We paid $150 per night for no drinkable water in the room, no screens on the windows, no hot water, all the floors are sand covered on purpose...great for getting into bed and sleeping in sand. The staff was very confused about everything. Beautiful location but that is about the best we can say.

Leave your blowdryer and laptop at home and relax!

We stayed seven days in a cabana at Retiro Maya. We chose Tulum because it was less tourist-y. If we wanted to be surrounded by nothing but American culture and homogenous fellow tourists, we'd have just gone to Hawaii or Florida. Tulum is much more authentic while still being luxurious.

We went as a group of 4 (2 couples in our 20's) and shared a cabana. Some of the cabanas had some less-private bathrooms, which some found very liberating! We stayed in a cabana with a much more private bathroom facility. If you are into yoga and the au naturel way of life, there are definitely cabanas for you here.

Lu was very upfront about the cabana situation when we asked: Don't leave valuables in the cabana and don't drink the water from your faucet. There aren't sophisticated locks on anything. If you want to bring your Blackberry, stay at a big hulking resort in Cancun or Playa with a digital keycard and surveillance cameras. Your blackberry won't get a lot of service in Tulum anyway. (Verizon did, not Tmobile, for the record). Being without phone or internet for a week was the most peaceful thing I've ever done. If you do need to bring some device, however, you can charge it at the bar when the generator is running.

It felt like there were no other people there although we went at peak season. Our cabana was right on the beach. The only sound was of the ocean, because the other guests didn't make a peep. One nice thing was that there were no bugs there. The lizards eat them all. There are mosquito nets in the cabanas, but we didn't use any. There wasn't a single mosquito. Could have been a fluke, though, so bring a little bug spray anyway.

The only thing I'd warn against would be to not eat breakfast at the Retiro Maya restaurant. We came in for continental breakfast thinking it was complimentary as the word would suggest in American culture. It was not free. We paid $36 ($9 each) for toast, coffee, and a slice of melon - plus tip (wasn't Marta's fault it was so expensive!). Dinner at Retiro Maya was reasonably priced - similar to Chili's in price, I suppose.

The restaurant and lobby were both pretty much outdoors. It was very laid back. The bar had swings instead of stools (don't drink too much!) and if we went in to eat, we were either the only ones in there or shared the restaurant with one other party. That made me think the food would be slopped together or out of a package, but it was great. Totally home-cooked. I loved the enchiladas mole, and the fajitas were amazing.

The staff was fantastic. One of us spoke Spanish so we were able to communicate with the Spanish-speaking staff fluently. We got the best, most friendly service from Ezekiel, Marta, Antonio and the rest of the crew. Along the beach as far as we could see in either direction, the tide and the waves left seaweed/kelp debris washed up on the sand. Retiro Maya, however, raked and cleared the seaweed from the beach so our view was just light sand and bright blue water--no junk. RM was the only eco-retreat that raked the weeds off the sand, from what I observed. They placed tiki torches or candles out every night for us and it was absolutely gorgeous. If you reach out to the staff there, you will make good friends and the experience was so much more meaningful for us. The last night we were there, we went salsa dancing up the road at another resort, with members of our RM staff. Nobody cared that we had no idea what we were doing. Shots were $8.50 at the neighboring resort, so bring your money if you plan to drink or get your shots at Retiro Maya (on the swings!). But the salsa dancing next door is fun. If you're lucky, you'll get to see Lu on the dance floor. She's a great salsa dancer.

The beds weren't incredibly soft, but we slept better there than we did in our pillowtop at home because of the sound of the ocean and the humid air.

Lu's golden retriever Luna had puppies a couple weeks before we arrived, so we were able to play with a whole litter of cuteness the whole trip. Luna is one of the sweetest, happiest dogs we ever met. We loved watching her squirm around in the sand basking in the sun.

Overall, we wanted the authentic, jungle, rugged Mexico experience and we got it. You might want to learn a few phrases in Spanish before you go. Lu speaks perfect English but if you venture out of Retiro Maya, you will find that only about a third of people speak any english and even then, it's sparse.

