My wife and I brought our two-year-old down to Tulum to just find some tranquility on the beach and pretty much found it here. It has a very nice spread of beach and the cabanas are simple but fairly priced. We weren't looking for any special services or amenities, just a cool, unpretentious place to stay and relax and we found great value in Papaya Playa. It is also close to several restaurants along the beach which offer some good variety and just a few km from Tulum pueblo. The restaurant could be a bit better, but it is easy enough to get around to some fantastic places to eat. This was the perfect place for us and if we come back to Tulum, we would happily come back here.

I'm usually very laid back & tolerant but I've gotta weigh in on this place. My wife & I checked in Mar 10/2007 with no prior reservations as we were "wingin' it" - not a good idea along Tulum's beaches. After some tedious negotiations with the front desk, we moved into a cabana with a bathroom. No hot water in any of the cabanas we looked at first. They outright lied to us saying it would be fixed. Never was & no attempt to do so. Treacherous pathways everywhere. Holes in the thatch roof. Nothing inside the cabana to block the gale-force winds Tulum was experiencing at the time. Service is pretty much non-existant. Hot water only in the filthy shared showers. Poor quality yet expensive food & drinks. Lovely location however - its only saving grace. Overall, totally neglected & totally disorganized. We paid in advance for 5 nites to get a decent rate but left after 3 nites. If we'd have stayed longer it would have ruined the whole thing. Bottom line - don't even go there 'cause they don't care.

After having arrived after booking a Cabana with a bathroom, they had none and we stupidly agreed to accept a cabana without a bathroom and have a free dinner to compensate. We were taken to our cabana and were speechless over how rank it was.

The webiste makes the place look clean and classy. The cabana had 2 beds with flithy sheets and loads of sand in the bed, the pillow should have been thrown out 5yrs ago. The mosquito nets were filty and had holes all over them. With only 1 filty plastic pub garden table.

The restaurant was very slow service, food was all cold and I had finished mine before they realised they were missing my friends order.

We stayed 1 night and chose to lose the money on the 2nd night rather than stay in the place a second longer. We checked out as soon as the sun came up!

Avoid this place unless you are desperate, although still relatively cheap, very overpriced for what you get. only for hardened backpackers.

My boyfriend and I recently stayed at Papaya Playa in Tulum. We paid $30 for a private, concrete floor bungalow with shared bath/shower (note: in order to make a reservation online, Papaya Playa requires full payment in advance). The room was spartan, with just a double bed, mosquito net, small table, and chair. There are no electrical outlets in the room, and light is only provided by a dim bare light bulb for a few hours each night (bring a flashlight if you plan on staying here). Bathrooms were fairly clean, though there were some issues with backed up toilets when we first arrived. The open air showers were clean and huge with hot water. The location is fantastic and makes up for a lot of the problems - we were able to just sit up in bed and see the beach and ocean! The beach was clean and nearly completely deserted, however there was some construction being done at the hotel restaurant that was somewhat loud and disruptive. All in all, we felt the price was fair for what we got, although I think we would probably stay somewhere else on a return visit. NOTE: We heard reports from other travellers that they tend to add charges to your bill if you charge things to your room. Be careful and inspect your bills closely at checkout!!