-we stayed for 3 nights in the Diamante K
-they have a wonderful small, private beach - a perfect peace of land
-in the cabanas you hear the waves crushing on the rocks
-the restaurant and bar is good and great to chill out
-the cabanas only have light from 6-11 p.m., and no electricity socket (you have to charge you electrical appliances at the front desk from 6-11 p.m.)
-the cabanas are very basic and only have two beds and one chair in it - nothing else
-you share the bathrooms and shower with the rest of the guests
-in the bathrooms and in the shower there is only a tiny candle and to be honest I didn't want to know what else was with me in the bathroom!!!
-a great place to stay if you are willing to cope with the sanitary facilities
-later on we stayed in a different hotel and came to the beach to chill
-tulum is in walking distance (500 meters)
-price was $75, rather pricy
-if you want great food and a great view, check out the Mezzanine, just 500 meters further down the beach

Full of itself

The woman that runs the place is a nightmare. When I stayed with my family they had problems with the water. she checked me in, took my money and then I had to go and mention we had no water. She then told me she knew, but hadnt mentioned it.

All I heard was 'its not my fault' but she was happy for the $140 (a total rip off)

Cabanya 7 (or 5) is a hole. No light, the sink broke and hit my partners foot, and it´s way off the beach (covered in fag butts)

Tulum is a great place but this one time backpacker place sucks. Great location and beach , but the staff are a bunch of tools. The food sucked (the worst I had in mexico). the decor is rubbish and they stole my new havannas! They are rip off merchants cashing in on tulums popularity.

I left after one night (with no use of the private bathroom I paid for ). All the main woman does is shout and moan. she treats people with contempt and her staff are standing around stoned half the time. I tried to get breakfast at 9 (30 mins after they open) and was treated like I'd spat on someones mother.

There are FAR better places to stay in tuluim than this sham. As a cheap backpacker place is fine but they are charging big money. but mostly it´s the attitude. Rudest people I´ve met in 12 years of travelling.

AVOID

If you want a lovely setting but can deal with a complete lack of courtesy and class, not a bad place to stay.

Diamond K is a strikingly lovely beachside hotel set on one of Tulum’s many secluded bays. Set among palm trees and lava rock, the cabañas are well maintained, the restrooms quite clean, and the restaurant serves decent, if not somewhat overpriced food. The hotel—when compared to other rustic cabana options down the beach—is very reasonably priced, and doesn't seem to raise their rates much for high season. However...

We first stayed here in July of 2006, before Hurricane Dean and an assumed change in either the management or ownership, and though we recall a bit of odd managerial behavior—one woman seemed to control everything and be the go-to about money--we felt overall folks were pretty friendly. This time, however, was an unexpected change. We arrived at 9:30 pm and were confronted by the night clerk who, through a cloud of pot smoke, peaked at us contemptuously over the rim of her eyeglasses. At first she was unable to find our reservation, even though we had an email less then 36 hours old confirming our room. Once she did find it written in her book, she berated us for several minutes about not bringing a printed copy of our Paypal receipt "for their records". She informed us that it was common practice along the beach and required before she would give us our room. “I have been here for 20 years, and everywhere on the beach it’s the same.” (apparently she hasn’t checked in with Cabanas Copal, Papaya Playa, Luna Maya, Piedra Escondida, or Cabanas La Luna, none of whom asked us or our wedding guests for a receipt or proof of reservation). She insisted that this requirement was plainly noted on the hotel’s website and on the Paypal reciept. It turns out that that is not the case at all (a subsequent review and careful reading of the receipt and all correspondence with the hotel failed to find any mention of the afore mentioned requirement). We were only allowed our room after showing her a copy of the Paypal email still in my inbox on my laptop, which I just happened to have brought along. Thinking this might be a one-time deal, we relaxed.

However, we’d recommended the hotel to a number of our wedding guests, including my wife’s sister (thank God she was the only one that took us up on the suggestion). When she and her sister went to check in to Diamante, the same woman was there in the morning, the exact same hard time given. This time, my wife lost her cool and brought up some issues of payment clarity and guest courtesy, to which the woman said, “I understand you’re tired, Madame” to which my wife about collapsed in shock. When she protested, the clerk only proceeded to argue louder over her. So much for the customer is always right theory. At least the customer deserves some decency.

We find it odd that a hotel that offered online reservations and payment, would not themselves have the ability, to say nothing for a computer, to communicate with each other regarding reservations. We are baffled as to why the woman handling the reservations and the clerk at the front desk can't share information from Paypal...?

Our only other complaint comes from knowing better. We've been traveling and living in Mexico now for close to seven months and are well acquainted with what is commonly known as "the gringo" price. For those not well versed it's, on average, 10-15% higher than what locals pay. What we are not accustomed to is what we started calling the "revolving/evolving/fluctuating gringo price." We encountered this phenomena at the hotel bar. There is the "money mama", who handles all the cash, this too is a common practice here in Mexico. What is uncommon, however, is that she also controls the price of selected menu items. Over the three days we stayed we ordered a small assortment of the same drinks. I offer a glass of wine, white Mexican, to be specific. We again ordered the same wine, poured from the same bottle, often by the same bartender, yet paid a varying price. Here's how it would go down; we'd order, the barman would pour, we'd offer up the previous price paid, the batman would look to the money mama, and she would, it seems look us over, and based on some unknown criteria or mood, decide on a new and different price for that day or drink (a Michelada went from a consistent 30 pesos, to 45 with money mama). After the second day we started offering up the going average gringo rate and refused to pay more, which was met by the somewhat apologetic barmen who still refused.
Positives: the rooms are great, the views fantastic, the atmosphere mellow, and several of the employees super fantastic. Negatives: the prices vary on the spot, the service is spotty, and the management is lousy.

Please do not stay at this hotel. A friend and I were treated with contempt, rudeness, intimidation, threats, blackmail and in the end they stole our money. So that's the overview! Details below....

We booked online for 7 nights and a two-way transfer. The transfer arrived at the airport and was very good. However on arriving at the hotel, we were told they did not have the room we booked (they did not even seem to have any booking system working properly), so we were put in an upgrade (i.e. room with private shower - although as previous posts mention, this is not all that private!).

We were asked to move after two days. We assumed they had sorted out their affairs, but were moved to another room with private bathroom (the toilet leaked), although we had booked shared facilities.

The last evening, we were suddenly told that since we had been in the upgraded accomodation, we would have to pay another USD$100 a night for our stay. Maria at the front desk then said that if we didn't pay it would come out of her wages etc. etc. We said that obviously both the charge and her situation was unacceptable and wanted to speak to the manager.

The Manager (Luis?) was dismissive, took 10 seconds, insisted we paid then walked off. The price was then suddenly reduced to USD$50 and talk of Maria having to pay was dropped. We insisted that since it was their administration that was incorrect we did not owe anything.

We were then told that Luis (no where to be seen) had cancelled our return transfer and would be keeping the money that we had already paid for that, in lieu of further payment for the room.

We returned to the room, to find the lock on the door had been broken in to, whilst we were at reception, and the door left open. Very intimidating late at night.

We were given no choice but to stay in our room the last night in case our things were stolen, and had to have a takeaway from Alfonso next door (very nice man).

We spent the whole of the last day of our holiday making our way back to the airport by bus/taxi and costing us more money.

It was disgraceful, intimidating, overpriced, unclean, and rude.

Fortunately the beach in that area is beautiful, so recommend you find somewhere nicer to stay!!