My husband and I and another couple just returned home from our second stay at ABR. The worst part of the trip was we had to leave.

I'll be the first to admit the ABR is not for everyone but for us it was perfect. The beach is one of the nicest I've been to and the snorkelling was great. Yes, the beds are hard but we got used to them within a couple of days and we all managed to sleep well. The food at the buffet is basic but we never went hungry.

The best part of the resort is the staff. They were all very friendly and helpful. Alma and her team of animators are the best. I have stayed in some 3 and 4 star resorts in places like Cuba and I found the animation team at ABR to be better. Some of the activities are silly but there were always tourists willing to be silly along with them. The shows at night were good, especially the dancing programs. Ochee does a good job of choreographing. We found we got good service even when we didn't tip - for some of the staff we didn't tip until the end of our stay. We don't mind tipping as these people work very hard for very little pay.

We tend to be outgoing people and we made friends with folks from Canada, USA, France and even Italy. We ran into people staying at some of the big 4 and 5 star resorts and they were complaining that they found it difficult to meet other guests in their hotels and had to walk long distances to get anywhere within the resort. The small size of ABR is a definite plus, in our opinion.

If you want intimate, casual, relaxing, and friendly, you may want to consider ABR.

Returned from Akumal Beach on April 7/ 2008. We were there for 2 weeks. We stayed in the older section and our room was fine. It was a basic room but always clean. Our house keeping lady, Candy was the best. We do not need alot in our room as long as it is clean. Who spends that much time in the room. The food was ok. Of course 2 weeks of a buffet was a little hard to take. We did take advantage of the Mexican and Italian restaurants and had no complaints. If you do get tired of the food go to Akumal. Some really great places to eat. Everyone raves about Lucy's Taco and that you have to try the shrimp taco. I do agree with this. It is a must but you should also have the Baja Taco if you like salmon. Also the mango ice cream. I could go on about the food in Akumal but I will not. Just that you need to go experiece some of it yourself.
Overall we had a good vacation. The only problem was with the Italian guest and also the Italian staff. For the Engish people who are planning this trip I would recommend finding a time when the Italians are not there. You will be treated very differently. Other people have made comments on the rudeness of the Italians which you can read for yourself. I have nothing to add to this except the Italian staff are very rude as well.
The beach and snorklying is everything that we thought it would be. One last word of advice when thinking about any excursions, really do your research. Check out prices. You do not have to book with you vacation representive. This was a hard lession we learned. Take the local transportation and pay for the excusions yourself. You will save money.

My husband and I brought our 17 year old daughter and her 17-year old girlfriend to ABR April 15-20th and we just loved the place.

We're very laid back and ABR was perfect for us. What everyone said about a 3 star resort on a 5 star beach is absolutely true.
The resort is beautiful. Loved all the wood and tropical feel to it.

The beach is just gorgeous and right there. No hiking 1/2 mile to it like the mega resorts. No cursing if you left something in the room because you just burned 500 calories walking back to get it. Everything is right there.

The staff was great. Very friendly. The only complaint I have is that months prior and on a few occasions I requested bldg 6 and got bldg 5. Requested rooms side by side with our girls and yeah, we got room 534 & 535, however, 534 was the last one on the far left and 535 was the last one on the far right of the building. The girls were doing the happy dance over this! Dad and I were not real happy, but the resort was full and we just let it go. They did accomodate us with the fridge was asked for.

The food was adequate but we didn't go in with high expectations so we weren't disappointed. If you just need food in your tummy you'll be satisfied. Looking to be wowed by 5 star cuisine, look elsewhere. Had dinner 1 night at the italian restaurant and 1 night at the mexican. It was o.k. Again, it was food. Didn't like having to get to the beach bar between 10am and 12noon to get a reservation, but there could be worse things in life.

Snorkeling was great and we saw lots of cool things amongst them 2 squid making squid babies. So in a short time there will be more squid at Akumal. Saw huge barracuda. The girls saw about 5 rays and 2 sea turtles. I really wanted to see a turtle and didn't the first day, went back out the next day determined and after taking off my mask and snorkel to wipe my eye that got a good combo of sunscreen and saltwater in it, I got hit by a choppy wave and swallowed what felt like 1/2 the bay. About to give us and decided to suck it up and stick my face back in the water and just then a huge turtle swam by. I swear he winked at me like he knew I had been waiting. I was so excited and just smiling. Then I saw Barry the barracuda. He was just so chill sitting there. Snorkeled a lot and enjoyed all of it!

