WARNING ABOUT CABANAS COPAL IN TULUM
 

There is a poster advertising cabanas copal on this site in the form of trip reports. he is doing it also at lets go and at lonely planet. do a serach on different sites and you will see what i mean. he is probably going to be kicked off of the thorn tree for violating the advertising rules. basically he has a bunch of screen names and he writes the same thing every time on several sites. when you read it it will sound like an advertisement. i went to copal for dinner when i was there and it was gross. it was dirty, there was a guy pissing in the parking lot 5 feet from dinner tables and the owner was blasting CNN on the tv. not a tropical paradise at all. consider yourself warned about that crappy place and do some research. stay anywhere but there. there are TONS of cool places in that price range

I think his name might be Ken here. I am not sure but I seem to remember reading about some Cabanas. I was almost interested. Thanks for the info.

Please do all of us a favor old town? Clean up you language or stay off this board. I just have to wonder if this story is true, or if maybe you just need to get a life. If it is true, the way it was worded will turn people off and probably not take it seriously, which is not good. But if this is not true, you may of done serious damage to the Copal on false charges which happens to be very bad.

false charges? ha! i and my girlfriend saw it, as i'm sure the owner didtoo.please tell me about the law why don't you, especially since i've been a member in good standing of the virginia bar for 7 years.what i said is fact, and as such, is protected free speech. you'd have to prove i made up the story with intent to damage copal in order to have any recourse against me.which, as i'm sure you know, is impossible to prove. then there is the whole international thing. but i will tell you this, copal needs to do some research on its advertising techniques before a disgruntled guest files suit against them for false advertising, and possibly, fraud. i'll let go of this the moment ken/beth/whoever admits to what they have done and agree publicly, on all these sites, to stop tricking people into staying there. you know i'm not the only one who has noticed this, don't you?

oldtown, I am having a hard time believing you didn't post this as some kind of grudge against Cabanas Copal since this is the first and only time you've ever posted.
Your incoherent ramblings about "recourse" and "intent to damage" lead me to believe you have simply been watching too much Judge Judy, and your spelling and grammar make me very concerned for the efficacy of whatever law school you claim to have attended.:^o

Actually Diana, this is not the first time I've posted here. I ususaly visit Thorn Tree instead, but once I discovered what Copal was doing,I posted here.I do not have a "grudge" against Copal. I had a terrible experienec there and I dislike the sleazy advertising techniques they have employed. Aren't these message forums just the place to warn fellow travelers about such things? Don't believe me that they are what I charge? I urge you to visit Frommers, Lets Go, and Lonely Planet. Search for 'Copal' on any of those sites and you'll find dozens of advertisements for the place, ALL coming from the same people. It's fact and if you don't see it, well, then you are either blind or somehow connected to Copal.You know, the longer this goes on, the more negative information these boards will have on the place

I'm trying to figure out what language Oldtown needs to clean up to be a good upstanding poster on Fodors??? ~haha

As a Thorn Tree regular I appreciate this kind of information. This sounds like a fair and good warning about a place that is not too nice!

If these cananas are so wonderful, where are the people who have stayed there and adored the place? Believe me they would post in return, if this was not true.

Au contraire oldtown. I clicked on your name and found this to be your only post.
I've never been to Cabanas Copal, but I have been to Tulum, and Cabanas Copal has never been touted by anyone to be a luxury experience.
You gave very little info to substantiate your claim.
Did you stay there? How long? When? Which room? What other problems did you encounter?
Or did you just have one dinner there and decide to proclaim yourself an expert on the place and incensed enough by something that happened to vent?
I've been a regular on this board for more than three years and never gotten the feeling that the very few people who post about Cabanas Copal here - there are only 15 posts since November of 2000 about the place - are anything less than regular Joe's who like to vacation there.
Sorry if you had a bad experience, but your credibility is questionable...

Diana, Not sure why it's showing only these posts. The first time I posted here was in Novemeber of 2000 when I was planning the very trip to Tulum we now discuss. If you don't trust me with so few posts, then please visit Thorn Tree and search my handle there.It's the same and you will see I have a history. But to your other questions...
No, I did not stay at Copal and I'm thankful for it. I stayed at Ana y Joses for 10 days and it was O.K, great beach and nice palapas for shade but still very overpriced. It was the only time I've been in Tulum.
Now, re-read the OP. Then show me where I claimed to be an expert on Copal. In fact, the word expert does not appear anywhere in the OP. I suspect you imagined you saw it, which is fine because everyone reading this knows I never claimed to be an expert,but rather,you just accused me of claiming to be one. Ah, semantics.I believe I stated that I had a crappy experience there, that there are at least two different handles advertisng the place in the form of trip reports, and that people should be forewarned. I think it's a valid post and if you are not trying to protect Copal, I believe that you are doing a great disservice to unsuspecting travelers everywhereby defending the place via attacking my credibility. I'd be happy to discuss this with you further once you have searched Thorn Tree and found what myself and others have found.It is INDISPUTABLE that ebethnewton and kenster have posted IDENTICAL posts time and time AGAIN.

Just Curious- am I a snob, only worthy of 'luxury'accomodations, because I was bothered by someone PISSING 5 feet from my dinner table? Funny that you ignored Suze's comment.Oh, BTW- I suspect Suze is only here because of my poston TT. See what's happening here?

I am also curious to know what "language" should be cleaned up on this post. I don't see anything at all offensive in the words that were used by "oldtown". Some people need to get a life!

Thanks for the warning. Did a search here and in Thorn Tree. I agree that it may be advertising.

