Food/Lodging

Alrighty....here's our favorite part... food and lodging. Here we will give you our own personal run down and tips on where to stay and eat in Playa del Carmen, Akumal, Tulum, Mahahual, and Bacalar. Take it as serious as you want, if you would like to add your own personal comments just contact us and we will post them on our comments page. Each month we will feature a different link to one particular hotel in each town. Enjoy!

Playa del Carmen

In Playa del Carmen you have endless options for food and lodging. As the fastest growing city in Mexico you are able to get anything and everything you want. It even has Wal Mart and Sam's Club. There are budget hotels, 5 star hotels, all inclusive resorts and everything in between. Playa del Carmen mostly offers independent hotels of all ranges, on and off the beach. If you are looking for something specific email us and we will lead you in the right direction.

Food, Food, Food, Lots of Food! We like the food. Playa has a culturally diverse food scene. Some of our favorites are: 

Babes Noodle Bar on 10th street between Avenues 5 and 10 (off the Quinta) is a great place to eat.  Babes is a Thai fused restaurant offering curry dishes, tofu, spring rolls, good drinks, good service, and a hip vibe. The prices are good.

El Piola is up north on 38th street off of 5th towards the beach and is an Italian restaurant with a million different brick oven pizzas to choose from, good pasta, a really nice crisp modern atmosphere, great wine, and good desserts. Its a nice place to go to dinner. 

El Pirata Pescadaria y Cockteleria is off the beaten track a little north of the quinta on 40th street between Avenues 5 and 10 and is a local favorite offering the best sea food cocktails in town, fried whole fish that you pick out, good micheladas, and a real Mexico experience.

Fusion Beach Bar and Restaurant is on the beach off of 5th on Calle 6 and is best for its beachfront paradise atmosphere. They have live music daily, beach front tables, and good food and drinks. Definitely a place to stop for an afternoon appetizer or drink.

This month we will host Hotel Posada Frued as our hotel for Playa del Carmen. This quaint little hotel sits right on 5th avenue and is a nice little place to stay in the middle of the action. The rooms are nice, reasonably priced especially for this area and have a rustic jungle feel to them. Just around the corner from the beach Posada Freud is in a central location to everything. They also have a little 5th avenue front bar providing front row seats to all the quinta passers by. Check 'em out!

Akumal

Akumal is small but has a few real nice places to hang out. The central part of town and the southern part Akumal Bay are our favorite spots to visit. There are oceanfront hotels, casitas, and bungalows for rent to the south on Akumal Bay. Email us for more information of where to stay in Akumal Bay. 

There are a few main restraunts in town and on the bay.

Lol Ha Beachfront Restaurant 

Lol Ha restaurant is located on the best beach in Akumal and is the biggest restaurant and bar in Akumal Bay. They have good food, good service, and a great  atmosphere. The prices are a little steep but the snorkeling with the sea turtles makes up for it.

La Cueva Pescadaria

This is a good little restaurant that offers fried whole fish, seafood soups, lobster, and more.The restaurant is nicely set in jungle scene, they have good service, great margaritas, and decent food.

Tortuga Cafe 

Although we have yet to try it, we hear it is a popular place. We will try it soon and let you know.

Our featured hotel for Akumal Bay is Hotel Akumal Caribe. This beach front hotel offers everything you need for friends, family, and lovers.  Renting hotel rooms and private bungalows, Hotel Akumal Caribe is a great place to stay. On the beautiful white sand beaches of Akumal Bay, Hotel Akumal Caribe has a huge swimming pool and a nice coconut grove right in front of the hotel for relaxing and enjoying.

Tulum

Tulum is really a kind of explore your own way kind of town. There are all kinds of places to stay and eat. Our favorite food in Tulum is the pollo asado or gilled chicken, there are a few vegetarian options, pizzas joints, and a nice argentine restaurant in town to seek out. Out on the beach road as far as food goes each hotel or boutique hotel usually has its own restaurant leaving you compelled to eat there mostly if you stay there. There are a few lower key cabanas style places on the north end of the beach road that have cheap cabanas and good restaurants. One is Zazil Kin and the other is El Mariachi.

Mahahual

In Mahahual there is "the casitas",  "the Malecon" or boardwalk, "in town" and "the beach road".

In the casitas you have Aroma Cafe which is the best and pretty much only place to get real coffee, they also offer wireless internet and baquette sandwiches.

Loco Ricky's is a american joint serving burgers, cobb salad, onion rings, and more.

On the Malecon and in town:

Don Fernanados 100% Agave

El Delfin

National Beach Club

Down the Beach Road:

Travel'In

Maya Chan

We are featuring Kabah-na Eco Resort for Mahahual this month. Kabah-na offers a super nice beach front atmosphere secluded away at kilometer 8.6 south of Mahahual down the beach road. When you reach the Kabah-na you will look around and see that you will have know choice but to sit back relax and enjoy paradise. This is a great place to get away from it all! Kabah-na offers nice and simple beach front cabanas, a restaurant and bar, and great people. Enjoy! 

Xcalak

There are not many places to stay or too many restaurants in Xcalack.

The Disco Bar is about the only place for food in town. There are a few over priced places up north on the beach road but only one or two. There is a little home cooking place in town that you will find if you are there. The town is tiny. I will keep you posted on places to stay.

Bacalar

Bacalar is amazing for its beautiful lake and its true Mexico feel. There are several local places to eat especially if you like grilled meats. The carnitas and pollo asados in Bacalar are awesome.  There are a few nicer restaurants around town as well. Cenote Azul Restaurant would be a great choice because the cenote itself is spectacular and they have a restaurant that has good ceviche and fish. The prices are a little high but its worth it. There is also a place called Aluxes on the road that follows the lagoon to the south. Aluxes is a hotel and restaurant that sits right on the lagoon providing a beautiful setting to a relaxing afternoon of good food, good drinks, and good service. They also have a great play area in the water for the kiddos. We love it here.

Our featured accommodation for Bacalar is our favorite comfort getaway,

Bacalar Villas. This place is great for the price. Its a little above average for the budget traveler but rents as a 2 bedroom 2 bath with a kitchen and living area over looking the lagoon for around a $100US. They have nice comfortable amenities,a nice pool, and a very friendly staff. If you want to treat yourself to comfort this is a good place to do it.