Luxury Bahia Principe Akumal

Just returned from a weeks stay here and its definitely not long enough.The place is beautiful and the food and service was brilliant.All the staff work so hard to ensure you have a fantastic vacation which we did.First time in Mexico and we will definitely be returning.

We just got back from a week at GBP Akumal, where we stayed in building 83, in the adult's only section. Our stay was lovely and the review below is entirely honest. Room: Again, we were in the adult's only section, in building 83 which houses the junior suite deluxe rooms. The room was large and spotlessly clean. The AC worked very well the entire time we were there. The only fault I would give is that the grey water recycling program (grey water sprayed on the landscaping) is smelly. Be prepared to walk out of your room into open air that sometimes stinks. The building location is great, right at the edge of the property on the water next to the infinity pool and Los Corales pool bar and rodizio. It was extremely convenient to be right next door to our location for breakfast. The butler was located in the entryway, so they were very easy to find if we needed anything. Resort: The grounds are lovely and extremely well-maintained. Be aware that the grey water recycling program is very stinky so it may be smelly in parts of the resort when they're watering. Also, don't let yourself come in contact with the water that comes out of the sprinklers. The beaches were all lovely and the service was fantastic. Staying at Akumal meant we had mostly the run of the resort and we enjoyed visiting the other sections. The sports bar was a hit, especially since it was air conditioned. We enjoyed the Sian Ka'an lobby for the drink selection, but didn't care for all of the cigarette smoke. The Akumal lobby was great for hanging out with its great breeze, until the cigarette smoke blew in. I do wish the resort would find a way to keep the smoke corralled around the smokers. The trolley drivers were all fantastic and extremely patient with sometimes-rowdy guests. Service: The service from everyone there was exceptional. Everyone was lovely. Bars: Our favorite bar ended up being the swing bar on the beach, but we had great service and great drinks from all of them. Everyone was friendly. Food: It's hard to evaluate the food without mentioning each place to eat individually. The Akumal buffet in the lobby was just not good. We tried eating there a couple of times and the food was...bad. We just didn't enjoy it. We ended up only with 4 on-site reservations and ate the rest of our dinners off property. Los Corales Rodizio was excellent. Lots of selection and great service for Brazilian steakhouse style food. Highly recommended. Mashua in the Coba section was also just not good. The service was excellent, but the only thing my group enjoyed was the beef entree. Everything else was not good. Alux in the Sian Ka'an section was excellent. There were a couple of items my group didn't like, but there were also some exceptional things. Get the shrimp appetizer and the mushroom soup. Maiko in the Sian Ka'an section was also excellent. The food wasn't truly authentic Japanese, but was well-composed and delicious. Pools: We didn't use the pools at all, because we're just not pool kinds of people. We did notice "The Towel Game" in full force. Beach: We knew to expect rocks, sand "whales" and other things mixed in with the sandy beaches. We never had trouble finding lounge chairs and shade. We preferred to move our chairs under some trees to the small palapas. The zumba music was extremely loud at the adults only beach so we tended to hang out more near the lobby area. Activities: We did more activities off the resort than on. However when we were at the resort we notice a large variety of activities and the animation team worked very hard to keep people entertained. Excursions: The only resort excursion we took was the snorkeling one to Tulum. It was great to take a boat from the hotel to Tulum by water and then snorkel the reef. Highly recommended. Things the resort needs to address: the cigarette smoke in the lobbies is irritating for guests who don't smoke. It was clear that there were designated smoking areas, but the smoke blew into the lobbies. Also, the grey water recycling program is great in theory, but needs some work in execution. Most vacationers don't particularly care for smelling sewage, even when they know why it's there. In all, we had a lovely vacation and would recommend people stay at this resort as long as they have sufficiently clear expectations. The value for the money is unparalleled.