Tulum in Jan/Feb 2013 - need hotel suggestions!
 

After doing some research, I'm heavily leaning towards a week long vacation with my boyfriend to Tulum either the last week of January or the first week of February. How is the weather typically during this time of year? I know it's peak season, so I don't expect anything too cheap, but I need some hotel suggestions. I don't need top of the line luxury, but I want a place that's still nice, clean, and has decent rooms. It also must be on the beach but ideally still close enough to town that we can easily take a quick cheap cab ride over. I definitely don't want all-inclusive, but I strongly prefer a place that has breakfast included in the stay. My bf and I are foodies who love to feast on local food, so it's not an absolute requirement for the hotel to have a great restaurant, but it's a selling point.

After doing some brief browsing, something on the level of Cabanas Tulum looks like what I'm looking for in terms of niceness of rooms. If you all could throw in some suggestions with approximate price points, that would be really helpful. (I would typically want to book on travelocity for flight+hotel, but it seems to only offer AI's?)

Posada Margherita sounds like a good bet. Bonus is that the owners are professional chefs!

Cabanas Tulum is beautiful. I go to the beach there often. Their rooms have two levels with the rooftop looking out over the beach. They also added a lazy river pool that winds around behind the cabanas. Ziggy Beach Bar is part of Cabanas Tulum.

We walked past Cabanas Tulum several years ago. It is on a very nice stretch of beach (80% of Tulum's beaches are great). Back then, Cabanas Tulum was a bit on the funky side, being one of the oldest places along the beach. However, looking at their web site, it looks like they have really given it a facelift. There are dozens of places along the beach in Tulum, you can go crazy trying to find the perfect one. We have stayed at Los Lirios and Tierras Del Sol and loved them both. Lirios's rooms are airy and spacious and they offer a great breakfast. Tierras was more of a 'bamboo hut on the beach' kind of vibe, but lots of fun. I don't believe they had much in the way of dining, but there are good dining options up and down the beachfront. For something a bit more upscale, Las Ranitas is a very nice looking small hotel on beach with great food.
As for the weather, we usually go in late January or early February, and the weather is typically sunny and mid 80's in the afternoon. You can sometimes get a day with showers and wind, but most days are great. The first time we went, they were having a 'cold snap', the evening go down to about 65, and the locals were wearing ski parkas!
A cab ride from mid point on the beach road to the downtown ( a must visit!) will take about 15-20 minutes.

Thanks for the suggestions! Those options sound great except a bit above my budget. It looks like CT's room rate for beach view without access to the pools is 157/night during high season. I'm leaning towards ideally less than 180/night. Any other options for decent hotels on the beach that serve breakfast included in the room rate? I really don't care for access to a pool as long as the beach is right there!

I can suggest an intimate place Casa de Las Olas it s 100% sustainable and eco friendly, if you want to learn more about green activities in Tulum http://www.mynatour.org/destination/...t-sand-and-sun

You could check out La Zebra hotel http://www.lazebratulum.com/ . I didn't stay there (stayed next door at Playa Mambo http://www.playamambo.com/index_eng.html which I really liked, but maybe those rooms aren't as nice as you're looking for?) but I would definitely stay at La Zebra in the future. Amazing stretch of beach there and a very cute hotel with a great restaurant and some special music nights. Not sure if breakfast is included in the rate, and it's a little more than what you are looking for, but worth checking out.