thetripplanner, the Bahia, in my opinion, rocks. We stayed at GORM many many years ago prior to anything else on that beach, no tvs, no telephones in the room and we had a blast. Reports coming back are not so favourable, but some really loved it. As for the Bahia we are going back for our third time in 23 days and can't wait. The resorts (Tulum, Akumal and Coba) are interchangeable, all bars, restaurants (except the Gourmet i.e. Don Pablo, Arlequin etc). You would love the Bahia, it is very large, but that does not deter us from going again and again. Any questions, ask away. You wouldn' be disappointed at the Bahia and they have kids clubs and stuff for the children to do. Food and service is amazing.

Our 5-year-old loves the Bahia. Better than Disneyworld!

We rate it much higher than a 3 star, I think there are a couple of things that hold it back. One of them is that there is no drink service around the pool or on the beach, you have to get up and get your own drink. Imagine that! There are bars everywhere, so it's really not a hardship! The grounds are beautiful, very well-kept and clean. There are no Honeymoon Suites, Presidential Suites, two-bedroom family suites or anything like that here, just standard rooms and junior suites. No lazy river, no wave pool, no mini-golf....

Just a beautiful ocean, fantastic food, great pools, good entertainment....

And what DDF said!

thetripplanner, can you switch hotels? If I were you, I would, only because I feel the Bahia is a much better resort, quite a bit larger, but a better resort. We are going back to GORM to check it out when we are there in April because of all the renovations they have done, clearly not the same resort as when we were checking it out in 2005 (also stayed at the Bahia), we just walk down the beach and check things out. They do however, have somewhat of a nicer beach, water shoes would still be recommended, but there isn't alot of coral at the water's edge like at the Bahia, but wouldn't dream of staying anywhere else.

I know this has been asked before, but which section to you prefer? We have visited the Bahia to look around while we were at the Palladium a couple years ago, but it has grown since then. People seem to like the Tulum side, but I have read some of the rooms are not in great shape. Saw some good deals on the Coba, how far is it really from the beahch, I've read 2 minutes or much more, like not walkable. Do they have entertainment in the lobbies (other than the shows). We usually stay at Iberostars and they usually have musicians in the evenings? Appreciate your help.

Whether or not Coba is walkable from the beach depends on what building you're in and what kind of shape you are in! Some of the buildings are set back pretty far, others are closer in. It's a pretty quick ride on a cart, if you get a good deal it would be okay. Tulum is good, but we prefer Akumal. Each of the three has live music in it's lobby bar every night, in addition to the show. Then after the shows are over, the Hacienda area has a live band, the show people go out there and lead the dancing and that goes until the Disco opens.

They are constantly working on the grounds and the buildings at the Bahia, grooming the landscaping, painting, etc. It's a very clean resort, much cleaner and better-taken-care-of than the RIU Ocho Rios we were just at in Jamaica, which is only a year old!

I see you're from NJ, try booking your flight and hotel seperately. We save a lot of money that way, using bahia-principe dot com. We watch for airfare sales and let that guide when we go, but we usually go slightly off-season (April, and then again in the fall). Right now locogringo dot com is having a really good deal.

Thanks for your help, we usually go in the fall (hurricane season!)

when the rates are better, although this year we went in October and it was pretty rainy. We usually find Apple package with the charter out of Phila. is a good deal, but I will check into separate fares for hotel and flights. Spirit goes out of Atlantic City (close-by) but no straight thru flights.Thanks again.

You can also try logging on to the USA3000 website if that's who Apple uses for you and booking directly through them.

We stayed at GBP Tulum in 2004 and went back and stayed at the Akumal side in 2005 because we loved it so much. As with the previous posts, everything is great except the beach is pretty rocky ans your an hour and half or MORE from the airport, depending on stops between. If you go, stay on the Akumal. Better pools, especially for a 5-year old, all rooms are Jr. Suites and it's a little bit newer.

A option to consider is the Barcelo Colonial Maya Beach. We atayed there last year. Even better than GBP, especially for kids that age. Awesome beach with very few rocks, waterpark just for kids, incredible snack bars, and it's laid out so that your never far from anything. Plus it's closer to the airport and PDC.

To us, the waterpark just for kids is a downfall. We avoid those kinds of places because they draw too many kids! Our little guy is very well-behaved, but we've found that not all kids are, and we like to avoid places with bratty kids and rude parents that won't make them behave.

We don't really find that the Bahia beach is that rocky, so many people say that but I guess we don't have a problem with the few rocks we encounter. We only wear our watershoes when we go tide-pool exploring on the rocky shore, never on the beach or when swimming in the water or snorkeling.

We always get a direct, private transfer, it's only a one hour, fifteen minute drive that way.

The Akumal side does have a few standard rooms, but not very many. Most of the standard rooms are on the Tulum side.

Everyone has different expecations when on vacation. I'm glad, otherwise the Bahia Akumal would be VERY crowded!

Thanks for your insight. Our children are grown, but I still like the atmosphere of a family resort rather than a couples only, but don't want a place overrun with kids (we usually travel during school times so it's not a big problem). I'll look into the Barcelo, the only thing that turns me off with the Bahia is the distance from the airport. If we go with USA3000 they leave Cancun early and you have to leave the hotel very early. I like the Iberostar del Mar because it is so close to the airport, but we're looking for a change.