Gran Bahia Principe Akumal/Tulum/Coba - POST HERE!

[TATrisha]

I'll simply add my answers in with hers!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Martha Amanda, I'll answer what I can...there is no charge for extra water...it's AI. Why would an AI charge for water? Sillyness! You get two bottles of water upon arrival... and then when they restock they'll put two more in. However, we asked for more, and received more. And we also would simply take them from the guys cart when he was filling up the minibars. It worked. Oh, and I drank the water from the bar taps every single day and I was perfectly fine. Not sure about the beer...I do know they have Corona and DosXX. Which is basically what most resorts have down there since they are domestic to Mexico. Some of the new brides can help you with that. I disagree a little bit here. They do have Corona, but only at the Hacienda and you have to pay for it. Otherwise it's Del Sol and DosXX I believe. But, I suggest the strawberry daqs. They are SOOO good! I do not know if the other bars stay open late. I thought one of the 24 hour restaurants had beer, not sure though. The 24 snack bar is open, but honestly nobody in our group had a problem with the 11pm issue... and they are drinkers! Everyone seemed to want to go to the Hacienda to drink after 11 anyways because they have outdoor seating, live music, and shopping! Can't remember the rooms...I know that the ones you pay extra for are not worth it, or so I have read on Tripadvisor because they are so far away from everything. I don't know anything about the Tulum side. We stayed at the Akumal side because we wanted the beach wedding site. Sorry! Ha! I just realized I didn't help you at all...sorry.

[drai]

We often went to the 24 hour snack bar, it's outside by the beach, has plenty of drinks and snacks, it wasn't bad at all. But the hacienda was lots of fun as well which is open later than 11.

 

We stayed on the Tulum side and had a junior suite in the club diamond section and we thought it was worth the money. It's close to the main lobby and main buffet area. We got ready in our room before the wedding and it was nice to have the extra space. It's much bigger than the regular rooms and had a nice little bench and table with chairs.

[Jen_S]

I sent some questions to the resort and below are the responses.

What are the differences between the Akumal, Tulum and Coba resorts?

Tulum was the first hotel of the complex with 858 rooms, only 84 juniors suites and the rest of them standar rooms.Akumal was the second in built with 630 rooms , 72 standar and 558 junior suites. Coba the last one in built with 1080 rooms all junior suites.

Is there room service; if so what hours?

Only if you are located in the Golden Club Akumal or Golden Club Coba 24 hrs ( snack menu ),

How often is the wet bar restocked?

I belive you mean mini bar located at the room , this service is restocked every day

What time does alcohol stop being served I have seen different time on different sites?

The bars located by the pool and beach area close at 5:00 pm , bars located in the lobby from 10 am till 11:00 pm Music Bar from 6:30 pm till 10:30 pm , Bars located at Hacienda Doña Isabel from 7:00 pm till midnight and Disco from midnight till 2:00 am

If guests stays for 4 or 7 nights how many nights can they eat at the a la cart restaurant?

in the order of:

3 or 4 nights 1 dinner

5 or 6 nights 2 dinners

7 or 9 nights 3 dinners

 

Hope it helps!

[Jen_S]

Has anyone used the Resorts photographer or heard any reviews.

[RyanAmanda]

Thanks everyone!

 

Is there an age limit to the Hacienda? We have one guest who is JUST under the age limit (I think - what even is the age limit in Mexico??) and she stays up later then everyone so I was just hoping there was a place we could go for drinks that she could come.

[TATrisha]

The hacienda... no.

And they were serving drinks to people who looked like they were 14!!! I think it's technically 18, but they weren't stopping those who were younger.

I do think there is an age limit at the disco, but that's it.

[steph77]

We stayed at the Akumal site and it was great, the Coba side looked like it could suck as there are rooms overlooking the highway! We were there for 2 weeks and explored the resort quite a bit and we preferred the Akumal side but it's all up to what kind of vacation you're looking for. Our rooms were right on the beach (villa 66) it was amazing to listen to the waves at night.

