Catalonia Royal Tulum

What a wonderful location for our trip! The hotel is everything I had hoped for. It's a smaller hotel compared to the mega-hotels you see everywhere. Which is exactly what I wanted. There's lush plant life, our balcony looked onto the 'jungle'. But we were still just a couple of minutes walk to the pool and beach. Plenty of places to eat, with very good food. Very attentive staff. Absolutely terrific experience!

Check in: Very welcoming with a refreshing cocktail and cool face towel. We were offered and opted for the privileged package with room upgrade, top shelf liquor, private beach area, private restaurant and bar (paid around $350 additional). On our first visit to BLoved it was raining and asked to go inside to stay dry. We were allowed only at the bar for a few minutes as they wanted to set up for dinner (no-no #1). After a long travel day I asked for a scotch on the rocks and was told that top shelf liquor was only for exclusive guest and not for the privileged upgrade (no-no #2). We went to our room to freshen up for diner. I wanted to go to the lobby and wait for my wife to finish and since it was still raining I spoke to the concierge in the hallway about an additional umbrella and was told (you guessed it) that extra umbrellas were only for exclusive guest and not for the privileged upgrade (no-no #3). We decided to ask for a refund of privileged package which was promptly given with no hassle. The regular, privileged, and exclusive areas are all right beside each other on the beach and, apart from a couple of daybeds and a little segregation from other guest there is no difference. We don’t recommend spending the money on the upgrade. Staff: The staff was absolutely lovely, smiling all the time and making you feel welcome. It's very important to tip when exceptional service is received. Wages in Mexico are low. Tips are not required but greatly appreciated. Pros: -Nightly entertainment was professional and fun. -Good restaurant options (not all are open daily). -Staff is cleaning and maintaining the property all the time. -Nice size and area of beach. -Large swimming pool with newly built swim up bar. -Room was always clean, air conditioner and fan worked well. -We always had minimal to no wait times to be seated at restaurants. -Beach and pool bar service was frequent and pleasurable. -Tapas, Steak and Mexican restaurants (careful with the hot sauce) were the favorites in that order. -Friendly wildlife. Cons: -No lunch options near the lobby. -Room: No view, issues with water pressure in shower and spotty turn down service. -At check in we were asked if we were celebrating a special occasion on our visit so they can surprise us. We told them it was our anniversary trip and after six days nothing. -There were no signs posted about closing restaurants certain nights that we saw. -We felt segregated because we were not exclusive members. -Be prepared to hear the words we ran out, we don’t have and we’re not allowed. - We have experienced much better animation crew at other resorts. Not too many activities or music around the pool (games, guacamole making class, salsa dancing, etc.) Most of the crew also seemed to cater more to the Italian guest and little effort to other guest. -Upon checkout, no one asked how our stay was or thanked us for visiting. Tipping: It's very important to tip for exceptional service. Wages in Mexico are low. Tips are not required but greatly appreciated. Names to remember: Ludy: Room attendant many thanks for the spotless room and the towel animals. Cesar: Beach/pool server kept our glasses full and cold. It’s hard walking in the sand all day long. Much appreciated! Gabriel: Mexican and Steakhouse restaurants. Your service made our meals extremely enjoyable. Overall, we are thankful for the opportunity we had we had to visit the CRT but we won't be going back. We felt as inferior gest if we were not executive members. As frequent visitors to the area we feel there are better options available that don’t segregate their guest and provide an overall more pleasant atmosphere for basically the same cost. For us we consider this a three star property.

We choose Catalonia Royal Tulum partially because they offered a pretty good price but also because it's adults only and a great location. The beach was really nice. I read complaints about lots of seaweed but they must've cleaned up their act since then because seaweed was minimal. The beach gets slightly crowded but not too much where you're bumping into people and I was never even slightly bothered by it. Rooms were comfortable. Sheets could use an upgrade. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. The biggest flaw was the food. Most of it was mediocre and some of it was downright terrible (particularly room service). The only restaurant that had better than average food was Bloved which you only have access to if you get the Privileged upgrade. Overall definitely enjoyed the stay and would recommend.

My husband and I just spent 6 nights and 7 days at this resort. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. They do have some ‘privelege’ opportunities that I don’t normally care for. The privilege are also allowed the better alcohol options which doesn’t really matter to me because I’m not a big drinker but this was my husbands one complaint. There is a lot of walking but the service, beaches, pool, room, restaurants, and service was all 5 stars in my opinion. I would stay here again!