As part of Posh Voyage’s last season’s travel theme, we decided to explore and write about the best hotels in Mexico. Of course, not only featuring the most luxurious hotels, but also the hidden gems.

When I decided to stay at Coqui Coqui Tulum as part of my “Mexico Tour” I could not be more excited. It was going to Tulum (which I love), it was going to be whale shark season and I was going to check off the remaining hotel that had been on my to-go list for what felt like the longest time.

I had seen this eco boutique hotel featured in design magazines, travel magazines and travel blogger’s Instagram accounts, so naturally I couldn’t wait to see it first-hand. Since I had heard about it a couple months back, it felt as if I was missing out on staying in one of the best kept secrets in Mexico (similar to L’Otel), and since I am originally from Mexico, that gave me major anxiety.

As I sit in my desk after my two week Mexico tour I must admit, my time at Coqui Coqui was by far one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had at a luxury boutique hotel and here is why:

To start off, the address on the confirmation letter and Google was for their head offices in Tulum, not for the actual hotel, so I got lost about 10 times trying to find the hotel. They were supposed to send detailed directions upon the confirmation of the reservation, but these were never sent to me.

I finally found a tiny sign, but no one in the entrance to tell us where to park, no one to help with our bags and no one to tell us how to get in.  The entrance to the hotel was so ugly it might as well had be a dumpster, so clearly I kept thinking I was in the wrong place.

The 5 foot wide entrance had two old and beat up motorcycles in the entrance and a mini electric plant in the middle, which meant you had to walk around it. I kept walking and began to get excited because in some cases it usually means you are about to be wowed.

Once I finally knocked on the door, and looked up while I waited. The hotel’s architecture was amazing, it blended in perfectly with the Tulum ruins: rocks houses, tall palm trees and white sandy beaches. From afar everything looked great until I decided to walk inside and get close to the furniture… I was shocked. The sofas were ripped, the lobby was dirty and the service was awful.

As I checked in, I informed the receptionist how hard it was to find the hotel and advised that they needed to update the address on the website, only to realize I was speaking to a wall. He didn’t  seem apologetic or say anything comforting. He genuinely didn’t care and didn’t even address the situation until I said I was writing a review on the hotel. His attitude changed only a slight bit by saying he would look into it.

I went up to my room and noticed there was no A/C or fan in my room in the MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER (which is expected at an Eco-friendly hotel), so I opened the windows and decided to take a shower, only to find out that it was a salt-water shower, which made me feel more sticky than before. The salt immediately attracted even more mosquitoes to the point that my legs were bleeding because I could not stop scratching. I decided to put a good face into the entire situation and went to brush my teeth before heading down to have brunch. As I was trying to kill 5 mosquitoes glued to my face while brushing my teeth, I realized it was also salt water, and at that point I almost lost it.

I went downstairs and ordered coffee, a simple black coffee, which usually makes everything better. I  took a sip from my coffee and it was so bad I had to spit it out. This begs the question, how hard is it really to make good coffee? Or do they just not care?

I then made my way down to the beach to calm down, relax and write, after all, that was the reason I was here. The server on the beach was on his phone and never came over to take my order. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, I was the only one there!

The night fell and I was mortified about how my night was going to turn out. I was tempted to change hotels, but I had already paid for the $500 a night room and decided to give it one more try.

The receptionist assured me there were no mosquitoes at night and that I should open my windows to get some fresh air. Even with the windows open, I was sweating profusely while lying in bed. It was so hot that even the thought of lying on top of sheets made me sweat more. I finally fell asleep at 11pm and at 12am a terrible sting in my legs woke me up. More mosquitoes had gotten into the bedroom and had eaten the living hell out of my legs.
I packed my bags, called a taxi at 1:00am and asked him to drive me to the Cancun airport, which was 2.5hrs away. I arrived at 3:00am and sat outside the airport until a security guard opened the airport at 5:00am. I was the first person inside the airport which was a first.

I understand this is an Eco-friendly hotel, but I believe they used that excuse to run a mediocre hotel. Tulum’s idea and vibe are fantastic, but try Be Tulum instead if you are looking for a comfortable and chic hotel.

*Disclaimer: Posh Voyage usually features only the best hotels around the globe, except when our experience is completely unsatisfactory.