Stayed in Cabana number 4 (nearest the ruins).
Pros: Perhaps the best location in Tulum, on a paradise beach, 20m to the warm blue Caribbean. Dawn viewed from the balcony. Good beach bar with DJ worth his salary, though pay extra for beach club.
Cons: The cabanas are now in pretty terrible condition; if you're not up for a few cockroaches and very basic facilities then do not stay here. Rumour has it that the cabanas will soon be replaced with some new ones.

They're not lying when they say this is the best beach in Tulum...except they charge you for beach chairs! Stayed in the hotel type rooms which were very run down. Screens on windows were broken so anything could come in (including our lizard friend), bathroom smelled horrible, and walls are very thin. Not bad for the price but there are better places to stay for the same amount of money. Not sure about cabanas....Stay somewhere else instead and come here to lay on their beach!

December 13-15, 2003. We spent 6 days in Playa del Carmen and then headed to Tulum to enjoy some solitude. The beach at El Paraiso is awesome! Coconut trees, wide beach and a nice reef within swimming distance (if you are a good swimmer). The cabanas are definitely run-down. Liveable but they could fix them up a bit. The bathroom, as others have said, could use a lot of help. The floor tiles aren't secured, and there is no shower stall - (the toilet gets wet during your shower). We enjoyed our first night, but had to move out the next because there was a major hatch of a non-biting black fly. The flies came from the trees because it rained a bit. They covered everything!
The ceiling, floor, walls, bed our belongings. We tried to rough it , but there were so many! They got all over us too - sleeping would have been an interesting task. Fortunately the woman we spoke with had a good heart and allowed us to change rooms. The man we talked with said they had no other rooms. He changed his tune after he saw the room himself. It wouldn't have been bad, but we paid $50 a night. The upper hotel like rooms are much, much nicer. One is definitely paying for the location. Out of the rooms closest to the ruins of Tulum, this has the best location. They also have hammocks, but charge extra to use their beach loungers.

Perfect 5 days. Going back. Cabana's are truly beach living. Plywood floors and the bathroom was pretty banged up. Oh well- it's paradise.
Comments above are pretty accurate. We miss Juan the waiter. Muey Amable'. Best beache around. Close to everything. Great food. Swing bar was cool and DJ's are good people.

We all felt the same way. Troop&Carrie Steve&Jean