If anyone can assist by posting a review please do so HERE

Pippy

Hi Jane
The Gran Bahia Principe resort consists of (from the North) Tulum, Akumel and behind the Akumel, the Coba.
There was a fourth location on site which is the Hacienda, where there are shops, bars and a disco.

All the hotels are serviced by buses and you can freely move around and use resources at any one.

We took the decision to stay at the Coba because all the rooms are junior suites, and it is the quietest hotel. The Tulum and Alkumel are on the beach and so whilst their patron move between them, they do not go back to the Coba, whereas many of the Coba residents do go to the beach, or the other two hotels. There is plenty of entertainment from the team but it is nice and quiet.
The Coba buffet was supposed to be the best of the three, but a couple we befriended always went to the Tulum for their breakfast. The A la cartes are available to all but you have to visit each hotel to find out their existence and their menu. ie in the Coba they told us there was no steak house, but when we found it and asked to book it by name, they did straight away.

Evening entertainment is slightly different in each hotel so can be worth popping round, I assumed they would cycle between the three but when we went to the steak restaurant in the Tulum we stumbled upon the entertainment and found it was a different show we hadn't seen so we started going there in the evenings.

Slight problem with the complex is that it is geared to a weeks stay and so the second week is a repeat.

A bus stop down the road is the Xel Ha park, well worth a day out using the bus or a taxi.

The beach at the Tulum is probably better than the other part of the beach, but you can go where you want and there are bars there for drinks, one even has swing seats so you don't know when the world is swinging on its own..

Up to the North is Akumel village (I think) where you can go to the public beach and swim with turtles for free.
Further North past Puerto Aventuras is Xcarat, another good but expensive day out.

thanks steve thats great, all info greatly appreciated !! i know its 6 months away but i cant wait!!

J

If you have more specific questions, post them in this thread and I will try to point you in the right direction.
Who are you booked with?
and what hotel have they told you you're in?

thoomas cook, will find out exactly what one when the confirmation arrives J

We went on the Mytravel plane from LGW which I think is the TC one. There was plenty of space but the in flight entertainment was not as good as the FC flight however by next year they may have upgraded/updated everything. We still had a pleasant journey. We chose it above the FC one as the flight times were better. We were in the plane on the way home before the FC people had even checked in to the airport.
I don't like coming home, but we had to be out of the room by a certain time after which I prefer to be travelling rather than killing time and the MYT timing was perfect although I was tempted to jump on the Xcarat bus instead.
All the rooms in the beach hotels are close to the beach, you can see them on Google Earth, but the Coba pictures were taken during early construction so most of it is not there.

*Edit. Post removed. Please do not spam the forum. Pippy*