We booked the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum blindly, as the resort we wanted to go to was way to expensive for 2 weeks. After going home and reading the reviews I got mixed feelings on what we had gotten into. Might I add, that every resort always gets good and bad reviews and you have to pick and choose which ones are true and which are just overly picky, complainy people. I was still slightly scarred from our experience at the Grand Sirenis and didn't want to have another experience like that, especially with my family being there with us. Luckily our trip turned out amazing and the Grand Bahia Principe was an awesome resort! So glad we chose it for our family vacation.
The Grand Bahia Principe is made of 4 different resorts, the Grand Bahia Tulum, Coba, Akumal and Siaan Kaan. The Siaan Kaan is adults only. You are able to visit and use the amenities at all 3 locations (Siaan Kaan you can't visit and use, unless you booked there, then you can use all 4 resorts). Each resort is close enough that its about a 20 min walk, or 5 min golf card ride away, yet it still maintains a smallness to each separate resort.
Here is my review of the resort:
Arrival:
We arrived around 2 pm to the Grand Bahia. We first noticed the friendliness of the staff and the grandure of the lobby of the resort. Check in was quick and we were welcomed with a delicious welcome drink. Because we booked with Air Canada, our safe was free. We didnt have to argue about anything (sometimes resorts try to charge you regardless of what is included free of charge). The bell boys were quick to bring our luggage to our rooms.
Rooms:
Our rooms were located next to each other on the ground level. We requested rooms close together and with king beds and we managed to get both requests! I wasa little worried being close to the main walkway and lobby for noise reasons (we were in Villa 7). But we were never bothered by noise at all the whole trip, and it was convenient being so close to the lobby, snack bar and beach. Everything was maybe a 5 min walk max from our room.
The rooms were very clean and bright. There was marble floors and marble bathrooms with a clear showerdoor in the bathroom. The toilets worker well and we never had any issues. Our shower door did leak, but since we had maid service it didn't bother us too much. The bathroom could have been a little bigger, as it was a tight squeeze (The door opened and covered the toilet), but we were always stocked well with shampoo, body wash, soap, faceclothes and towels. The bathroom also had robes, slippers, a comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, shoe shine kit, shower cap, body lotion, and a sewing kit. I was pleased to see the shampoo and body wash smelled so pleasant and I enjoyed using them.
Our room included a built in couch, a table and 2 chairs, a flat screen tv anda a mini bar that was actually restocked daily (unlike some resorts). The deck overlooked green space which was really nice. We also had an alarm clock in the room (shockingly not something every resort included).
The bed could have been a little comfier (We even had a matress cover on ours), but overall the rooms were really nice and spacious (We had a standard room).
Buffet:
Our resort had 1 buffet. The hours were generous for food. Breakfast was from 7-10:30. Lunch 12:30-3:30 and supper from 6:30-10:30.
Let me tell you, you wont starve here.
For breakfast there was a huge row of fresh breads, buns, hot croissants, bagels, etc. There was always fresh fruit!! They had a smoothie bar, omelette station, lots of cereal to choose from. The yogurt was delicious!!
For lunch, again a great assortment of food, and even a fresh sandwhich station.
Supper time had a different theme each night. There was a fresh pasta station, pizza being freshly made, meats being grilled fresh, a mexican corner, and even a sushi bar (also available at lunch too). Desserts were plentiful, and include a wide mixture of jello, cakes, ice cream, sorbet, chocolates, pudding, etc.
There was always an American corner available with burgers, fries, hot dogs, etc. A plentiful salad bar was also always available.
They even had a kids corner with baby burgers, chicken fingers, fries, and other kid friendly food items.
I can't rave enough about the buffet. We never even tried the buffets at the other 2 resorts. We certainly never walked away hungry.
It was nice that drinks were available in the buffet. At the Sirenis you could only get beer and wine, no mixed drinks at the buffet.
The waiters were amazing! We loved Audomaro, Antonio, and Reynoldo.
Snack Bar:
The snack bar was open 24 hrs. They served a continental breakfast until around 11. Then switched over to lunch. They had pasta, burgers, hot dogs, fresh salad bar and menu items you could order fresh. In the evening, they did made to order items off a menu. They also had a 24 hr bar available.
A La Carte Restaurants:
There were a total of 11 A La carte restaurants available. Each guest is entitled to 3 reservations a week. We got 4 because we booked through air canada. One suggestion is too book early as they fill up fast! We booked ours the first afternoon we arrived.
Here is a list of available options:
- Don Pablo (international gourmet) (Formal): We ate here. It was good, not my top pick of the restaurants, but still yummy.
- Tequila (Mexican): We ate here. It was our first A La Carte. Again pretty good but not my top pick of restaurants. Had better mexican at other resorts.
- Arlequin (international gourmet) (Formal)
- Dolce Vita (Italian): We ate here. The food was amazing!
- Gran tortuga (Brazilian): We ate here twice. The bring different meats around to the table until you tell them to stop. My hubs loved this one.
