Tag: Tulum

Review of Azulik, Tulum (Jungle Villa)

Here’s a wild story (not really): You plan out the entirety of your trip, you book your stay and your activities months ahead and then one week before the trip you see a place on Instagram and are like ‘holy shit I want to stay there’. So you cancel ALL your activities and use the refunded money to spend one night at this marvel you saw on Instagram.

This is how I ended up planning a trip to the beautiful Azulik Tulum. Now, I’m not popular enough (yet..) to be sponsored to go anywhere nice, so this review is my unbiased experience. Especially after forking out $520.00 CAD to stay there for one night. You damn well know, I was getting every dollars worth of this stay.

Our base for the trip was in Cancun and that was where we intended on spending our time, until we booked a night at Azulik – which is located in a city about two hours away named Tulum. Because I wanted to keep this blog post strictly about the stay at the hotel, if you want to read about how to get from Cancun to Tulum I made a whole ‘how-to’ post here.

When you arrive at the spot, it looks like it’s in the middle of nowhere. Since it is basically a luxurious treehouse, this location probably makes a lot of sense. We had arrived at 2pm and check-in wasn’t until 3pm, so we took some time to explore the grounds. The gentleman at the front desk took photocopies of both of our passports and gave us some ‘Caribbean Jungle Rain’ in a bottle to drink. They have many hostesses at the hotel they call ANGELS, and one of them proceeded to give us a little tour and take us to their amazing beach area.

I sadly have to preface the beach area with – WHAT A HORRIBLE FRIGGING TIME TO BE IN MEXICO. In Cancun and in Tulum you couldn’t really go into the water because there was at least 3-4 feet of seaweed as a barrier. Usually I would just try to be adventurous and hop over such obstacles, but even when you entered the water you would have to swim through about 100 feet of gross brown stuff to get anywhere clear. No thanks. I’m too squeamish for that.

Aside from that unfortunate water situation, the beach was beautiful to look at. Very clean and had a well-stocked bar on it as well. There were plenty of beach loungers to lay on and these cool nets that you could climb on top of to suntan on, which my boyfriend talked me into doing even though I am super clumsy. (I didn’t die, FYI)

After hanging out at the beach for a little bit, our angel came to show us to our room and give us our fuzzy keys. I was really really excited at this moment because I wanted it to be everything I had seen on Instagram. You know what? It was even more. Once we walked into our room shit began to feel really real. From the beautiful, high, round and mosquito-net covered bed to the beautiful tub to soak in and then to our incredible patio that had two chairs and our own private jacuzzi. Wow.

We were in Jungle Villa #2 which was on the far side of the property, but it was awesome because we faced the spa area and were on a lower level so the breeze was amazing. This hotel is eco-friendly so there isn’t air conditioning and only two electric plugs in the room. Furthermore, the jacuzzi was actually filled with salt water and the bathtub in our room was filled with some next hippie water as well.

My boyfriend and I literally spent most of our evening in that jacuzzi. We loved how peaceful and beautiful it was there and how good some salt water on our skin felt since we couldn’t go into the actual ocean. I enjoyed every minute of that evening, probably the most relaxed I had been in a long time.

Eventually we had to get out of the jacuzzi because we had made reservations at one of Azulik’s restaurants, Kin Toh. Looking back at it now, we shouldn’t have even gone to the damn dinner. We were good in the hot tub and some room service would have been perfect. If you want to read about my experience at Kin Toh, I wrote a separate post about that here. I feel like once you read that, you will understand why we should have just stayed in our room. Fail.

Cue next day…..

The morning of our departure I was up really early. Like, 5:30am early. I’m not sure why but I decided to put some shorts on and walk over to the spa area by our room. It was a serene and peaceful moment. There wasn’t anyone else outside (except the security who keep watch over the beach at nighttime). It is a shame the water was ugly and brown because of the seaweed, otherwise it would have made the most perfect of sunrises.

I returned to the room and woke my boyfriend up to do something I had been looking forward to since I read everyone else’s reviews of Azulik – ordering room service! Because this place tries to use as little energy as possible, you can’t actually call down for room service. In every room there is a menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner alongside two brown balls with your room number on it, a pencil, a pencil sharpener and little pads of paper. What you do it write down your order on those pieces of paper, put it in the ball and send the ball down a chute right outside your room! It was so cool. I realize it is very low-tech but I had never seen such an ordering system and it really endeared me.

