My husband & I, stayed at Hidden Beach Resort. We ran into several problems. First of all, I am a travel agent, and I contacted Travelly, to see if they offered me an agent discount. They stated that I would receive a 20% discount, all I had to do was show my travel agent ID, when we checked-in. Once we arrived at the resort, and told them of the discount, they stated that they could not do anything so that I could receive my discount, and do nothing to try. Then on the first day, we had no cold water for showers or to flush the bathrooms for several hours. The second day first no hot water then no cold water again. We paid for a room with a jacuzzi, in which we not able to use as much as we would have like too, because of the water problems. The pool was not kept cleaned. Our room had a gap in the doors, so that with the air conditioner on, it would cause the floors to sweat, and make the floors very slick and dangerous. The food and service was okay, not what you would expect for the price. When we returned home, we contacted Hidden Beach and Travelly, to let them know of the problems we incurred, with my agent discount, and they stated since we had left the resort and were at home, there was nothing they could do.(Sounds like a run around)! No one wants to help! All they wanted to do is offer a $50.00 , credit toward spa services. Not much compensation for the $224.00 travel agent discount, I should have received. This should have been offered for the water problems. I feel if they give travel agents the run around on our discount, then they are not going to pay us the commissions they offer. So I nor my agency, will recommend this resort or Krisma Hotels to our clients. Nor will my husband and I stay again!

My wife (a travel agent) and I recently stayed at the Hidden Beach Resort for the first time. Checking out their web site my wife noticed that they offered Travel Agents a 20% discount on their stay if they showed proper I. D. upon check in. When my wife contacted the hotel reservation by email to make sure what documentation she had to have to receive the 20% discount she was told that we would charge our stay to our credit card, which had to be paid in full, 30 days prior to arrival, and then when we arrived, show the front desk her travel agent documentation to receive our 20% discount. We followed these instructions and upon arrival was met by the conceirge named Ana. We asked her about the discount and she informed us that the discount should have been taken at the time of our booking and because we were already there, she could do nothing to help us. So we returned home from our trip, was contacted by the resort, thanking us for our recent stay. We in-turn replied to them complaining about the discount mixup. Their reply was that since we had already left the resort that there was nothing they could do for us (sounds like a big runaround right?). Both my wife and myself had sent emails to the resort complaining of this, my email was responded to by Ana. In her reply she stated that since we booked the reservation online that we were not eligible for the travel agent discount (their web site says absolutely nothing about booking online as opposed to booking through their reservation office to receive the discount). I don't know about anyone else but, TRAVEL AGENTS BEWARE, this sounds like and appears to be a scam. To those of you who are NOT travel agents, let me discribe the other things in our stay. The first day we had no cold water for several hours. The second we had the same problem along with no hot water. Under normal circumstances this might not have been to much of an inconvience, but when you pay extra so that you can have a jacuzzi in your room that you can't use, it becomes irritating. The room itself was very nice except for the fact that there was a large gap around the door which would let hot air in. With the air conditioner running constantly and the hot air coming in around the door condensation would form on the tile floor and make it very slick and hard to walk on. The service and the food was OK, but not up to the standards we have enjoyed at other resorts that we payed less money to stay at. All-in-all I would not go back to this resort again and I definitely would not recommend it to other vacationers.

This was our third straight year to go to HBR and we hope to make it an annual event. This is an "au naturel" resort, which means you can be nude anywhere you want to be: on the beach, in the disco, in the restaurant... anywhere on the property. And since you don't have to dress up, there are no "class" distinctions. When everybody is naked, nobody knows how rich you are, and everybody can feel like they belong there.

The upsides outweigh the downsides here. The food is incredible and definitely worth at least four stars. The staff is even better; they get to know you by name and what you like and how you want your room or your meal prepared. The servers will come to you as you lay naked on the beach and bring you your drink of choice (I averaged 8-10 pina coladas a day out there), and its all included in the cost of your room.

The grounds are very well maintained and clean. The pool, including the sections that meander along to the front of the "swim-up" suites, is immaculate. The water is a little salty, but its still treated and clean. You can play water volleyball or just lay in the main pool to soak up the sun; or you can sit in your little area of the swim-up river in front of your room and just sit and read or share drinks with the one you love or with friends you've made, without ever leaving the water. If you prefer to lay by the Caribbean Sea and let the cool breeze blow over your naked body, you can lay in a palapa on a soft mattress and face the ocean and become hypnotized by the waves. Very soothing!

The masseuses are the best... if you need a good way to get your resort experience started, get a massage the first day and you'll be relaxed the rest of the week.

