Hotel Shibari Tulum - Restaurant & Cenote Club

Disappointed to say that while this hotel has the components necessary to make it exceptional, their attitude seems to be once they have your money, you will no longer be considered a priority. To begin, when we contacted them about a reservation, they said they were full but would "make an exception" and find us a room. We reserved and paid in full double what the rooms were going for when we actually arrived. I looked at their website the day we arrived and could see several upgraded rooms available for the dates we would be there, and since we had already paid (double) their current rates, I asked if they could upgrade us. After a long wait, they said they didn't have any upgraded rooms (again, their website said different and it was clear being there a week that they were not at capacity). So we started off on a very bad, and honestly almost unrecovreable, foot. They then told us dinner was at 7pm (it was Xmas Eve), and when we arrived, we waited over 45 minutes for the first course. Which was sashimi that arrived completely frozen. The complimentary water in the room was opened. Every time we asked for something, it felt like we were inconveniencing them. All of that being said, the cenote experience- and the fact that it was barely full most days- was exceptional. The atmosphere is peaceful and relaxing, and it was a perfect location to fully decompress. Had they provided us the going rate on the room, or even comped us something, we would have happily spent that money back in the hotel. Instead, their attitude made us feel like our dollars were better spent on actual service. I would only consider going again if ownership changes and they provide five star service for five star paying guests.

The service is like in the army. You can't go anywhere without staff. We wanted to see the future of the rooms in a different category, but they suggested we look at pictures online. The cenote smells terribly of sewage; swimming in it is scary to even imagine. The restaurant service for lunch was two hours... we waited an hour for a glass of wine and a cocktail! The ceviche was spoiled. My husband got food poisoning. He was in bed with a fever for two days.

The staff at the hotel was friendly and accommodating and the rooms were clean and comfortable. I would just say as a warning, the hotel began blasting club music around 3 or 4 in the afternoon (on New Year’s Day the music began at 1:00pm). The music was so loud that we could hear the bass in our room with the door closed. This is not an isolated occurrence as most of the restaurants and hotels blast music throughout the afternoon and night. We took a morning walk on the beach and were disappointed by the loud thumping of bass of house music.