Within about 30-35 minutes our breakfast order had arrived and we were able to enjoy this incredible meal on our private balcony as the sun came fully up. Probably one of the best moments of my life. I had food, a view and the love of my life next to me. Definitely an unforgettable experience. Also, if you ever go and order the breakfast make sure you order the little bitty pancakes. So good.

And that was it, the end of our beautiful adventure at Azulik.

This place was definitely worth the splurge. From the service, the grounds and our incredible room – I would spend that $520.00 all over again. The only thing that wasn’t perfect was the water situation (not the hotels fault) and how our dinner at Kin Toh went (again, not the hotels fault). So this place is actually perfect.

I wouldn’t really come here with a friend because this place reeks of romance and relaxation. Plus you better be REAL close with whoever you’re traveling with here since nothing covers the bath area. Your best bet is to come here with your significant other to connect or to come here alone to disconnect. Either way, you’ll love it. A day or two would suffice, I can’t imagine being here for any longer because even beautiful places get boring after a while.

I’m really happy we took a chance and came to stay at Azulik. I hope to return one day!

  • Mirna

Review of Kin Toh Restaurant, Tulum

The pictures do NOT do this place justice, yes, this restaurant looks like a damn fairy tale. 

My boyfriend and I made reservations to have dinner at Kin Toh inside the equally beautiful hotel we were staying at, Azulik. What lead us here? Instagram. But I mean, if Instagram lead us to meeting each other, obviously dinner reservations should be just as simple yes?

I will give you an honest opinion about this spot. Heck, I bet you’re here because you typed ‘Kin Toh Tulum Prices’ OR ‘Kin Toh Tulum Menu’ into Google, am I right? You deserve honesty.

I personally have no issue dishing out lots of money for good food. If I thought it was delicious and filled my belly, it was worth every cent. I don’t think Kin Toh’s food was worth the money. Yep, I said it. Even in that gorgeous ambiance and exceptional service, the food was just OK.

First of all – don’t EVEN think of wearing heels to come to this restaurant. I had flat sandals on and I was already having a hard time walking around. There is a set of steps to go into the dining area that are shakier than Donald Trump trying to find the USA on a world map. Real shaky. When you enter a really nice hostess will greet you and offer to take you to your reserved seats. As you walk through you will see hoards of women sprawled out in their nice cocktail dresses sitting on the netting trying to catch the perfect shot for IG. 

If you thought you might get a seat in those beautiful, circular areas with the white pillows I am sorry to tell you it is not happening. Unless you booked it for a group and are willing to spend a minimum $1000 USD, you won’t get in that seat.

We got to our nice table (with an equally nice view) and began perusing the menu. Prior to coming to this restaurant I had gotten some idea that it is pretty pricey because I couldn’t actually find prices anywhere. You damn well know, if you can’t find the price? It’s expensive. 

On the second page of the menu there was a tasting menu option and we thought it was a good idea for the two of us to be able to try a variety of items. The cost? $110.00 USD 

I figured that was a good price for two apps, an entree and a dessert for us to split. The aperitif to start off the dinner was good and so was their awesome homemade butter. The first app was a ceviche and the second one (if I remember correctly) was sea bass. I mean, yeah, it was good but was it something I was going to call my mom about? No. 

Then the entree came and we each got this little strip of piglet with a side of vegetables. Again, it was good but nothing too crazy. Finally the dessert came and that was a chocolate mousse. This was probably the most impressive display of desserting (word? not a word?) I’d seen in a minute. They had a gentleman roll the ice cream on the table, while freezing it and then there was this incredible chocolate mousse cake to eat with it. To add, in the top cup there was weird, cold, chocolate milk I think? I didn’t understand that part, but the display was very good. 

The food was finished and we were ready to head back to our room so I asked for the bill, this is where the night got shitty. I am accustomed to a tasting menu price being for TWO people. Also, as you can see in the pictures, the portions were very small so I really believed this was accurate. The bill comes.

$233.00 USD

Two-hundred-and-thirty-three-fucking-American-dollars. That is without tip and did I mention, IN AMERICAN MONEY? OK. Meaning this meal, without liquor, and with its tiny portions was over $300.00 Canadian. Don’t get me wrong, this is my fault and my fault alone. I should have asked questions and been more diligent with my menu choices instead of being so enamored by my surroundings. But come on, THAT was not worth no damn $300. Not even close. 

Further to this bill, when the woman came with the machine for me to pay, do you know what the tip options were? 

10%

48%

56%

I swear to you, on my passport, that those were the automated tip options. Madness. I always tip, but 48% on that lackluster meal was not happening. 