One of the highlights of the trip was going to The Jungle Place (Kuchi Kaax) about 10 minutes south of Akumal. It's a spider monkey sanctuary ran by an amazing couple, Heidi & Joel. They're amazing people and were so kind and generous to open their hearts, home and share their gorgeous babies with us. They let us spend as much time as we wanted and we were there about 2 hours just hanging out with the monkeys. They were so much fun I can't even convey how much. Hopefully the pix will give you an idea. They have about 18, and only put you in with the females as the males can get a little aggressive. When Heidi and Joel had less monkeys they used to live with the monkeys in their home, but they're mischievious to say the least and would unscrew light bulbs and stick their fingers in there. Lock each other in the fridge one even turned on the oven with its tail in the door and they would swing from the ceiling fans. If you get a chance, email them and set up a time for your visit as they only do this on an appt. basis.

Spent an afternoon at Xel-ha. Had a lot of fun and there was a lot to do. Don't bash me or write me bad things back, but I have to admit I did the Dolphin experience. What a let down. Maybe my expectations were too high, but after the monkey's this was boring and all they want to do is sell you pictures. No thanks!

The rest of Xel-Ha was fun, especially the cliff of courage and the roap walk. Loved the all-inclusive and just sitting down when you wanted to grab a bite and walk along after a long swim and grab an ice cold cerveza. If it weren't for having the girls with us, I wouldn't do it again, but as a family thing, its a lot of fun.

Hidden worlds zip line was a rip! We chose them because Selvatica (11 zip lines) was too far away and we only had 5 full days. My understanding was for $10 you could ride their 1 zip line as many times as you want. Well not the case once we got there. It was $10 a pop. I was not a happy camper. Now if I fork over $90 pp I can ride the stupid thing as much as I want. No thanks. So my husband and I opted out and just let the girls do it and take their picture.

Enjoyed the little town and shopping. Loved the home made ice cream at Lucy's. Loved the shrimp tacos at Lol-ha...great little beach bar 5 minutes down the beach from ABR and straight out from there is the best snorkeling.

We rented a car and that is the only way to go. The price through Easyway was great. Got a VW Jetta for the week with all ins. and 0 deductible for $269 complete. They were a breeze to deal with. No scams at the gas pumps, but we also paid attention the amount and conversion rate. No problem driving in Mexico. You'd have to be a moron to get lost there as everything is so clearly marked. Pay attention to the speed limit which changes and for heaven's sake...watch out for the mucho grande topes (speed bumps from he!!). If you wish to bring the car back in one piece, pay attention. A few times I heard people screaching their brakes at the last minute. This will definitely ruin your vacation.

Overall it was a fantastic vacation. ABR is beautiful and the beach is gorgeous and amazing. Met lots of great people who just made it even better.

Please feel free to contact me if you'd like more info or pix.

Audrey

My family traveled back to Akumal Beach Resort for spring break this year after falling in love with it last year. I still love the place but couldn't help noticing a few things that should be addressed so that this lovely resort doesn't fall into greater dsisrepair.

Nearly 1/2 of the lounge chairs on the beach and by the pool were broken. The part that support the back in upright positions was missing on all of them. With chairs in short supply already, this was very annoying!

Our room was in Bldg 5, by the pool. The location was very convenient BUT the pool house (filter, etc) was right outside the rooms and was extremely noisy. We could not have our patio door open at all, but had to have the air conditioning on to dim the noise. I don't know if it is always that noisy or if something was wrong with it.

The tennis courts are in pretty lousy condiiton, so what. BUT how about having some new tennis balls available for players. After trying every ball from the shack by the pool, we tried to buy some; there were none at the gift store. Again, a simple thing to do to add some service!

I hope the management does some re-investment in this gorgeous resort before it's too late! How much can new chairs cost?