We held our wedding at the Ana Y Jose beach club in April 2008 and stayed at the Ana Y Jose hotel for five days (the hotel and beach club are about a 1/2-mile from each other).

THE BEACH CLUB WEDDING

All in all, the wedding came together very well, and we were thoroughly satisfied.

Jackie Gibbs, the wedding coordinator who runs the beach club, was very professional. She prefers email contact during the planning process but was very accessible once we got to Mexico.

The price for our 35-guest wedding on the beach was about $11,000. That included a $1,000 wedding coordination fee; chupa and chairs covered in white fabric for the ceremony by the water; five post-ceremony appetizers; full dinner (skirt steak and chicken pibil are great; grouper fish wasn’t as good); salsa band for two 45-minute sets (they were professional); a “vera cruz” trio with harp and two guitars for the ceremony (our guests liked them); an officiant for our ceremony (our guy, Nacho, was great); flowers for the dinner tables and chupa, and bouquets for the bride, mothers and maid of honor (we did not get the flowers we had asked for, so make sure to be on top of that); open bar (beer and liquor, we didn’t have wine) for 6.5 hours; a wedding cake (we went with vanilla coconut--we didn’t love the taste but it looked very nice); rented speakers for the whole evening, which we hooked up to an ipod when there wasn’t a live performance by the trio or salsa band.

The salsa band—there’s apparently only one in the Tulum area but they’re excellent—even learned a salsa song that we requested as our first dance. We sent them the mp3 file about a week in advance. One caveat: dancing salsa (or anything else) on the beach sand is very hard.

Make sure to get a microphone and speakers for the wedding ceremony—the ocean breeze picks up in the afternoons and evenings.

We had our dinner outside under grape trees, and there were candles hanging from the branches--a nice touch. For a much larger group you’ll probably have to take it inside, to the dining area under a cavernous roof, which wouldn’t be as nice for a small group. Though technically we didn’t rent out the whole beach club for our wedding, and there were some people still lounging on the beach chairs near the wedding ceremony, it really didn’t bother us, and they cleared out by appetizer time. We had the place to ourselves from about 6 until midnight, when the beach club closes.

We hired our own photographer, Citlalli Rico from Claudia Rodriguez photography based out of Cancun (http://www.claudiaphoto.com/), who was AMAZING to work with (we’re still waiting to get the photos back). About $2,000 for five hours (bride getting ready, ceremony, dinner, speeches, some dancing). She was very attentive to our needs.

Speaking of attentive, the service at the beach club was incredible. After dinner, the servers constantly patrolled the grounds, making sure everyone had drinks, and at one point offered everyone double shots of tequila. It made me feel like the open bar was truly worth it.

Bottom line: we felt like our wedding at the beach club was well worth it. Thanks, Jackie!

THE HOTEL

Positives: We had a ~$285-a-night suite (Suite Ana) in the back of the property, not near the ocean. But what it lacked in location it made up for in other ways. The high, thatch roof was great and we could hear birds nesting atop the room for much of our stay (which is nice, but could wake you up in the morning if you're a light sleeper). The room was large and had a great seating area (though furniture was tacky), as well as a deck in the back overlooking a small pool that's shared by four suites. The air conditioner broke down a few times but overall it was adequate. The room service was FANTASTIC. We didn't even know we were expected to leave tips, but it didn't seem to
matter. At the reception area, Ignacio and the other guys were gracious, polite and helpful. The hotel area along the beach is also a great place to lounge, though swimming is a bit of a chore, because
the waves break close to the beach so there are lots of rocks, even in the shallow water.

Negatives: The lighting in our room was not good, but luckily we didn't spend much of our evenings there. Also, it's tough to block out all of the light from the windows in the morning/during the day because the curtains weren’t thick enough. Regarding the room fridge, make sure not to take out the beer and champagne in order to make room in the fridge for something you’ve bought and want to keep cool. Even if you keep the minibar booze next to the fridge, they automatically try to charge you for it. We and another one of our guests protested and they eventually took off the charge.

The restaurant at the hotel is pricey but OK (service isn’t great), though there are better restaurants at other hotels along the Boca Paila road. If you like Italian, Posada Magharita is out of this world. Mezzanine has excellent Thai food. Le Zebra had good Mexican, as did Zamas (where the salsa band from our wedding plays regularly). There’s an awesome breakfast place in the little cluster of shops/cabana hotels just north of Zamas, on the west side of the road, with a lot of stucco and good music. We had them cater our cocktail party at Ana Y Jose’s Villa Coba.

Side note: if you have a lot of money in your budget and a group of five or six, consider renting the Villa Coba. My mom did with her three siblings and loved it. It has its own pool. We hosted a cocktail party there for our 35 wedding guests. (As long as we kept it indoors and quiet, the hotel management didn’t mind.)

We went to Ana y Jose as part of our honeymoon. The resort is beautiful and right on the beach. The pools are great and it was all very luxurious.

Whilst the food was very good, the service was poor. I was expecting friendly staff due to the intimate nature of the hotel but everyone was very unfriendly and we often waited ages just to be given a menu.

For the price you pay, I would have expected some things to be thrown in e.g. free water/free coffee in the room/welcome bottle of wine as it was our honeymoon. There was nothing of the sort.

Overall - a beautiful place but was let down by how unfriendly everyone was.

Enjoyed our stay in the beach front casita Agua del Mar. It was perfectly located steps from the beach and the spa. It was very private, well furnished and beautifully designed. The king bed was very comfortable and the linens very good quality. Everything was immaculately kept including the room.
In general the food in the area was not remarkable. The Ana y Jose restaurant had a very nice atmosphere of being both sophisticated and casual, but the food was good not great. It is both Italian and Mexican. The dinner dishes were too ambitious and consequently not well executed and often arrived cold. I would have preferred simple food that was fresh and delicious. The restaurant is pricey which I wouldn't mind if the food were special. It has the potential to improve.
They did better with their lunch menu which had among other things, very good salads, ceviche and guacamole. Breakfast was also very good. We found the food at Maya Tulum much better for dinner.
Overall, the hotel is very well run. It is perfect if you are looking for something not too large, right on the beach and less rustic then the other places. Also it was nice to have a pool to take a dip in for a change from the beach..although not essential. Most other places don't have pools.
My husband loved the A/C in the room. Most places don't have it. I would definitely stay there again.

Booked six months at least in advance with hotel. Oscar handles the reservations from Cancun office and he is very busy and does not always reply fast...eventually he gets back to you but patience is key. We stayed in Deseo which is directly oceanfront second floor with excellent view and sounds of waves right in your bed. We love this suite. Service at the hotel is excellent with Ignacio at the front desk particularily helpful with anything you need. Restaurant very good although the menu does get old after awhile...could have some specials etc. to spice it up. We booked the five nights with transfers and breakfast plus spa treatments and given that we wanted all of those components was fine with us and only choice for high season. The whole atmosphere of Tulum and Ana Y Jose is laid back and relaxing. The nights are so beautiful with the stars and no lights to dim the sky. We did venture out to eat at Zamas which is always good and priced right. For a special treat I booked the much talked about Hechizo. The couple who own/run the restaurant could not be any nicer and hospitable but the food (at least what we had) was not to our liking. As it gets only rave reviews on TA I wanted to mention this and we did discuss it with Ignacio and he said many clients have reported this to him.....so decide for your self if you want to try it...many people do like it we just did not like our food....I had Halibut which is not local and I am not sure why that was the fish of choice that day? Clearly Tulum is not for everyone but if you want a very comfortable way to experience this still lowkey and beautiful beach area Ana Y Jose is a great choice.