicy passion fruit mezcalitas! They also treated us to a bottle of rose the first day we arrived, and it meant so much to us.

Service: the service and hospitality in Mexico is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. They are so kind and gracious. Lalo, Claudia, Raquel, Silvano, and Oscar went above and beyond to make sure we were happy and taken care of. It’s a team effort at Dune, and we really appreciated that.

We fell in love with Tulum, and Dune played a huge part in that. If we come back, we will absolutely stay at Dune again! Thank you for an...

This is a perfect spot for a romantic getaway, and we stayed two nights on the front end of a work incentive trip at a different resort.

THE ROOM: We stayed in the ocean front master suite, and the room is exactly as pictured. It's spacious and comfortable, decorated in a bohemian-elegant style with a separate bathroom area for privacy when needed or desired. The in-room toiletries smelled amazing; the beach towels provided were soft and comfortable; the small fridge was very convenient; and the in-room coffee helpful to start the day. The air conditioning was wonderful; the terrace was expansive and the view was spectacular. The only thing I could offer as a suggestion for improvement would be to add a second indoor chair. Despite the insect repellant provided, I am a mosquito magnet, so I wasn't able to sit outdoors much and enjoy the lovely couches, hammock and recliners provided out there.

THE HOTEL: The food was seriously amazing. The included breakfast was artfully prepared and very delicious. (PS Don't sleep on the green juice! I need more of that in my life!!) We also ordered tacos from the beach loungers and they were also fantastic. Every aspect of the service was impeccable- from check-in, to the bar, to the beach loungers, to the room. This staff is kind, well-trained and helpful at every turn. This location on the beach was perfect- the water is so clear and beautiful, and the beach isn't crowded at all. After you book, you'll receive an email with more detailed information about spa services and a variety of add-ons and an offer to help with anything you need. Michelle helped me book a transfer to another hotel for only $70USD where other companies were charging $350, and it was honestly the nicest vehicle I traveled in during my stay.

THE AREA: There are many little shops (even a Starbucks!) within just a few blocks as well as tons of restaurants and nightclubs. We enjoyed two meals out and can highly recommend Ziggy's for dinner. The bicycles that the hotel provides make it easy to explore a bit, but if you want to go into Tulum 'proper,' I would recommend hiring a taxi. We didn't feel the need to do that given the conveniences around us, but if you stay a week or so, you might want to get out and about more. Taboo is the beach club that plays the super loud music at night. If it bothers you, I would complain to them instead of Dune which has no control. We stayed in the middle over the Dune restaurant, so it was rarely noticeable, especially combined with the sound of the...