The mini-bar thing is funny... we NEVER had a problem, as we left a dollar in the fridge everyday, we took the 2 water bottles off the counter and put them out of site so we had a little surplus going on. PS- those who didn't tip didn't have this kind of attentiveness. Oh in the fridge they stock cans of the Dos XX and they won't give you more than 4 cans (or so it seemed) at a time.

At Akumal the Snack Bar is open 24 hours and you can get drinks there, Miami Vices were our fav. (half pina colada half strawberry daiquiri) Mango daiquiris were great too.

If you stay at Akumal, for breakfast and lunch go to the front seating hall and find a waiter named Ricardo, trust me he works his butt off and really enjoys his job.

Just bring lots of small bills for tipping, we left $2 for the maid, $1 for the fridge guy, and gave $1/per person sitting at the table to waiters (if you leave it on the table it is split amongst all, given directly to them they keep it, which after hard work we made sure to directly give it to the person)

You'll also need tips for bus drivers, tour guides, etc. it is a service industry even though it is all inclusive, people will really go the extra mile for just a couple bucks.

That's all I can think about right now, but anything else ask away.

OHHHHH- make sure you get ANY agreement with a photographer IN WRITING, I had a friend take our pics but we watched one family in a huge fight as the guy upped the price upon delivery and then blamed it on miscommunication/ language.... just a heads up.

[TATrisha]

You were there when I was... and in the next villa! Darn it! We should have scheduled a meeting! I probably watched your wedding actually! We were in the activities pool by the 24 hour snack bar every day. Schucks.

Now, as for the tipping. This is terrible of me, but I DID NOT tip! Well, that's kind of a lie. Here's the story. I MEANT to tip. I had 100 $1 bills along! that's how much I MEANT to tip! But honestly, I was running around so much that I never seemed to remember! I tipped our fridge guy the very first day, and only $2. It didn't matter. he still gave us plenty of water and extra chocolate bars (the white ones are delicious!!). I did not tip the maid ONCE! I did give her one of our travel mugs, but that's it. Yet every single day we had towel art (with fresh flowers) and our room was cleaned spotless. I also didn't ever tip anyone at any of the meals. It didn't matter. They always had a smile and always served us quite well. Then again, we are easy since we don't drink so they really didn't have to do anything for us.

We did tip on our wedding night though. I had a tip ready for Yuritizia... however we ended up giving it to the head waitor Jesus instead. he was phenomenal and really was amazing. We also tipped the DJ.

So although I truly think it's quite nice to tip... it is NOT necessary at this resort. They still treated us with every ounce of respect and we got what we paid for.

[Sunsierra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tlseege So although I truly think it's quite nice to tip... it is NOT necessary at this resort.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. I think you should tip no matter what (if you get good service). These people work their butts off (some waiters would work the pool bar all day, then move over to the lobby bar to work) and deserve any extra they get.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanAmanda Is there an age limit to the Hacienda?

No. But technically there is an age limit to drink at the disco and everywhere on the resort (18 ). My sister was 17 when we went and when we checked in, she got an adult bracelet (they didn't ask - we didn't tell). That way she had no problem drinking wherever we went. I wouldn't suggest doing this if the girl has a hard time knowing when to stop - cause it's still illegal - but my sister isn't a huge drinker anyway so it was no big deal.

[TATrisha]

Don't worry Stacy, I disagree too. I'm one who will actually tip everyone and their brother! However for some reason on this trip my mind was NOT working!

I was just saying that I disagree when people say that you HAVE to leave a big tip EVERYDAY in order to GET service. That was completely false in my experience. We still got excellent service even though we didn't tip. You should NEVER have to tip in order to GET service. You tip AFTER you've received great service, which is why at our wedding the waiter and DJ went home with quite a bit of change in their pockets.