Yucatan Peninsula Mountain Holidays

We visited here in 2009 and had the best experience ever, well 17 years later we hoped it would be much of the same. I can’t say our stay was horrible because it definitely was not. We were able to relax and enjoy ourselves, but it was quite a different experience this time around. A lot of restaurants closed on certain days, and even only being at 30% capacity we waited nearly 45 minutes at a restaurant the concierge made us reservations at, but they didn’t have it on the books. The seaweed made it impossible to even step foot on the beach. The clear blue water days are over, unfortunately. While we enjoyed our time, it just wasn’t what we remembered years ago. I’m not sure if they have gotten so big they are spreading themselves thin or if it truly is that they are so short staffed due to being 44% down on tourism. I don’t want be entirely negative of the resort - Kampai and Jade were our most favorite places to eat. Most of the service was excellent. Again, we can to relax after many stressful days at work, and that’s what we got.

I wish I could give it 6 stars

We loved our stay here. So relaxing. The staff was amazing. Food and drinks were excellent. Most relaxing vacation we have ever had in 25 years.

The hotel was amazing, and the staff was the BEST. Thank you for our wonderful stay and we will be sure to come back.

Do not be fooled by the pictures. This resort advertises itself as luxury, but it is a cheap, cost-cutting operation that ruins your vacation to save a dollar.We traveled as a large family group with a baby and an elderly relative. The villas are three floors with absolutely NO elevators, making strollers and mobility miserable. Furthermore, family members booked the adults-only area, only to find it under active construction. They were moved to a room covered in thick construction dust before finally being relocated a second time.The food and drink situation was completely unacceptable. The bars have no real inventory; they had no ingredients for a standard martini anywhere on site, whiskey was restricted to just one bar, and the only vodka drink available was a basic vodka lemonade.Worse, you are locked out of à la carte reservations before arrival, forcing us into an awful, repetitive buffet. They rationed food like a cafeteria. When roasted meat was brought out, staff gave dirty looks if we asked for more than a tiny sample. Food routinely ran out and was never restocked. We spent our hard-earned vacation stressed and scrambling for basic food just so the resort could pad its profit margins.We felt degraded. The experience was so miserable that we contacted Expedia, who thankfully rescued us by moving us to a different hotel halfway through our stay. Never going back to a Bahia Principe hotel. Save your money.

I had a superb winter avoidance break at Bahia Principe. The pre booked transfer with Amstar worked perfectly both ways - just over an hour from Cancun. I opted for the shared transport but was the only passenger on both trips! Really good and competent drivers - if you’re unfamiliar with the locality this is a much better option than renting a car for yourself! The room was fabulous, stocked minibar replenished daily, comfortable bed, clean and spacious shower room, small balcony to relax on and really efficient air con for the hot days. The joy of the resort is the ability to jump into an electric shuttle bus and use any of the five connected resorts, each of which has its own vibe, architecture and restaurants. Food in the buffet restaurants was the best I have ever experienced at an all inclusive resort. Huge range of options, everything was freshly made, well presented and tasted great. The staff in the restaurants and bars were very hard working yet universally cheerful, polite and helpful. Live evening entertainment in every resort was, er, entertaining! Mariachi (of course), rock band, ABBA tribute act, all really good stuff to get into the holiday spirit! A couple of acts made me wonder if it was karaoke night (it wasn’t) but that’s pretty much what you expect. I was recovering from knee replacement surgery so I didn’t try any excursions. But I’m definitely coming back again when I can! Book speciality restaurants before you arrive. They are great but busy.

We visited here in 2009 and had the best experience ever, well 17 years later we hoped it would be much of the same. I can’t say our stay was horrible because it definitely was not. We were able to relax and enjoy ourselves, but it was quite a different experience this time around. A lot of restaurants closed on certain days, and even only being at 30% capacity we waited nearly 45 minutes at a restaurant the concierge made us reservations at, but they didn’t have it on the books. The seaweed made it impossible to even step foot on the beach. The clear blue water days are over, unfortunately. While we enjoyed our time, it just wasn’t what we remembered years ago. I’m not sure if they have gotten so big they are spreading themselves thin or if it truly is that they are so short staffed due to being 44% down on tourism. I don’t want be entirely negative of the resort - Kampai and Jade were our most favorite places to eat. Most of the service was excellent. Again, we can to relax after many stressful days at work, and that’s what we got.

The only reason we didn’t give an Excellent rating was because of the beach due to the seaweed. It seems like it would be a beautiful beach if not for the sea weed. Also, everyone was great from the staff at the resort to the tour guides. These guys don’t get paid a lot and tips really help! And if you tip please tip them something that’s decent. Some guy on our tour tipped the our driver only $2! After he drove us around and waited on us all day. Some people at the resort wouldn’t leave a tip after dinner! We always tipped the servers at dinner, at buffet, drink waitress and bar tender. If you can afford to stay at such a nice place you can afford to tip. Just because it’s all-inclusive doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tip. Don’t be a tight wad!!