We did a road trip from Mexico City down to Playa del Carmen & back up again. We had a very long journey & had driven through the night which had rather disorientated us, & when we arrived at Basico they couldn't find our reservation, this was through no fault of theirs. It was ours, we accidentally arrived a day early! This was not a problem & they showed us to our room.

Firstly let me say, you will not be dissapointed with the appearance of this hotel, it looks exactly as it does on the website & is very well maintained - everything looks brand new. Our room looked onto the courtyard, the bed is elevated & super comfy, there is a big book for you to draw & scribble in & look at other peoples drawings & scribbles, they even supply a polaroid camera for which you can buy film (also in the room). A sink each, huge bath, separate toilet cubicle complete with disco ball light pully. It even has one of the 'libre' (free) signs from the Mexican taxi's in the window, which you flip down when you go out so they can come & clean your room.

The roof terrace did not dissapoint, with the big round tanker/pool & the bar staff are lovely & the cocktails are fab & really not that expensive at all. They also do food, we had a few snacky things, which were delish.. They have a little area in the reception where they sell cool little bits & pieces.

They are incredibly helpful here & for such a hip hotel, the staff are not pretentious or snotty in any way at all. They make an effort to remember who you are & one day when my partner went to the terrace without me, they asked where I was...

This is quite a 'party' hotel, so if you want quiet early nights - forget it, lots of people seemed to be coming to the hotel in the evenings to go to the terrace to have cocktails & listen to the dj - who plays most nights, plays late.

This has now taken over from the Hudson (NYC) as the coolest hotel I have ever stayed in. It was the full package, it was unsual, beautiful, well maintained, excellent value for money & the service was absolutely faultless. This was the first time in my life where I would have been quite happy just to be in the hotel all day.

I would highly recommend this hotel, the designer is brilliant & I hope whoever it is designs lots more because I will stay at them all.

THANK YOU BASICO x

First, it's sustainable, mostly. Super cool. For example, the floors in the "lobby" and blinds in the rooms are made from tires; the shampoo and conditioner are in refillable containers and a whole bunch of other clever green touches. Good job. Second, nearly everyone who works there is hot. Seriously. It's kinda ridiculous. Third, the hospitality is amazing. The concierge, who worked tirelessly to find me a temascal (because it just wasn't hot *enough* in Mexico) said in the cutest way possible upon my thanking him for all of his help: "Oh, it is not a problem. Ees my yob."

So, those are the important things... I highly recommend it.

Though, if you're going for a quiet vacation, it's prob not the best spot since the dj spins til about 1 every night and the music starts again at 9. And if it's not music, well, we also had a string of neighbors who HAVEN'T YET HEARD that sleep is the new sex.

My husband and I, freshly married, checked into the Hotel Basico for several nights in April. Having visited Playa del Carmen a year before, we were eager to try this new "darling" on the designer/boutique hotel circuit.

Despite some true design ingenuity (saw handles as bathroom door knobs, under bed sliding suitcase drawers), the hotel room was VERY basic (nowhere to sit other than the bed (or the toilet, i guess) with limited hot water. Our front door lock was also jammed for the first half of our stay, literally requiring us to have housekeeping let us into our room, and lock it after us, every time we came and went.

My recommendation? Come for a drink on the roof deck, as it really does have a great perspective not seen elsewhere in Playa hotels, but for the money, there are so many better (and quieter options), once the gimmick wears off.

Overall a beautiful hotel. So damn cool and the service was very good, but this is noth the place to stay if you are looking for a little r'n'r. The bar on the rooftop plays until 12 or 1, sometimes later; and although they did give us one pair of earplugs the music still came through. Don't get me wrong I loved this hotel in every other way, just know what you are getting into. If you're looking to party this is the place!!!