Bahia Principe Explore Akumal

The room and resort were clean and well cared for by staff. All front end staff were professional. Perhaps the glitches were due to the takeover by Hyatt. We were unable to access the app and so had great difficulty making a la carte reservations and rarely knew what was happening around the resort. The food at the buffets was mislabeled and so it was difficult to trust what was in it. It was often cold--and I don't like steaming hot, but this was not good (and perhaps unsafe). There were animals in and about the food/dining areas (sometimes on counters, sometimes in the rafters above diners, scratching themselves). We are used to the occasional bird flying by, but this was coatis which are quite large. We paid for all inclusive, but there was not a lot of choice in the mini-bar (2 beer, 3 sodas, 2 waters and a litre of water) and only 1 small bag of crisps. They did replenish when they cleaned the room. We booked a tour with Majestic Expeditions (booked through Transat) and would not recommend. Another tour was with Cancun Adventures and it was fatastic from start to finish. We enjoyed sitting on the beach. swimming, and it was not too noisy.

This was our 4th trip to BPA and we’ve always liked the place. However our recent holiday left us disappointed with the general ambience of the property. We’re aware that the hotel ownership is about to change, and whether it was this or other factors, it wasn’t the usual all inclusive experience we’ve enjoyed on previous visits. On the first 3 days of our stay, the only teas available were fruit flavoured or Earl Grey, not everyone's cuppa if you’ll forgive the pun. Then we had two evenings where the main bar in the entertainment “theatre” had no tonic. Two days where the nearest beach bar had no beer before 2pm, and three evenings where neither of the two evening bars had any whiskey. Food was OK but still gave the impression they were stretching things to make them last. It’s a shame as the staff were generally very good, but you did get the impression even they knew things weren’t “normal”. Overall we were disappointed with our stay. Management and owners should take heed of the adage” it can take years to build a great reputation, but only weeks to ruin it”. On balance I don’t think we’ll return as when you’re expecting an all inclusive experience it’s deflating when you have to make do without what you consider to be basics.

My husband and I have been to Mexico. Several times and we decided to go to akumal because of the great things we heard about it.However, this was the worst trip i've ever been on. The hotel was such a disappointment, and I would never go back. I heard such great things about the company. But when we got there, we were not Welcomed with a welcoming drink or anything Which was supposed to be had. We did not receive the king size bed room we requested so had to sleep in separate beds which was crazy for a couple trying to have a romantic getaway. Also the bedding was the WORST I've ever experienced! The sheet felt like sandpaper and they had NO quilts on the beds! Only sheets or those old itchy blankets. I was freezing the entire time. The staff also seemed very miserable- like they did not like their jobs and most of then couldn't even understand me because their English was so poor and limited. Also there was no food anywhere amongst the pools, whereas most places i've stayed all have pool side menus where people have the servers deliver you food or snacks.As well as drink. If you were lying by the pool, you had to leave your spot every time. You wanted to go eat breakfast or lunch or get a snack and you couldn't take it back to the pool area which was really frustrating because you are not supposed to save seats so then you would lose your spot. Also everyone booked up all the a la carte restaurants before they even got to the hotel which absolutely insane and should not be allowed. Also there were no lunch options other than the snack bar or the buffet. This was really disappointing experience. The only thing good about the experience was they had nice pools BUT the pools were not heated so it was really hard swimming in them. Most Mexican resorts ive gone to all have heated pools. Definitely do not recommend this hotel or location at all. Also there was such a small section of beach you could actually swim in! Most of the beach was rocks that scrapped my feet and the sand was not soft. I would much rather go back to cancun, playa del Carmen or Cabo!!!!!

Lovely resort. Love the fact you can go to other hotels in the complex to eat and use their facilities. All very clean. Staff work hard to keep it looking pristine. Food was plentiful but on occasinos the buffet food was stone cold. The pork that was carved in front of you was very pink. I decided not to go for that. Coffee shop was disappointing. Coffee was awful and for me un drinkable. Service in buffet was exceptional. Alejandra was always happy to see us and was so attentative. There was another lady but can't remember her name always gave us exceptional service. She had 4 silver teeth! Service around pool was mixed. At the quiet pool was 10/10. Around the main pool the lady was so miserable and quite often ignored you. The a la cart restaurant were lovely but very difficult to book. We only manage 4 in 12 days. The only one we were very disappointed with was the fish restaurant in Akumal. The food was lovely but the service was rushed. They got our 3 courses incorrect. As we were drinking our coffee at the end the waiter asked us if we had good service and we replied yes. He then stood there right next to our table just staring at us. I know he was waiting for a tip but we hadn't finished. He did this on 2 occasions. This I felt was unnecessary. We went snorkeling with Darwin. We swam with turtles, fish and stingray. It was fantastic. Would highly recommend him. He just took out me and my husband. The other groups were at least 8-10 people. Overall we had a pleasant holiday. And would definately go back to Mexico but would try another resort.

We went as a Group of 4 couples and everyone just loved their experience at this resort. Staff is very accommodating for anything, happy to serve you. Grounds are very clean and maintained. Lots of vegetation, flowers, trees.... Got to see many cute animals as we walked anywhere on the resort such as coatis, agoutis, racoons, birds, iguanas... Variety of food at the buffet is amazing and delicious. The only negative thing i would have to say concerns the almost impossible possibility to reserve a restaurant a la carte. Only 4 of us got to go one night but thats it....Our suggestion would be to limit the amount of reservation people could have per week so everyone could get a little (perhaps 3 or 4 instead of 7) Other than that, So much to see with beeing able to visit any of the 5 other bahia resorts around. We we're very happy to have chosen the akumal as in our opinion, it was definitely the niciest with its direct access to the beach. We were all in building 58 on the third floor and our rooms were beautiful and clean. Entertainment team is just great ! Our favorite activity was the silent disco, was just so much fun ! The beach experienced lots of sargassum during our stay but this is not the resort fault of course. The environment staff worked really hard to clean it up daily and this made a significant difference for us to enjoy a nice swim in the beautiful ocean. Lots of trolleys passing by all the time to carry people around anywhere on the akumal and also between the other bahias, very well organized. Many pools to go to ! The chairs need to be reserved early but we usually just reserved 4 for the whole group as most of us spent all our time directly in the water. I could go on and on about how we love our experience at this resort, would definitely go back !