The Good:
The Chefs - Get them! They were great!
The location - 10 min drive away from the town of Tulum (and ruins), and 15 mins away from the 'hip' part of town.
Hammocks - Enough said!
Chamico's - Best seafood right down the street from the house! Amazing hut on a beach serving fresh ceviche, fish, and lobster!
Hotel Jashita - Another great hotel/restaurant down the street. A little more upscale than Chamico's, but worth it. Book early, as they fill up.
The So-So:
The House - Lots of little touch ups needed here and there. Broken screens, jammed doors, chipped/peeling paint - The place just needs some TLC. The House is huge, and each bedroom has a bathroom. The AC in each room worked. As stated in the ad, there is NO AC in the main part of the house, so it leads to a lot of stale/stagnant air during the summer months. Some of the rooms smelled a little moldy, but maybe that comes with the territory.
The Ugly:
Seaweed - Apparently the area is being hit with a LARGE swell of seaweed. There was so much of it that you had to wade through a lot just to get into the ocean. I don't think it's typical, but it's a good question to inquire about. The seaweed sits on the beach for days at a time, and starts to rot, so you have high temps, mixed with rotting seaweed, which all adds up to a great odor-ific party. To the point of several guests feeling nauseas during a strong breeze.
Owner Communication - It was fine before the trip. Some emails took a while to answer, but she was accommodating. Once the issue with the seaweed started, the emails because very accusatory/defensive. We just wanted a clean beach. Several other houses on the bay had people cleaning up the beach daily, but for some reason, ours did not. After dealing with the smell for 5 days, we decided to take matters into our own hands, and shovel it up ourselves. We never got an apology or 'thank you' for the clean up, only requests for photographs to prove my friends were doing it themselves, and then a response that 'seaweed is an act of nature, and not covered as stated in the agreement.' This was after several polite emails requesting that something be done to help with the seaweed. For the amount we paid for a week, we'd expected to have a little more assistance to clean up the area. In the end, we were offered a small refund (<3% of the total).
We wouldn't recommend this house to any friends based on lack of accountability/communication with the owner.
