Sometime back, I composed a rather lengthy review of P.L., contrasting a stay at this small seaside resort to staying at a 200 foot long, glass entranced, 5 themed pool, 15 all you can eat restaurant, golf cart transport, 80 acre un-small Mexican resort. I then proceeded to submit my review "grade circles" incorrectly, and ended up scoring a terrible review. Luckily there is a delete edit.
My wife and I are extremely excited about our return to Petit this winter. We prefer taking 3 steps out of the cab to a cheerful, sincere welcome from the same faces who will be your hosts and provide the highest level of service throughout your stay, over a 30 minute time share presentation. We prefer taking the 15 steps from our bungalow door to this clean, white sand, turquoise water beach paradise over descending 5 or 6 stairwells after a golf cart ride. We are completely satisfied with excellent food, ample choices. and a dessert selection somewhat smaller than the complete Sara Lee product line. We like waking up in the morning anytime we want to stroll down and relax at the resort size matched number of palapas, with our still clean 2 day old beach towel, over setting the alarm for 6:00 am to "reserve" a couple of beach chairs before someone else does. We might cool down in the guest register sized pool- yeah, it's possible there could be a few kids having fun with foam noodles during the noise courteous open pool hours, but we find this better than blaring loudspeakers, zumba classes, and wet t-shirt contests.
In summary, we are relatively inconspicuous, low maintenance guests, and I realize that no place can be all things to all people. With that said, I'm pretty sure the staff will graciously welcome and sincerely appreciate our return to P.L.. I feel strongly this is the reason Petit Lafitte enjoys (and does not take for granted) the attached, loyal "family" of vacationers that they do. I really don't know a thing about marketing, and it doesn't seem possible to blend certain words, but I find myself describing Petit as proudly humble. See you all in a week.
Sincerely, JP and CP

If this is what you're looking to do without the bells and whistles of the big resorts, then this is your place. Our family of four stayed for a week in late January and came away promising to return. As many others have commented, we can't say enough about the wonderful staff at Petit Lafitte. First class treatment and just plain nice people. I would mention them by name here, but I don't want to forget anyone. We stayed in a garden view bungalow - it was clean, comfortable and dead quiet at night. The beach is a great spot, not busy and good for kids to play. The food is fresh and good. Not a lot of choices for dinner, but they change the menu each night so you're not eating the same thing. Breakfast was great, lots of selection. The bar at the beach is a gem. Wifi was OK - not fast by any means, but adequate for the odd email or weather report. How much do you really want to be on the internet during your beach holiday anyway? Bottom line, this is a place that has refined simplicity down pat. If you want lots of action, day or night, this is not your best bet. If you want to wind down with some palm trees, beach and margaritas - and nothing else - then you've found the place.

What we liked about the hotel:
Comfortable if simply furnished rooms on the beach
50 metre walk to the sea
Reasonably friendly staff
Reasonable but inconsistent food

What we did not like about the hotel
WiFi is poor
There is nothing else to do but sit on the beach and if it rains there is not much else to do
USD25 return taxi ride to town and the town is not much to write home about

In conclusion, if you want a good value holiday on the beach where your sole objective is to soak up the rays then this will do for you. If you want a bit more comfort and more to do then we suggest you look elsewhere.

We enjoyed the relaxed, unhurried vibe here and the ability to get to know and mingle with the gracious staff and guests. We stayed in Bungalow 14 about 6 units back from ocean front. Loved sitting out on the porch and seeing the sand and palm trees and hearing the sea even if we couldn't see to much of it. Inside the room is very basic but was comfortable. Definitely could use another light or two at night.
We generally enjoyed the food and didn't feel the need to venture out for variety tho if we stayed longer than 3 nights we might have. Just easier to have a drink at the bar by the beach and then head in to dinner without any fuss or arrangements.
I enjoyed swimming in both the sea and the pool. It was pretty rough in the water so it was hard to do any exercise swimming out there so I did some pool laps each day. Never a problem finding a chair in the shade.
We arrived in time for a leisurely lunch on the restaurant deck overlooking the water and that set the tone. Wonderful ceviche and guacamole was the perfect first taste of Mexico after our trip down from NJ.
Staff was always most helpful. We took an afternoon trip in to Playa del Carmen and learned a lot of history about Petit Lafitte from Cesar the cab driver (who worked there for many years) and some of the guests at the bar.
Wireless Internet was spotty to non-existent due to the issues reported on this forum but generally worked well enough for the basics. One morning the signal was strong and we did a Facetime call with our granddaughter.
We walked both directions on the beach and this location is one of the best in the area. Beach is a little wider here and seemed to be a bit cleaner. There is a large empty lot to the north so it gives the feeling of not being hemmed in by other properties. Walking past some of the mega resorts with the beach beds jammed in one against the other was pretty jarring compared to the relaxed situation at Petit Lafitte.
After our 3 days here we moved on to Cancun for a small conference. Beach was nice, room was gleaming, and we had a view of the sea from the balcony but we most definitely missed Petit Lafitte.