Should you still check out this restaurant? Absolutely. Go visit the bar near sunset so you can get all the views without needing to spend all your money. I would not suggest going there for the food because it really just doesn’t taste good enough and is not filling enough to justify the price for it. You will get your fill of great customer service and pics for your Pinterest, but you will not get full in your tummy, where it matters.

If you plan on making it a day trip to come to Kin Toh from Playa de Carmen or Cancun, I wrote a piece about getting to Tulum for cheap – here.

– Mirna 

How To Get From Cancun to Tulum

Hello all!

I just came back from an awesome long-weekend trip to Cancun that included a short 24hr detour to Tulum. I spent A LOT of time trying to read the ‘how tos‘ of transit to get from the Cancun Hotel Zone (Zona Hotelera) to Tulum central without paying the really high prices of private transfers or taxis. I’m not a fan of having to go through 14 different Tripadvisor message boards to find a definitive answer, so I figured I would just explain it VERY simply in this blog post and include pictures. We took two different paths to get there and to get back, so I am including both options in this step-by-step guide.

Step 1) Getting from Cancun Hotel Zone to the ADO Bus Station in central Cancun

If you come out of your hotel in the Hotel Zone (wherever that may be, since that strip is like 30km long) you have a 99% chance of the R1 bus stopping in front of it. Make sure the white letters on the front say R1 not R2! The cost of it was $1.00 USD per person. If you hop on that bus it will take you to right in front of the ADO Bus Station in central Cancun. 

 

Step 2) Getting from Central Cancun – Playa de Carmen – Tulum Central via shuttle

When the R1 dropped us off across the street from the ADO Central Bus Station, we were approached by a man who was trying to get folks onto the shared shuttles. These were about 9-10 seater vans with ‘Cancun-Playa de Carmen‘ painted on them, followed by the next stops which would have ‘Playa de Carmen – Tulum‘ written on them. The cost was $5.00 USD per person to get to Playa de Carmen, at which point we would have to switch over to another shared shuttle that would take us from Playa de Carmen to Tulum for another $5.00 USD per person. This is useful information to have because maybe you wanted to hang out in Playa de Carmen for a bit, with these shuttles you definitely could do all of that. They are also referred to as ‘colectivos‘. 

The vans are well air-conditioned, but if you are tall it isn’t exactly the best seating arrangement. We are about 5’9-5’10 and our legs were definitely feeling the burn after this ride. The positive with choosing this option instead of the bus – these drivers FLY down the highways. It felt like the 1hr to Playa de Carmen went really quickly, and as soon as we stepped off that shuttle the shuttle for Tulum was caught within 15 seconds to continue on for the next hour. 

After taking the R1 + two shuttle ‘colectivos‘ you arrive in Tulum central within about 2.5hrs at a cost of $11.00 USD per person from the Hotel Zone in Cancun.

Step 3) Getting back from Tulum to Cancun, via ADO Bus

Now, here is the alternative we took on the way BACK from Tulum to Cancun. We went to the ADO Central Bus Station in Tulum and pre-purchased a ticket for a 1pm departure from Tulum to Cancun. This ride would be on the big, clean and spacey ADO bus that also happens to give you assigned seats. If I had to re-do this again, I definitely would have just taken this option to get to Tulum as well. It does also stop in Playa de Carmen, but there is no need for switching buses, it just continues on to Cancun.

FYI – this bus does NOT drive as quick and fast as the shuttle buses did, however it is well air conditioned, they played Fast and the Furious on the TV and there is a bathroom on board as well.  The cost for both of us was $19.00 USD so there was barely any difference in prices. 

Once you arrive back in Cancun, just exit the ADO Bus Station and you will see the R1 buses passing by that you can catch right back to your spot in the hotel zone. 

After taking the ADO Bus + R1 bus you arrive back at your hotel in about 3hrs at a cost of $10.50 USD per person. 

I assume that the price probably was cheaper than I listed above for those who use Mexican Pesos, but the way my laziness was set up? Yeah, we stuck to using USD. The option to use either the R1 + shuttles or R1 + ADO bus combinations both ways is awesome. It is all about HOW you like to travel and get to places, for the least amount of money. Some of the private transfer companies we spoke to were saying $120.00 USD for one-way from Cancun to Tulum and a taxi driver told us he would drive us from Tulum to Cancun for $90.00 USD one-way. As you can see, the price difference is pretty astronomical if you chose the latter options over the bus/shuttle combos.

Hope this helped some of you and was straightforward. 

Happy travels!

– Mirna