Very nice cabana in Maya/Thai style. If you want peace and quiet and a sunny beautiful beach on the Riviera Maya, this is the place. We had a bed hanging from the 7 m high ceiling, with mosquito net (although we had no mosquitos). Quiet beach, with roughly 10 people on the beach each day. Some chairs, matrasses, hangmats to choose from on the beach. The cabanas are large and clean, have a wash basin and mirror, plus toilet and shower. A hangmat up front allows you to linger in front of your room if desired without being exposed to the sun. There's hot water 24/7, electricity from 6-11 PM, and candles & matches for the rest of the time. Daily cleaning of the cabana. Restaurant on site, bit quiet and expensive though. Location is on the beach road 4.5 km south of the T-junction with the road to Tulum town (3 km). Getting to Tulum town (4.5+3=7.5 km) is easy by car and a good and cheaper option for dinner, groceries, diving, and internet access. The ruins are in the other (3 km) direction from the T-junction on the beach road, also at (4.5+3=7.5 km) distance.
PS. This town is charming (probably still the most quiet and charming of the Riviera Maya), and developing rapidly. The beach road was paved/asphalted during our stay in Feb 2006.
Asking price without reservations USD 110 a night if available (this area fills up fast); you can negotiate if staying longer.

I just returned from a trip to the Yucatan with my mother and my sister. We are three very different people with very different standards (mine fall between theirs). While my sister was nostalgic for her nights spent on a hammock without electricity, private bath or even walls, my 75 year old mother needed something a little more civilized (me, too). The Esmeralda fit the bill perfectly and even Mom got in some "hammock time!" It did not hurt that my sister was determined to be in Tulum and places along the busier stretch of road were all filled up - we felt so fortunate to find this place and savored every moment. I LOVED the candles and the hanging beds and the general atmosphere of the place - very family-friendly, not a disco/party scene at all. Gracious staff. Pulgas, the black and white dog who lives there, also gets high marks for general cuteness and sociability. Miss Madeleine.

Very dark inside even during the day. Unable to see your belongings etc.
Shower and toilet not separate to the point where the toilet paper gets damp. Woke up and there was a rat which I was told was not a rat but a baby possum.
Definitly would not go back.

My husband and I stayed at the Esmeralda K in early August and I think the word that sums up the whole experience for me is just "satisfactory". My husband appreciated it a bit more than I. It was a little too laid back for my taste.

We checked out a number of properties before deciding on the Esmeralda. We checked out Tierras del Sol, the Zebra, Paraiso and the Mirador. Paraiso was booked. The Mirador just had shared bathrooms. The Zebra was extremely basic and what they had available was too far away from the beach to mitigate the oppressive heat. We were almost sold on the Tierras del Sol, but it had no restaurant and we were tired from driving from Uxmal and wanted some service. Esmeralda was about the same price as the Tierras, on the same beautiful beach, it had a restaurant, and we got a beachfront cabana.

In hindsight we probably should have booked at Tierras. However, the experience at Esmeralda was overall positive. I thought it was a little overpriced and perhaps not such a great value. We paid almost $90/night (Tierras is $85). Electricity was provided for a few hours in the morning and in the evening and I didn't think it would support my hairdryer and I didn't even try.

The swinging bed is a novel idea and probably helped keep the bugs from crawling up the bed at night. It is not that great if you crawl in with a little alcohol-induced buzz and the thing starts swinging around.

I think the thing that disturbed me most was the lack of a door on the bathroom. There was only some beads hanging from the ceiling to the floor to provide some privacy. The beads had a heart shaped decoration in the middle, which I thought was ironic since the beads being used as a bathroom door was probably the most unromantic part of the Esmeralda.

Also, the property supposedly has a pool -- something we wouldn't have known about if we weren't told by management. I wish we never had known, because we checked it out and it was flourescent green.

My husband and I will likely visit Tulum again, but will stay somewhere else other than Esmeralda. I think I would be prepared to give it a much better review if it had been more appropriately priced. There are just simply better values in Tulum.