happymz

Hi - as the subject suggests, I'm struggling with this one. We are going over new years' so are dealing with peak rates. In town, we can have AC & electricity and a decent room at Posada Luna del Sol for $60/nt. On the beach we've got Ana y Jose for $316/nt (more than we want to pay), and a few limited other options though the other tempting one is Posada Margherita for $235/nt.

We thought, ok, we'll go cheap on this one - stay in town with a rental car, pick whichever beach we want to go to on any given day, take advantage of the great little restaurants & bars in town, and we'll still have a great experience. But will we regret not splurging for the beach?

Diana

I think that depends.

In our case, we used to spend LOTS of money to be right on the beach in a fancy resort.

Then, after doing a lot of travel to Mexico and the Caribbean, we found that more $ does not always translate to better, and we spend SO much time out of our room and out and about, it did not make sense to be shelling out major bucks for a room we were never in.

There are lots of neat beaches to choose from in the area, and they're just a few minutes' drive from Tulum.

I have seen Ana y Jose (had lunch and drinks there a couple of times), and while it is very nice, I would NEVER spend $300+ per night to stay there...

You really need a rental car wherever you stay, so I think for the money to be saved, I'd stay in town.

JeanH

That is really a huge difference in price. Depends on how much of a beach person you are. It wouldn't bother me to stay in town when the price difference is that much. The other thought is how many nights are you talking? You could split your time, splurge for a couple nights on the beach and do the rest in town.

We had dinner at Posada Margherita a couple years ago. It was awesome. So, even if you decide to stay else where, consider it for dinner.

happymz

I should have mentioned that the only room available at AnayJose is the oceanfront, top floor, suite - hence $316/nt is the highest rate, for the best room, during peak week!

I must admit we are leaning toward Posada Margherita. I just like the idea of being able to roll out of bed and onto the beach with margerita in hand! I guess we will just have to swallow the peak week price with it...

I should add as well that most accomodations, all in fact that have availability on the beach, require minimum 5-7 nights stay during this period so we are not really going to be able to split it up - unfortunately - as that was our thinking as well!

Athena4194

My husband and I have been to Tulum several times and love it. We've stayed at a variety of hotels, including Ana y Jose, which is lovely but definately not worth the price tag of $316 a night. Staying in town affords you the luxury of exploring new beaches and hotels every day. And at night, the town is a great place to be. Several good restuarants including De Nave, offer delicious food and there are many good pubs as well. If you choose to stay in town, most hotels provide a shower and changing room for day guests. Another option is to stay at one of the cabanas at the beach which range in price from $15 to $25US a night. There's also a lovely little inn called Luna Maya that's right on the beach and offers inexpensive cabanas with a shared bathroom for about $35 a night. The owners are wonderful and their Spanish restuarants boasts some of the best paella on the Yucatan. If you're really looking for a rustic experience, try camping. Hotels charge about $5US to camp on their beach and provide security at night. Mezzaluna has a lot of good deals. The only catch is you have to clear out by morning.

blondlady

You might try one of the least expensive cabanas you can get on the beach and use it for day time beach, then go ahead and ALSO rent a decent place in town. You still would be paying less then AnayJose. You can go back and forth between the two. I also have stayed at Ana y Jose and think the peak rate is wayyyyyy tooooo much. You still can eat at their restaurant if you visit the beach

zootsi

Although Tulum pueblo is a nice little town, staying on the beach is much more desirable. There are dozens of small hotels and cabanas along the beach, I can't imagine they would all be super expensive. We stayed at a small but very beautiful place directly on a gorgeous beach last January for $85 a night. Falling asleep with the sounds of the surf, and walking along the beach at dawn are experiences we'll never forget. Posada Marherita is not the only nice place along to beach. Have you gone to locogringo.com?

colokid

I saw a new place on the beach called Mezzanine in Tulum a few weeks ago and just looked at their website. The prices were around $170/night.

happymz

Hi everyone - our trip is long over (we went last new year's). Trust me, we considered many options and spent a lot of time on locogringo among other sites. Ultimately we went with Posada Margherita and it was a great choice. Their website does not do it justice. From our research & outside view of the many properties on the beach there's only really one beach property that I would select over Posada Margherita for a next trip - and that's Mezzanine. We stopped at Ana y Jose for drinks and I was not into the vibe there. Can't really explain it well - maybe it had something to do with the size of the property which was much larger than most if not all of the other offerings in the Tulum beach area? Liked the vibe at Zamas, but that's a crowded vicinity of the beach hotel zone and not the best beaches there.

Blondlady - I do love your idea to get a room in town + a cabana on the beach! I've heard the cabanas are not exceptionally secure so that would be a great way to do it. We had a rental car after all.

I think Mezzanine is a wonderful choice - next time I go that's where I'll stay, if I can get a room! (they only have 4, so availability is tough.) We stopped there briefly on our trip and loved the vibe, so I recommended it to friends who went in June & indeed they loved it.