How was it the fault of the restaurant that some drunk was using the parking lot as a restroom? Do you have any information on the quality of the rooms at the resort? That's the kind of information I would find helpful if I was doing a search.

The peeing inceident was not my only complaint. The food took over an hour to reach our table when the place was deserted. Plus, some was burned and some was undercooked. There was a gross DJ type guy harassing my girl the whole time too.He was an employee of the restaurant. I honestly started to wonder whether the waiters and the DJ had a system working that allowed him more time to harass women by them delaying the delivery of dinner.Sorry, I did not see any of the rooms. Although I have read that security is a concern when you are that close to the ruins.

i think parking lot pissing is a legitimate complaint.

in mexico things usually operate by tightly run businesses - family, neighborhood, friends, etc. so yes this kind of thing is regulated by the owners. they control vendors in their restaurant, "riff-raff" hanging around, etc.

this circumstance sounds ugly. and no one yet has posted a personal favorable review with this particular "resort" (haha?*!)

oldtown, Fodors BB may not be worth your time posting this advisory!

Suze- I think you're right. Not only has this post, apparently, been abandoned by the very people I suspect from carrying out these deceptive reports, but they may have also realized what my goal is. I want to chase those actors away from the very tool many people turn to first when they are planning a vacation.I'll say what I have on other posts and on other sites; I have not endorsed ONE other place to eat or stay. I have offered only my opinion of what I have seen.I have no interest in creating more business for certain places by way of exposing Copal's surreptitous ploys.Basically, I'm telling people to take 14 minutes on the internet before they spend $1000 on a vacation that may place them somewhere they would otherise not have chosen. Actually, it's quite telling that those who challenged my opinion originally, never questioned whether I had ulterior business motives myself. Seems they were too busy defending their own guilt.See ya on TT

I thought it was fun to have an actual near lively discussion on this BB, but we may have gotten a bit too far afield of the comfort zone. Ciao ciao... S.

p.s. i'm a west coast mexico devotee so have nothing whatsoever to be gained or lost about a tulum discussion.

so funny-it is silent here. i was thinking i was a fireacker on this site. SOOOOOO slow on the posts.
i have no west coast mx. experience at all. i'd like it if you told me about neat places. there's always TT pms if you did'nt feel like sharing it with the world.or in this case, 5 people. bye

Hey Oldtown, now you made me laugh (5 people is right) so I guess my secrets will be safe here!!

My home away from home is not a hidden gem ... I am a devote of Old Town puerto vallarta the neighborhood "south of the river" &/or El Centro (downtown proper). been 15 times since a friend 1st took me there early 90's.

see my words of wisdom over on TT (just kidding!) posting as Clarisa.

alright clarisa,i'll keep my eyes open.nice handles-btw

bumping up so that person looking at Copal does not miss this...

I'm, sbthegog on Frommers and afdip on TT. I don't rightly recall now after so many years, how the different handles came about....But, aren't continued advertisements obvious? And anyone should be able to recognize similar writing I would suppose. I've spent a great deal of time in that area and have for years. Clarisa, how is Yelapa now that electricity has arrrived? OT the big question for you is, "Why have you abandoned the TT thread?" You left me at the mercy of beachcomber, after I posted other posters names that thought Ken and ebethnewton were the same,(I really hadn't thought much of it before I read the other posts). Then ken T/rover/kenster posted, directly to me, on the public forum his indignation.... Much nicer and cheaper places in the area for that, "cabana experience". Don't lock yourself into a place for an extended period of time. If you are hesitant about a place and whether it will suit your needs and desires, then just reserve for a night and check out some other places once there. I stayed one night two years ago at Ana Y Jose's and fled from the place the next day. I was not on the front row of buildings and it was stifling hot in the room with the front building blocking the breeze. Glad I had not paid in advance. Service and food and attention to detail are far more preferable there though than Cabanas Copal IMO. Beach is much nicer farther South too. It's just my opinion....I may be wrong....

Belle, Since you asked ... i am Susana on 2 PV boards, Clarisa on TT (afer my favorite Mexican TV novela) & Suze here (it's a wonder we don't all have severe multiple personality disorders!) ... I've never been to Yelapa, only because I'm lazy and in love with the southside Old Town PV, never get much further than where I can go on foot in that neighborhood. besides puerto vallarta i have only a little Baja experience to contribute.

Suze, multiple personalities? Who me? (Yes you... Shut up...No, YOU shut up!... *ha*) Really love old town PV too, but Yelapa, before electricity, on the hillside over looking the bay, in an open palapa, are moments that will be forever treasured.

Belle - sounds heavenly no argument there, my problem is I would have to get off my ___, i mean lounge chair & into a bumpy water taxi to get down there!

Reports from those I've talked to recently in PV still love Yelapa just fine, a bit of electric didn't change it that much (or so rumor has it).

Oops we've snagged this thread. Now the Yucatan cabana folks will want to come running to Yelapa instead~haha.

I just posted this on TT

don't worry afdip- i haven't abandoned these threads. i was on vacation the last week. can you believe the crap kensters throwing out there on the other sites? he's basically telling people to ignore our warnings because it's impossible to prove he is not affiliated with copal somehow.ridiculous. he also accussed me of being connected with another place down there. he must not have read any of my posts because, at my last count, i suggested 7 differently owned places to stay.

FOLKS!!! the place is crap and the owner is being menacing to those that have noticed his schemes. is this where you want to stay? would you feel comfortable sleeping there? NO WAY!

kenster-it's time to come clean or your business will continue to suffer irreparable damage.