The last review expresses a lot of our feelings about Retiro Maya. We were fortunate enough not to be robbed, but the owner's response doesn't surprise me; her interactions with us were defensive, borderline hostile. It sounds like it was a really rough week for her, a crisis every day, but don't take it out on the guests. I

We arrived exhausted, up since 5am, after a 10 hour trip, to find that she'd given away our room (why? we arrived at 6:00 pm, not the middle of the night). She did find another ocean view room for us, but the whole process took half a hour or more, by which time it was dark. She gestured toward our room, said that's yours, no offer to find someone to help with our bags, and we were too tired to try to unpack by flashlight or try to shower in the dark. I know they had their hands full with a big group, but it was a gloomy start to our vacation.

We knew there was no electricity, and we came prepared with flashlights and reading lights, but for the money we paid, I think she could offer a few more amenities than 3 little candles. We had a enjoyable stay at another "eco-resort" in Mexico, but that place provided lanterns, a big flashlight,lots of candles, including citronella for the bugs, good quality mosquito nets and generally seemed to have thought hard about ways to keep guests comfortable, as well as environmentally friendly. From the amenities provided at Retiro, it looked like the main concern was spending as little money as possible. I didn't realize they don't have a night watchman, but that sounds like part of the economy scheme. Potential guests should realize that they have to pay for breakfast, which I don't think is the case with a lot of the other hotels in the area.

Then there's the water situation. Maybe it's the same at a lot of the smaller lodgings on the beach, but I don't remember seeing this mentioned in other reviews.There's no water early in the morning, and sometimes later in the morning, although it's reliable, and even hot if you want it, the rest of the day.. A couple of mornings, the water was on at 6:00 or so, another day at 7:00, another day at 8:00 and another day it still wasn't on when we left at 8:30. Maybe some folks don't care, but if you like to flush the toilet and wash your face in the morning, it's unpleasant, and if you get a stomach bug, like both my husband and I did one day, it gets pretty squalid pretty quickly. Don't know if this can be remedied by better management, or if it's just the way things are on this property.

Better organization and attitude could improve other problems. When we said we needed breakfast, just something simple asap, as our tour was picking us up at 8:45 (we'd been waiting in the restaurant since 8:00), the owner suggested we go elsewhere. It must have been the day the cook quit, and I'm sorry, I am, but we were starving, and there was no time to go anywhere else.

So, I know it was stressful for her, but problem solve with us, hand us an orange and a box of cereal, but don't just give me attitude. If you freak out at every crisis, the hospitality field is not a good match.

Sorry,everyone for this screed, if anyone's still reading it. Retiro was not our first choice, but a lot of places we wanted were already booked, and the pictures and most of the reviews sounded great. Maybe this was just a bad week, at least in terms of the owner's temperament. The beach is definitely gorgeous, the views from most of the cabanas are lovely, the outdoor bathrooms are great when they have water in them, and we liked the beds OK. But if someone wants the most natural experience possible, I'd suggest checking out the Sian Kaan lodgings (Cesiak?). It's more like camping, but it's less expensive and the beach is even more beautiful.

We stayed for 10 nights at Retiro Maya and it was our first time in Tulum. In our internet research we were astonished about the high prices for the beach cabanas (US$ 150) compared to other places like Asia where you pay for a similar quality US$ 40 or less. But that's Tulum. The Retiro Maya offers an interesting mix of simplicity (sand floor, no electricity) and luxury (private terrace with deckchairs and mattress, very comfortable king size bed, nicely decorated and open bathroom). All cabanas are some kind of linked with each other, they don't stand alone. We had an ocean front cabana which was just 25 meters to the beach - lovely view and very convenient.
Lu - the owner - is very helpful and all staff members were very friendly.
There are more rustic cabanas and also more luxury cabanas around, but the Retiro Maya offers a good mixture - although the simplicity felt a bit artifical to me because there was a concrete floor below the sand and an electric cable without bulb over the bed. On the other hand we really enjoyed the candle light atmosphere (but you need a torch to read!).
We were also very happy with the beach area and the location. Great for walking on the beach and not too far to Tulum Pueblo (by taxi or hitch-hiking).