Bahia Principe LUXURY Akumal - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

13687 reviews

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  Do not let the "Luxury" title fool you. This is a 4 star resort at best.

  Sorry if this review is long but I thought I would be as honest as I can. I will list the good and the bad. We have travelled to Mexico 10 times in the last 5 years and stayed at 10 different resorts. This was by far the most disappointed we have been. I will explain: The good: The rooms are decent, nothing special. Clean and spacious. We stayed in building 55 which was close to everything. No complaints. The pools; clean and decent. There was no fighting for pool chairs in the morning as there was lots of chairs. The beach; decent. clean. no seaweed. You need swimming shoes for sure as it is quite rocky. And there are lots of beach chairs. The resort overall: they are renovating so some of the buildings have been updated. The resort could use a fresh coat of paint everywhere and a lot of the walkways are in need of repair. Be careful walking at night. Lots of potholes. The very good: the food at the a la cartes was very good. Dolce Vita, Frutos and Los corrales were excellent. Teppanyaki was also very good. Now for the bad...and the very bad. Bad: Buffets: The food at the buffets left a lot to be desired. Breakfast was ok but lunch was worse. And very busy. It also did not seem like they had enough staff working in the morning as waiting for a coffee sometimes took way too long. Dress codes: I am not a prude and far from perfect...but this is the only resort we have ever been at where a dress code to eat in the restaurants is not enforced. And by that I mean...people eating in the buffets with NO SHIRTS, NO SHOES and NO COVER-UPS. Its disgusting. Every other resort I have stayed at implemented that you be dressed accordingly to sit in the restaurants. Smoking: Again...I am not against smoking...but there are no rules enforced to smoke in the designated areas. People were smoking EVERYWHERE! (we even had a lady at the table beside us in the buffet restaurant light up a cigarette after breakfast!) People are vaping everywhere...in the sports bars...in the restaurants. Now for the VERY BAD...and these things will stop us from ever staying at the resort again. A La Carte bookings: we stayed at the Luxury Akumel and paid extra to have unlimited a la carte dinners. We found out through friends of ours that you need to book these a week before you arrive...NOBODY TOLD US THIS! We arrived on Sunday and all the restaurants were fully booked. We complained to management and after hours and hours of discussions and threats by us to request a refund we finally got 6 out of 7 restaurants booked. But wait...it gets worse than that...upon arriving at some of the restaurants at our alloted time...we noticed lots of empty tables. After further investigation...we found out that they hold these tables for guests who are prepared to pay for an expensive bottle of wine with dinner and they will give you a table. They are upcharging their guests to eat at the a la cartes. Our friends we were travelling really wanted to eat at the Brazilian restaurant so they purchased a $50US bottle of wine to get a table. We paid $300 more per couple to stay at the Luxury Akumel over Coba and we did not expect to have to be upcharged for dinner. For this reason alone we will never go back to this resort or any other Bahia Principe property. So to summarize...do not let the term "Luxury" fool you. The Tulum and Coba buildings are just as nice. And dont let the promise of unlimited a la cartes fool you either. Be forewarned. Stay at Coba or Tulum and use the money you saved to buy wine and you can book any a la carte you want. If you are looking for a 4.5-5 star resort experience and are prepared to pay the extra few hundred dollars per couple...stay at the Valentin Imperial or any of the Karisma Resorts (El Dorada Suites of Azul Beach). You get what you pay for. This is a 4 star resort at best.

  Dec 18, 2023
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  Beautiful resort but beware of dinner booking policies

