Luxury Bahia Principe Sian Ka'an

My husband and I stayed at Sian Ka'an November 5-12, 2019. We were attending a wedding at Akumal but since we've stayed at Sian Ka'an many times before (this is our 8th stay), we chose this property. The average age of the guests at Sian Ka'an would be 50 + so it is very quiet day and night, which is perfect for us. Our preferred room is the Junior Suite Superior and it was comfortable. I emailed the resort prior to arriving to request a room in a certain area of the resort & when we checked in we were pleased to have gotten our request (again). We did have to return to the front desk the next morning as they were out of towel cards. Across the resort, the service overall was good. Turn down service was missed on two evenings & we messaged "our butler" twice through the app to have aromatherapy lit in our room in the evening. Our room was spotlessly cleaned each day & we left a note for our fridge to be re stocked with certain items, which was accommodated. Nice to get the mini liquor bottles & 2 bags of potato chips as well. We were able to book a the la carte dinner reservations for the times we wanted, as well as all our restaurant choices. New this trip is not having to have your dinner confirmations printed out. There is an electronic device set up in the lobby for you to use to book them or you can use the app you download. Entertainment continues to be very good. They have "live music" every evening at Sian Ka'an in the lobby area (7-9 pm), a show at 9:00 pm & more live music from 10-11 pm. The Queen tribute was excellent, as was Abba. Seating is limited so you have to arrive early. They have now designated some non smoking tables at the outside entertainment seating area. The biggest draw of this property to us is the jungle setting. It's so lush with beautiful flowers & meticulously maintained by the gardening staff. It was very humid with little wind this trip but we only experienced a few mosquitoes on our last morning at the pool. The pools were clean & refreshing. We always found places to sit at any time of the day we went and being in the jungle there is always plenty of shade. The towel shack did run out of towels one day. We had 2 couples massages and they were very good. Our therapists Sara & Aydee were professional & provided very good massages. After our first visit Sara offered a lower price for a second treatment, which we happily booked. Guadalope at the front desk of the spa was a real pleasure to deal with as well. We were using the trolley service more often than we normally do, which was frustrating at times. When you're waiting at another property to return to Sian Ka'an & a trolley would arrive indicating "Sian Ka'an", the driver would say otherwise, that he's not going there & you continue to wait. Be aware of the time as the last trolley to Sian Ka'an from the other properties is midnight & from the Hacienda until 2:00 am. We had to wait quite a while at the Hacidena to get back the night of the wedding. As well, each driver seems to make his own decision as a group from Sian Ka'an wanted to get dropped off at Portofino (Coba) and they did but when we asked on another night we were told no. The wedding was on the beach at Akumal & there wasn't any seaweed this time so it was beautiful. The ceremony was under a pergola so the 51 guests were sheltered from the sun. The food is outstanding. So many choices at the buffet and the a la carte dining is equally as good. A few restaurants on the Akumal property are closed for renovation but we did enjoy our dinner there at Arlequin, Portofino at Coba, as well as Alux & Maiko at Sian Ka'an. Room service seemed popular & you can stop in at the Cenote snack bar 24 hours a day as well. Really enjoyed Manuela at the front desk of the Sian Ka'an buffet. We enjoyed our stay and will continue to return to Sian Ka'an.

Our 5th time to the property, 2nd in Sian Ka'an. Stayed from November 1-15 and traveled with parents this time (their first time to the property). No surprises, staff were all warm and welcoming, and always there when we needed them. At this point it feels like home. Weather was a bit wetter than normal for this time of year (rainy season has hung on) but nothing you can do about that. It looked like a few of the a la carte restaurants were closed for renovations, but there were still plenty of options. Special thanks to Anabel (host in the buffet breakfast and lunch), Demetrio and Eric in the buffet (breakfast and lunch). This crew is always smiling, always a big welcome, and always great service. Ramon in the buffet (evenings) is great as well. It was fantastic to see Delmar (activities) and Martha (bar service) at the Cenote pool again. Delmar is always great, and Martha works super hard during happy hour (it's always happy hour for Martha). Marco seems to be a new addition (activities) and we loved him as well, he taught us how to roll our towels and was always great for a chat. Downsides if i have to pick them - the Cenote pool looks like it could use a bit of maintenance, some of the tile is in less than pristine condition (it sticks out when the rest of the resort is pristine), and maybe due to the slower season it appeared that some things (restroom at the Cenote snack bar) and a few of the trash receptacles around the resort were not being restocked/emptied as often as usual. On the upside, they've added recycling facilities which is nice to see. The music playlist (Cenote snack bar, Cenote Pool, Buffet) could use a refresh as well - same music every day for 14 days, and the same playlists it seems as in April 2019 - i imagine the staff must be sick of it if we got tired of it in only 14 days. All in all though, this is all very minor and only mentioned out of fairness...it can't all be perfect, nothing is. We can't wait to return (we are already planning) and see our friends again. Keep up the good work! Food is always good and

We had booked our vacation on the Bahia Principe website. This was our second time at Sian Ka'an. The service we received in booking was excellent. However, the check-in service was horrible. CHECK-IN: We arrived at the hotel and we were the only ones being checked-in. The gentleman at the front desk seemed very confused about his job. We were taken to our hotel room with a bellhop. We were delighted to be presented a room with a dirty rag on the ground, garbage can on the table, two twin beds crooked and not made properly. Before we could say something, the bellhop was on the phone with the front desk explaining how the room was unacceptable. I asked for him to take us back to the lobby where we could sort this out. He was pleasant and helpful, but after a day of travelling and with expectations set from last trip here we were disappointed. I explained to the the front desk person that this was not the room I had discussed with the booking agent. I had requested a room near the main pool and a king size bed over a month ago. He claimed continually that a request is just that a request. I agreed with him, but also stated that the room we were presented was unacceptable; regardless if that was the room I booked or not. I asked if there was any rooms with king size beds. He claimed there was none but I could pay for an upgrade of 20 USD per night. He forgot to tell us that that price was per person, so it would actually be 40 USD per night. Eventually, we were able to speak to a manager who offered us a free upgrade in order to get a king size bed. This experience was frustrating. In addition, we were not given wristbands at check-in and i had to specifically ask for them. We were also not given towel cards and did not realize that until we were at the beach. The check-in experience, despite being the only ones at the check-in, was less than luxurious and left a bad taste in our mouths to begin our vacation. ROOMS: Since 2015, the rooms have declined. They are dirty and the furniture is quite worn down. The beds were uncomfy. Furthermore, if you get room a bottom floor room outside a closet-type door you will have housekeeping right outside your door. This includes laundry bags in front of your doors all day! There were glasses that sat dirty outside our rooms for 4 days. We only received the turn-down service twice in 10 days. If you are looking for luxurious rooms, do yourself a favor an look elsewhere. FOOD: Food was the saving grace. The food here is excellent. The Gala night even includes steak and lobster. STAFF: Another saving grace, the staff here are excellent. Especially Jerol of the Entertainment Team! Overall, we would not visit this resort again. Especially after the expectations from our 2015 trip were not even close to being met.