Two friends and I ended up at Los Lirios after a long search for a hotel room in Tulum Beach--apparently not a place that you can easily find a room at the last minute. Admittedly, we had the worst room in the place (and the last room on the entire beach)--a tiny room in the basement, with no windows and french doors. The worst part was that it really and truly reeked of some chemical, perhaps to treat mildew? But overall, it was a terrible experience: bad room with bad bed, bad smell, incredibly loud air conditioning (too loud to use for sleeping) and mediocre breakfast. A group of tourists left hours before dawn on a bus--right outside our door--making sure that IF we were sleeping through the stuffiness, the hard beds, and the horrible smell--the noise would wake us up. There was a dead cockroach in the middle of the floor in the morning--where was it before then? I could attribute all of this to having the one bad room in a nice hotel, but you know--the bad food was served to everyone, and I don't think that anyone smiled at us during our whole stay. Even the maids seemed unhappy to be there. And the price for all this unpleasantness? $192.00 American.

We booked this hotel online about 3 months in advance, paying (in advance) over $100/night for two nights.

First, the problems: The most significant issue we encountered was a pervasive, strong smell of sewage. It was so bad in the middle of the night that it awakened us. In the morning I was awakened by a cockroach that landed on my face. The room was definitely not clean on arrival. There were dead bugs in and around the bathtub, and a dead roach on the floor. Windows and glass in the room were not clean. On entry to the room we were greeted by an overactive air conditioner (very cold) and a very musty smell. A light bulb was broken over in one of the lamps and some lamps did not work. The whole premises seemed run down and in need of a thorough refurbishment.

It appeared that a sewage treatment plant was located very close to the cabana we occupied, slightly to the west. We requested to be moved to the other end of the property after the first night, and the staff was very accommodating. The new unit was supposedly an "upgrade" from that we had purchased, but seemed no different, except that it was a ground-floor unit, not an upstairs unit. It, too, had a musty smell, was not very clean, and had mold on the caulk around the bathtub. It was far enough from the sewage that we did not smell it at night, but just outside the unit it was possible to still smell the sewage. It can be sensed all over the property, and even down on the beach. The management must do something to correct this problem. We would not recommend this hotel until the sewage smell is fixed, unless you are sure that the wind will always blow from the direction of the sea.

We had breakfast both mornings at the restaurant. It was not spectacular, merely OK, but the squeezed orange juice with lime was very good. The service was very good. We had no other meals at the restaurant.

On the positive side: the staff was reasonably helpful and accommodated our change of room immediately. The beach is beautiful, one of the best we have seen. The location is reasonably quiet.

OH DEAR....................
The positives -
the room was large and had a big balcony and was located on a good bit of beach -- I am sorry but that is it!!

The negatives -
The room smelt damp - the bathroom was tired - the mattresses were thin - there was a terrible smell of sewage. The breakfast was possibly one of the worst I had ever eaten - the coffee was not fresh - the restaurant itself felt like I was in some run down cafe with a large disused refrigerator just sitting in the restaurant. The reception area was so unwelcoming and they even charged us to use the telephone to order a cab!

Honestly we lasted one night and then moved to Zebra which was $20 more expensive a night and a million times better !! The best thing about this hotel was leaving as it needs some serious updating and is not going to survive the competiion around it for much longer!

I don't like beaches or beach resorts. That is until we went to Los Lirios - it turned me around. We booked through Price-Travel. No problem and a good rate, much better than the one posted at the hotel. We wanted an ocean front room but there weren't any available so took an upper ocean view room. I believe it was C3. We arrived after dark so we could not see the beach itself. The desk staff was courteous and friendly (all staff from the maids and gardeners - who were constantly keeping the gounds ship shape- and other hotel staff were outstanding throughout our stay) and we were soon shown to our room. What a great surprise! The room was huge, nice if simple but colorful decoration, AC. The thatched ceiing was at least 15' high at the back wall. Bed was comfy - there were two queen size. There was a full wall glass sliding door (drapes for privacy) leading to a good sized balcony with hammock and we could hear the ocean. Good start. Since it was late, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was good but not outstanding and a bit pricey for what you got - nicely plated though and the service was fine. We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise and went out to the balcony. We were happy that we did not spend the extra money for the ocean front room because our view of the beach and ocean was great. Beautiful trees and flowers and a coconut palm within reach. The lower rooms would not have the same view or high ceilings. Each building has only four rooms. Two upper and two lower and each room has an entrance on opposite sides of the building increasing the sense of privacy. We immediately took the first of our dawn walks along what had to be one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen with clean, soft white fine sand - almost powderlike.

The included breakfast was quite good and varied. The made to order omelets were excellent. On our second day we were approached on the beach by a lovely young lady employed by the hotel to give free yoga lessons - a new experience for us.
We had a couple of meals at Charlies. Twice at their beach location near the ruins and twice in the Tulum Pueblo. One night at Charlies in the Pueblo there was a fine flamenco show. The food was very good and quite reasonable in price. All in all a fine experience- we were truly sorry to leave and plan to return. BTW, some if the women on the beach were topless - about 5% but who is counting. If that offends you, then the Tulum beaches may not be for you.