Gran Bahia Tulum is a wonderful resort.

Rooms - simple rooms but had all we needed. Very clean. Only slight complaint is that the mattress on the bed was perhaps a little old and too soft. Hair dryer in bathroom was absolutely fine to dry long hair so no need to take own one. Some rooms are better located than others but will depend on personal preference. Ours was one of the furthest from the lobby and slightly secluded but had a sea view and overlooked the dolphinarium.

Food and drink - absolutely delicious. I was very impressed with the drinks selection - branded spirits (you may need to specifically request this but with no issue), Mimosa (bucks fizz) every morning, mojitos, self service soft drinks (Pepsi, 7up, all branded). The buffet was very extensive with themed nights and separate areas e.g. Mexican, Italian, Asian, every night. It's also easy to stay relatively healthy with lots of salad and fresh fruit options.

The best a la cartes are le Gourmet for a lovely atmosphere which feels like a unique good standard stand alone restaurant (no buffet options at all) and the Japanese (although dessert disappointing). Don Pablo serves nice food but is adjacent to main buffet so doesn't feel like such an enjoyable relaxed dining experience. Avoid Pescadore as no better than buffet and small portions. Brazilian good with nice wine served.

Pool and beach - always plenty of loungers available and nicely positioned so you can choose a quiet area, beach or right by the pool. At times the music from the games was too loud but generally very relaxing. Pool water could have done with being heated as first thing in the morning it was freezing.

Entertainment - good shows on in the evening. Mexican fiesta at Hacienda don Isobel was good fun although not quite sure why they expect guests at an all inclusive resort to pay to attend. Live music bar very good and chance to get up and dance.

Other parts of resort - we visited Coba and Akumal. It is very easy to walk between them or catch shuttle. Hired bikes (free) and cycled around them too. I was pleased with our allocation to Tulum, it has biggest pools, right by beach, bar in evening had best atmosphere. The two a la cartes that we enjoyed most were at Coba but made a nice walk before and after dinner to go there. I think people with children would prefer Coba as it seemed more lively in the daytime with activities and children's show at night. We did not travel with children so we pleased to be there! Akumal much smaller but seemed ok. Dolphinarium at Tulum.

Outside resort - we had day trip to Chichen Itza which was okay and worth seeing but in my opinion a long day out and not as impressive as I had hoped. We didn't do it but it seemed easy to travel to Playa del Carmen to wander around the markets etc and some people travel there to go to Coco Bongo.

All in all, a fantastic holiday. The staff were extremely welcoming and helpful (no hassling us just polite good service). Would love to go back.

We had a fantastic stay over the New Year, probably the best New Year's party we have been to with our family and friends (at the Hacienda)Brilliant entertainment and the staff are just so friendly. Everybody should go to this night, it is very very special.
The hotel is excellent all round, clean, well presented and some of the best staff anywhere that w shave stayed at. It puts the Caribbean to shame, also if you go all inclusive for a typical family of four, it is about £2000 cheaper for a 7 night stay compared to say Antigua.
The beach is excellent for snorkelling and certainly do some of the day trips to the ruins at Tulum or the cave diving, a unique experience.
The dine arounds are first class, highly recommend the Italian and the Japanese although the main buffet is perfectly good with a really mixed variety of food including Mexican.
The drink is not rationed as at some all inclusive resorts and the cocktails are worth a try, especially the tequila based ones!
We would certainly come back here rather than the Caribbean, better service, better value for money and just as good beaches.
Alfredo in the Mexican restuarant needs a special mention, a very friendly helpful guy who knows how to make you enjoy your holiday.
Downsides? The room towels are on the small size, Internet connection can be a little hit and miss, the hotel is huge so don't expect to see the same people too often but apart from that, go enjoy a great resort hotel!

My husband and I stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe Tulum Dec. 1-19th, 2012.
We couldn't have enjoyed a nicer holiday! The Privilege Club treated us like family and we
stayed in a Villa with a beautiful room overlooking the beach, palm trees and a turquoise sea.
Our room was perfectly clean and decorated daily with a cute towel animal ornament.
The grounds are immaculate and we were always greeted with friendly "holas" from all the staff.
The hotel buffets were all very good and as members of the P.C. we enjoyed an excellent a la carte restaurant every evening. All the Tulum Privilege Club staff were very warm, friendly and welcoming, especially Julissa. The Club concierges at the Coba hotel were also outstanding, including Karla, Martina, Miluska and manager Anna Lopez.
The beaches are beautiful, a bit rocky but there are nice sandy areas available for swimming.
The entertainment staff at the pool was so much fun with their daily aqua fit, games and Latin dances. Archie, Charlie, Isaiah, Israel and Julio along with others really went out of their way to make it special for everyone!
The evening entertainment was always fun and the Mexican night vibrant with all their
cultural dances.
For those interested in history and archaeology the ruins in nearby Tulum and the Coba pyramid were highlights. Also, don't miss seeing Chichen Itza.
Can't wait for our trip to the Tulum next Dec.!

Loved the Grand Bahia Principe Tulum. Overall a wonderful experence, great staff, friendly. Excellent grounds, fantastic beach and clean water so many fish to see when you are in knee deep, plenty of space does not feel crowded easy to get lounge chairs under an umbrella at beach or by pool. There are many locations to enjoy being around people or off in a quiet nook. Rooms are spacious and well maintained. Housekeeping did a great job. We stayed in Villa 18 second floor. We had 2 rooms side by side, 2 teeneage daughters had there own room which was great. Only downside of room was you had to pay to use safe in room (we thought this was tacky) Not a huge supply of alcohol in rooms but I really do not care about that plenty of bars on property as well as iguanas! Great shows at night and since you can go in between the 3 connected resorts (Tulum, Akumal & Coba) you can catcha 9:00pm show and a 10:00pm show easily. Our favorite was the Michael Jackson show (talented dancers)!
Only thing that I found quite dissapointing was the food. If you like pasta no problem because they do that quite well, but if you like meat I have never seen it presented so unappetizingly. I really could not even get myself to try it, It just alsways looked so overcooked dry. However you get 3 restaraunt dining experiences with a 1 week visit, Our first choice was Don Pablo and it was excellent! First class dining and beautifully presented food, the duck was superb! However the next 2 places we chose were very dissapointing - Dolce Vita and Tequila both had an appetizer buffet (Don Pablo was a true full service rest.) and the food was more like the buffet food. I wish we had picked Don Pablo for all 3 dining experiences. Activities we enjoyed- tennis on grass court. Free internet in lobby only is via satelite (in jungle) so not very fast but useful. If you want interet elsewhere you pay (we just used lobby). Took a day trip to Tulum ruins cab ride (about a half an hour south) there $23.00 cab ride back $30.00 and tour and entrance for 4 (we needed to do because we only had american dollars (entry only you need pesos) so we paid about $75.00. Great ruins! Overall very relaxing trip. If you do not care so much about food a great value. Trip was from December 29th, 2012 - Jan 4th.