I was checking out places to stay in Tulum. I arrived at La Vita e Bella. I thought, what a beautiful place. I asked to see a room. I was lead around to the front of the complex, than taken far to the back to see other rooms. It seemed odd that it was taking so long and along the way there were several interruptions leading me to other rooms. When I got back to my car, someone had used a crowbar to jimmy open my door and take all my things. I ran inside to ask for help. NO ONE cared, no one helped, nothing! Come on, as I am checking into the cabanas, someone robs me??? what is that?? All the other places have guards watching, I think this place had people there stealing things instead of protecting your things. Trust me, my car was locked. I am not an ignorant traveler. There was another group of people there at the same time whose car was broken into with a crowbar and all there important things were stolen too! I know it can happen, but like I said in the parking lot while your checking in??? Very rude host and not helpful at all!!! I wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy.

I found La vita e bella by accident. It was my second visit to the Riviera Maya - the first had been just one month before (!!) with my family and we stayed at one of those all-inclusive oh-so-expensive resorts. This time I was a bit more adventurous and decided to pick my hotel in situ. To be honest, I felt much happier at La vita e bella. I was there with my best mate, but for couples this has to be heaven!! My romantic bones kept shaking beneath my skin! I would say this HAS to be the perfect spot for honeymooners or just for people in love. In my case I was in love with life, friendship and Tulum!
I got to know Tulum relatively well from my 2 visits. From what I've seen, I'd have to say that considering the location, quality of the accommodation, service etc, this hotel is DEFINITELY great value for money. The staff are amazing - from the great receptionists to the meseros at the restaurant, everyone has a smile ready for you. Silvia the owner is probably the sweetest Italian I've ever met - Grazie! - and my heart goes to Griselda - her relentless efforts to please, her methodical cleanliness (punctuated by sophisticated details) and general great attitude all deserve mentioning! Gracias por todo!
The cabanas are idyllic and the beach is just perfect. I'll never forget waking up at 6AM to that deserted beach. Perfect.
Highly recommended! If I ever go back to Tulum, I'll be sure to stay here.
NOTE: most beachside hotels have got generators to provide electricity - that means you'll have to deal with 'lights-off!' periods. However, even for me - the electrical junky - the periods when the electricity was on were more than sufficient to charge my cameras, phones, mp3 player etc. And nothing can beat a candlelit evening :).

I can't tell you if this is a great place to stay because after putting down FULL payment for the deposit and receiving our confirmation number saying we had a beachfront bungalow, I found out we didn't have the room agreed upon. If you plan to stay here, even if they send you a confirmation, E-MAIL THEM TO CONFIRM AGAIN a week or so before your trip.

I'm leaving on my honeymoon in less than two weeks, during the high season in Mexico, and I find out the room I already paid full price for to reserve isn't available. The hotel could be great, but their customer service is awful. I wouldn't stay here based on that alone...which is sad, because I was very excited about staying there.

We were torn between several places in Tulum. We knew we wanted to spend 3 nights/4 days. Question was whether to stay in Zamas, Mezzanine, La Vita e Bella, or Dreams. We ruled out Dreams becauase we simply didn't want to spend that much money considering we'd not be in the hotel to really enjoy it. We were deciding between Zamas and La Vita e Bella. The only reason I originally chose La Vita was because it was closer to the ruins.

I'm glad we decided on La Vita; it's got a great location. We stayed in one of the beach bungalows, which are located on a sandy dune overlooking gorgeous sands and waters. The rooms were quite clean; plenty of hot water; comfortable beds; friendly service; and even 2 free bottles of water every day. It's great value for money, considering the location.

The restaurant isn't really a part of the hotel (you can easily tell...the hotel is well managed, the restaurant is HORRIBLE!! ) I'd not recommend eating there...lousy food, even worse service...instead go eat at Zamas or Mezzanine, or in town at Charlie's. But, consider having a lousy restaurant with no patrons a blessing in disquise-----you'll relish the quiet ambiance around you.

Oh---the only other thing I'd recommend is to request not to have Bungalow #9. We had that one----the view isn't as good from #9 as the other ones---it's partially blocked by another bungalow. Not a big deal...but, if you're paying the same price as a bungalow with a better view, why not go for that.