  Beautiful resort, grounds were beautiful and well kept. Buffets were good, the 2 a la Cartes we got were delicious. The staff and entertainment at all resorts were great. Highly recommend the silent disco! The beach at Akumal was enjoyable, although if you’re looking for sandy beaches, this isn’t the one to choose. Take note, although only an hour from Cancun airport, add in all the drop offs along the way, our commute one way was almost 3 hours! When we booked, we were under the assumption we were in Adults only but we weren’t. Our travel agent requested a few things: honeymoon, king bed, close to beach and pools. When we checked in they gave us double beds so we asked for king. We ended up at the very back of the resort, furthest from everything. Not a huge deal, just not sure why we have requests if it’s not an option. I thought maybe we’d get a congratulations basket or a bottle or champagne or something for our honeymoon. We saw banners at other rooms celebrating birthdays, anniversaries etc. I guess it depends on who at the resort deals with your agent. Biggest disappointment was the a la Cartes. We found out days before we left that we had to book dinners 10 days in advance on their app. We were only able to get 2 online. When we arrived, we tried to book more and they were completely full. We were advised to show up and hope for no-shows (which I’ve experienced at other resorts and never had a problem). We did this twice at two different restaurants and although tables were empty at both restaurants (picture attached), we were told we could get a table if we paid $480 pesos (or more) for wine. We denied that, our package should’ve included 7 dinners and we only got 2, why would we pay more? So that’s disappointing. We are lucky we found the Facebook group, if we didn’t, we would’ve arrived to all A la Cartes fully booked. So fyi, if you don’t book the dinners in advance you’ll be eating buffets every day which is not what we’re paying for. A little disappointing! For a ‘Luxury’ resort, it wasn’t very luxury. We honestly would’ve received the same services and food experiences paying significantly less a person at a different resort in Mexico. Overall, we had a great time and didn’t let the hiccups upset our vacation.

  Dec 17, 2023
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  Worst restaurant reservations and room accommodation

  The worst experience I ever had with all inclusive resort , zero customer service in regards to restaurant reservation's We have emailed and confirmed our room and restaurant reservations, upon check in they reserve some other restaurant and rooms were not available the way we asked. Don’t go there

  Dec 15, 2023
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  Amazing vacation and colleagues!

  Our honeymoon was at Tulum 20 years ago, and we have been travelling to all the Bahia Principe Mexico resorts since then. Our stay in November 2023 was amazing as always. As Black Level Loyalty, we are able to use any of the resorts services, and we used the services of the Bahia Principe Akumal often. I can go on forever about the beauty of the grounds, the high quality and selection of food and beverage, the proximity to the ocean and pools, the quality of the recent upgrades to the rooms etc. These points are all well known, however what keeps us coming back are the people, the colleagues who work there. They are the reason our vacations are so special. We know that when our family arrives, we will be greeted by friends we have made over the years. They take such good care of us and are the real assets to the Bahia Principe family. These are some of the amazing colleagues who have made our experiences so special: YUM buffet daytime server Edgar. IYKYK, and if not, go see Edgar in the morning or for lunch. He is amazing with children, and ours have been recipients of his famous "Cork Mouse" gifts.He knows what each person needs, and most of the time the tables are set with everything before we even sit down. He is attentive, professional and a really nice person. He has been with Bahia Principe for a long time, and he is a reason we keep coming back.At the evening buffet, our friend Patricia would take care of us. Here is another long time colleague of Bahia Principe, and her level of service shows this. So attentive, so caring, so genuine. She would meet and exceed our expectations each time, and we looked forward to each dinner with her.While at the resort, take the time to get to know the colleagues there, especially the ones mentioned here. They will make your trip that much better!

  Dec 13, 2023
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  Excellent Bahia Resort

  The resort is excellent when compared to the other Bahia Principes. Remember this is not a Grand Bahia so do not make that comparison. Although stated this is not an adults only place and also although stated there are not motorized water sports or for that manner any other real water sports. Having said that the food is excellent, and the staff are incredible the fridge will always be refilled every day as will the bottled water supply. If you are after inexpensive souvenirs there are other Bahias that have cheaper and more abundant souvenirs Such as the Hacienda. You have a mini shuttle that will take you to all the other Bahias where you can play and eat. You can also reserve any of the restaurants on any of the Bahias. The beach on Akumal where you are staying is not the best however you have access to the other beaches as well. Travelling between the resorts takes minutes only. To sum it up for the Bahia system this resort is the best in all aspects from food to staff. You also have free room service. Your bus from Cancun to the resort takes about 1.5 hrs give or take.

  Dec 13, 2023