There are a couple of downsides but they are very minor and not enough of a big deal to keep me from coming back. The rooms are not the greatest but they are not bad either. But we have to remember that every 4-5 years or so every hotel on the Mexico east coast gets battered and damaged by at least one hurricane, and considering how these resorts have been battered they are in remarkably good and comfortable condition. The rooms need to be kept pretty cool to prevent condensation on the tile floor (it is always over 90% humidity there), so they may smell a little musty. I already suggested they need to put a separate dehumidifier in every room. Also, bring a can of air freshener; the bathrooms are not vented at all, and when you change your diet like this you are going to experience some unusual "dietary emissions" that will definitely stink up the whole room. They said they would try to figure out a way to vent the bathrooms, but until that happens, bring the air freshener. Don't plan on watching much TV unless you bring your own DVDs, or unless you like to watch american shows dubbed into Spanish.

Also the beach swimming is pretty much non-existent. If you like to snorkel you can go out beyond the breakers or you can put some clothes on and go next door to the El Dorado Seaside and join their snorkeling activities.

The last negative is the water that comes out of the faucets: DON'T DRINK IT! You can bathe in it, but its very hard water and your soaps won't lather up well. And whatever you do, don't get it in your mouth. When you brush your teeth rinse your mouth and your toothbrush with the bottled water they provide for you.

This year we had a problem I'd never experienced here before. Usually the ocean wind blows strongly off the water and keeps the mosquitos away. But this year the winds were calm and after sunset the mosquitoes were out in force all over the resort, including inside the disco where we were having our weekly welcome dinner for new guests. Bring your bug spray, and I suggested that the hotel put some mosquito repellent candles in some tiki torches and light them if the winds are calm.

One thing I do ask of everyone who reads this: a lot of people deeply love this place because it is a place where we can get naked, relax with the one we love, and forget about our jobs and our stresses for a few days. This is NOT like Hedonism... we and the hotel do not want HBR to be a 24-hour sex party. The guests don't make crude comments on each other's bodies and any and all sexual activities take place discreetely. If you're looking to swap spouses, get drunk and party all night, or try to recruit others for orgies, then go to Desire or Hedonism because HBR is not for you, and we don't want you. But if you want to try a place where you can be as naked as you want (no pressure) or you can ease into nudity if you're more comfortable that way, a place where no one is going to pressure you to do things you don't want to do, and where you can literally de-stress and be naked at the same time, this place is for you.

If you're worried about your body, DON'T! In our three visits we have seen many more very imperfect bodies than we have perfect ones. I've seen fat... even obese... men and women, some over 400 or 500 pounds. I've seen women who had just had mastectomies. I've seen layer upon layer of flab. I've seen couples in their 80s. And my wife and I are in our 50s and we're no spring chickens, either. There are also young couples in their 20s and 30s who at first feel strange with so many old people around, but soon are having a good time once they realize that they are not being stared at. If you've never done something like this before, it just takes a few hours to get comfortable with being nude; and once the clothes come off, its amazing how much better you can relax.

All the glowing comments about the staff and facilities that you read, and less complimentary remarks about the beach are true. The grounds are impeccable kept, rooms comfortable and clean, the staff, entertainment crew of Sergio and Isabella will make every day, rain or shine, relaxing and enjoyable. Possibly the best part is all the great guests you are sure to meet. As for calling themselves a 5 Star resort, that’s a stretch for a Caribbean Resort without a useable beach.

Here is the “beware”. I would grade the staff a 5 and their business practices a zero. I am a bit surprised that their billing practice has not come under scrutiny sooner, except for the $100 bottles of $9.00 wine.

Here how it works. Your bill is $3,800 US which HB converts to pesos using an inflated exchange rate. Your bill becomes 41,800 pesos. (11 X 3,800)

When the charge clears the US bank, they use the correct exchange rate (10.25 pesos) and pays Hidden Beach $4,078 (41,800 /10.25) or $278 more than your bill.. Should be easy to straighten out ??. Call Hidden Beach hear a convoluted fable about Mexican banks requiring transactions in pesos and possibly a problem with the US bank. They ask for a e-mail and promise a answer, but caution it may take awhile. (I figured it out in 10 minutes, international exchange rates are readily available on the net) and I am still waiting.

Travelers checks are no answer either. Here they use an the exchange rate of 10 pesos to the USD. Your bill is calculated 41,800 pesos divided by 10. (Great math). I spoke to several people who notice the disparity in bills and credit charges and for some reason let it slide.

What you can do.
Check your credit card bill online or by phone as soon as you can. If the charges are more than you were quoted, authorize payment of the correct amount. At the same time, notify your Travel Agent to help resolve the difference. Any other suggestions are welcomed