- Frutos del Mar (seafood): For someone who doesn't like much seafood, I enjoyed this restaurant. The buffet part was better then the meal itself. The waiters weren't the best at this restaurant. They confused our orders and mixed up items.
- Mediterraneo (Spanish and greek)
- Pescador (fish)
- Le Gourmet (French) (Formal): We ate here. This was my top pick. Very formal, but the food was delicious.
- Mikado (Japanese): Another top pick. The show wasn't as good as what I've seen at other resorts, but still entertaining. Definitly have the tempura ice cream.
- Portofino (Italian)
Most of the A La Cartes had a started buffet before your meal. Then the meal consisted of a salad and/or soup, main and dessert. You definitly want to go to these hungry. There was a dress code for these restaurants. Men had to wear dress pants. We found they didn't enforce this rule (many even allowed beach shorts which was a dissapointment) at most restaurants. However the Don Pablo and Le Gourmet strictly enforced this rule.
Pools:
Pools were plentiful at this resort. There was also a variety of pool activities and music available depending on where you went. Lounge chairs were never hard to find either. My family took part in many pool activites, including the swim up bar.
The Coba even had a kids waterpark available.
Beach:
The beach was gorgeous at the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum. It was super long and sandy. Akumal had a short beach, Coba didn't have a beach close to it, neither did Siaan Kaan. We choose the Tulum specifically for the beach. It was a 5 min walk from our room. There were tons of beach chairs and palapas. They did tend to fill up by mid morning (although chairs were always available up a bit from the water), but by 1ish we were always able to move down close to the water. The beach was rocky in some parts, but overall we didn't need the water shoes we brought. There were "whales" which were huge sand bags in the ocean to stop the deterioration of the beach, but they didn't take away from the beach. There were lots of fish, great snorkling, and lots of shallow areas for swimming. You could rent jet ski's, go fishing, parasailing, catamaraing and snorkling free of charge. The Akumal section had live music and beach fitness classes available.
It was safe leaving our stuff on our chairs while we went swimming. We werent bothered by beach sellers very much either. The odd person came by selling things but they werent invasive, and only stopped if you inquired. The snack bar was literally on the beach.
Towels:
Beach towels were always available. Each day we got new ones and turned them in for a towel card when we left.
Booze:
The drinks were amazing at this resort. They weren't watered down at all. Sometimes they were a little extreme with alcohol, but never watery. They had a drink list but made many drinks that werent on the list. Drinks came in normal sized glasses (some places you need 3-4 glasses just to make 1 drink) and were sevrved in glass cups, unless you were leaving the buffet, lounge area, or were at the snack bar. They always had plastic cups available if you left an area and needed to switch away from glass cups.
Lounge Area/Bar:
This area had nightly live entertainment before and after the show. Karaoke as well some nights. During the day coffee and tea were available, along with light snacks. It was a great place to relax and cool off.
Nightly entertainment:
This was the one area we were dissappointed in. Everything else was so amazing, the shows seemed subpar :(
Other Tidbits:
-The lobby had free wifi. During busy times it was hard to connect, but at least it was an option. Many resorts we had to pay $5 to get 30 min of internet.
-Golf carts were always running and available to take you to other resorts, the Hacienda, etc.
-They had a Hacienda were you could shop, go to the nightly disco, sportsbar. A clinic, and dentist was also available there. Prices were pretty reasonable, and you could barter a bit.
- They did have a golf course, but I never heard of anyone golfing.
- They had a dolphin pen and had a daily show. You could also swim with the dolphins here.
- They had privaleged areas on the beach (not worth the money).
- Exchange rate was pretty good, better then the airport where we bought our peso's here in Canada.
- Staff were super friendly.
-We disliked the people trying to constantly sell us privleged. Luckily they were only in the lobby.
- There was a spa, although it seemed a little over priced, and we never really seen anyone going to it.
- Maid service was awesome. Shout out to Edgar!
- The resort had so much to do and was big but still had the small resort feel to it. There was lots of vegetation and trees around. They worked hard on upkeep and it definitly showed.
- Lots of friendly iguana's.
- Hotel shopping area's weren't too overpriced. I bought a few things.
-Lots of daily activites, fitness, dancing, music, etc. So whether you want to lounge or keep busy there is lots to do.
- They had a Tao wellness center to do zumba, yoga etc.
Overall we had an awesome trip and loved the resort. I would give it an A+. It was clean, well maintained, and everyone was so friendly.
The only downfalls to this resort was the nightly entertainment. I felt compared to the rest of it, it was cheesey and not well put together. I also disliked them trying to sell the privaledged to us all the time (we just ignored them after a while). Luckily it was only in the lobbey. I wish the spa was a little cheaper, as we usually like to enjoy it at least once on vacation.
Reading the reviews on trip advisor definitly get it right (the positive one's). For those who complain, not sure what they were expecting, and we definitly been to a lot worse.
We will definitly return!!
