Grand Bahia Principe Coba

Our air con in room leaked all over the floor, 2 engineers and 5 hours later having been spoken to aggressively we were told to pack , weren’t allowed to see the alternative room and then when asked to love again told it would be another half an hour to an hour before they had a room available despite only running at 60% capacity On the eve of our anniversary which was what we came here to celebrate.... shocking customer service

Let me start by saying PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT THEIR SWIM WITH THE DOLPHINS PROGRAM. They keep 5 DOLPHINS in a tiny pool that isn't 100% salt water. DOLPHINS should not be kept in captivity and this form of abuse will not stop unless people stop supporting it. Grand Bahia in Mexico is huge. There are 4 resorts there and access to each resort varies depending on membership... ROOMS: We started off in Coba and although the rooms were more spacious than Tulum, our rooms were very musty so we switched. We also did not like Coba because you cannot see the ocean from any part of the resort. You either have to take a 20 minute walk to the beach or wait for a shuttle. The shuttle system is confusing and limited so expect to do a ton of walking. The rooms at Tulum are smaller but the resort is right on the ocean and has better pools. We had some issues with our rooms in Tulum. We found blood on the floors and the walls, the a/c in one room was not working, the tv's did not work properly, the door handles were broken and we were woken up but drunk guests each night. I preferred Tulum over Coba because of the location but we were still not impressed. If you can afford it, stay at Akumal. This resort is beautiful and an Akumal bracelet will grant you access to the infinity pool(My favorite) and the tiki bar with swings. BEACHES: The beaches are nice and they have man-made breakers to stop the waves. Although the breakers are ugly, they make it much safer for swimming. Many varieties of fish come inside the swimming areas and it makes for great snorkeling. Cleaning the beach of rocks, weeds and garbage is a never ending battle for many staff members but they do a great job. BUFFET The food is not great and is not well labelled. If you have allergies, be very careful. The food is cold and very repetitive. A LA CARTE This food is decent and the service is excellent. Book early and arrive on time or you will be disappointed. SERVICE Most of the wait staff and the maintenance crews were friendly. Shuttle drivers were pretty good. Entertainment staff could be more engaging. Guest services team wasn't bad. Lobby shop staff were pushy and annoying as were the dolphin swim salespeople. PRIVILEGE CLUB I have been to 3 Bahia resorts as a member and this was by far the worst experience. It started out well with our private concierge booking our dinners and transfers but upon arrival we were so dissatisfied. We were dropped off and there was nobody at the front to greet us or show us where to go. After about 15 minutes, we finally found someone to show us where to check in. We were nog greeted the samd way that we were at other resorts and didn't feel welcome. They are very strict and by the book at this resort so if you travel with older teens, don't expect the same privileges as adults like you get at other all inclusive, despite the fact that teens pay the adult rate. The concierge showed us to our rooms and after that it seemed like he was done with us. At other bahia resorts we were treated like gold as members, but not here. It felt like they already had our money so they didn't bother to try to impress us. It was when we tried to switch resorts that I had the worst guest experience of my life. I asked 4 different times to change resorts because we wanted to be closer to the ocean. I even explained that i was willing to pay extra. Each time I was told to check back later or to check elsewhere. At one point I was even sent to the front desk whe privilege members don't deal with the front desk. Even the front desk agent was surprised and tried to send me back to the privilege club. After getting the run around so many times and wasting my vacation time, I decided to email my concierge. After he hadn't responded for over 30 hours, even though he was at work and sitting at his computer, I was frustrated and spoke to a guest services manager. He was great but said he couldn't do much because he didn't deal with privilege members. He gave me a different name but at that point I gave up. He must have done something because the next day, I finally received a call from my concierge but we only had a couple of nights left so I told him it was a little late and hung up. Later that day I ran in to him and he said that they decided to give us a free upgrade to Tulum for our last two nights. We accepted but little did we know, we had to check out of Coba and then in to Tulum. This would have been fine but we had to check out by noon and then check in to our next room at 3. It was time consuming, confusing because nobody could explain the nonsensical process, and extremely inconvenient. Not what I would have expected as a privilege member. A couple of good things about being a privilege member at this resort include access to Akumal, a la carte meals each night so that we could avoid the buffet, and the access to the much needed privilege carts. What we really liked: The wildlife...you will see birds, raccoons, coatis...

There was 7 reservations for a party of 17. From 1 yr to 69 years old. We stayed at COBA resort. Villa 18, 19 and 21. We made a request to stay close together via email in advance and we mentioned that we have kids with us. Bahia guest service was kind enough to allow us to be closeby. We also booked the la carte restaurants in advance via email and we were booked by the time we got there. The service all through was fantastic. The rooms are clean and spacious. The resort is very clean. The kids water park is clean and clear. The path to the main lobby was lit. We mainly took the tram to Akumal for the beach.. Water is calm and the kids can snorkel. Big fishes everywhere.. They loved it.. Buffet - Good service if served in the Coba buffet. Romeo our server with the silver teeth is such a fantastic waiter. Tulum buffet - smaller than Coba and a little bit dimmer. The service there is not as high standard as Coba as well. Coba was more spacious. Food - you have everything you need.. Pasta, Meat, grilled, seafod.. etc.. no complains here... A La Carte - We ate at Portofino. Selection was OK. Risotto was good, but all else are just average. Not much great selection. 2nd a la carte - Mediterraneo - Excellent service and food. The Octopus was so awesome!! charred and delicious. Seafood dish was also awesome.. You get lobster, shrimp and fish.. so so good!! 3rd ala carte - Gran Tortuga - all the MEAT BBQ you can eat.. oh my.. we were all stuffed by the time we finished.. The meat were awesome. The Turkey was succulent!! so soft and juicy. Only disappointment was our waiter... he was so snobbish.. maybe because there was 17 of us.. Only concern, is the lack of BREEZE in the lobby. It tends to be super HOT. Perhaps more fans. All else.. everything was great.. We were there to get some R&R and enjoy the resort as a family. And we did!! We just lounge and relaxed.. We loved this resort and the Mexicans!! Or perhaps, its the Bahia Principe branding and its standard that we truly love. They truly represent a 5 star resort.