This is an excellent spot which represents a good value and caters to families. We stayed in the bungalows since we wanted the extra space. The rooms were clean and spacious but not luxurious, which was fine with us. Having a fridge and ability to do some cooking made it nice. We did notice that some of the bungalows (but not ours) had a light on the ceiling fan. Ours did not so we had to make due with the lamps. It could have been a little brighter, but not a big issue. The rooms in the hotel have nicer views (ours had none) but they looked pretty small.

We found the beach restaurant to be very convenient with good food and reasonable prices for the area (but not cheap of course). The service was good there as well. They have wifi coverage there, which is free to patrons (you have to ask for a code). Made it convenient to access business emails etc. in the morning.

The beach is very nice, not too crowded when we were there, with a mixture of locals gringos and Europeans (the latter prompted some discussions with my teen of divergent sunbathing habits). You can snorkel from the beach but we found it to be only so-so, though we did see a sea turtle which was a highlight.

The staff at the hotel were very helpful and attentive. They have a nice palm grove with palupas and loads of recliners provided free to guests. One thing to watch there: Outsiders can rent the chairs as well, they are free to guests but there is no guarantee that you will have one. So on those busy days get out there early.

This is a really nice location to begin exploring places such as Tulum, which is very close by, and Chichen Itza. Both are well worth the time and effort. If you only have time for one, we would recommend Tulum for its overall beauty and beach location.

Overall a great experience.

We stayed here as part of a wedding party - an overall pleasant experience and a good value for the price. There are generally speaking two types of rooms - bungalows which are not quite ocean-front (but still like ~10 yards from the beach) but quite private and more standard hotel-type rooms which have partial ocean-views. We stayed at a bungalow (~$100/night) and were generally pleased with the decision.

Positives:
1) the rooms were clean and well-cared for (daily maid service went above and beyond by cleaning our sand-filled shoes) with powerful A/C, a 5-gallon purified water dispenser and mid-size fridge in the room (all essential)
2) the beach is fantastic with some of the best snorkelling in mexico (this is a high turtle-density area and everyone in our party saw several turtles, either at the beach at night as it was turtle nesting season or while snorkelling around the coral reefs just 10 yards off-shore)
3) on-site snack bar with excellent guacamole, good values on margaritas (especially during happy hour - the mango margarita can not be beat for $3!) and free internet for 2hrs *only* with any purchase
4) on-site dive shop which can rent you snorkel/scuba gear or arrange expeditions for scuba/fishing/etc.
5) just down the beach from the Akumal Ecological Association which guides nightly turtle-watching hikes - truly interesting to see these giant sea turtles come out from the water to nest, even more interesting to see the guides essentially tackle the nesting turtle to confirm its tags

Negatives (all explicitly stated on the hotel website, so not a big surprise on arrival):
1) in-room internet access is an additional $10/day
2) no TV in the room
3) the bungalows are somewhat spartan - bare floors, minimal furniture, etc and upon arrival, none of the lights in our bungalow or the A/C in our friends' bungalow were working (but both promptly attended to and remedied)

Overall - the location justifies the price of the hotel, as you're literally steps away from one of the nicer beaches in the area. Even better beaches can be found in Tulum (ex, Ana y Maria Beach Club) but for significantly more coin (~300/night), so this is a great compromise with the draw of more marine life.

We looked at the bungalow option compared to the beach front room, and definitely decided it was worth the extra couple of bucks to have the beach front room. We loved our patio overlooking the pool and the beach with all of the palm trees. We loved the beach, the water was calm enough for swimming and the restaurants that were nearby were excellent. We also completely reccommend going to Xel-ha and to the ancient ruins of Tulum which aren't too far away.

The hotel wasn't anything flashy, but it was fine for our purposes. The room was an ocean-view with a king bed with a kitchennette, which gave us the opportunity to eat in. They provided pots, pans, plates, silverware, and cups and mugs, oh, and a coffee maker. The beach in front of the hotel was great for snorkeling and by the restaurant there is a more of a beach for playing around in the water. The hotel has guests only palapas so you can hang out at the beach all day in the shade, and they provide lounge chairs for free. You can also hang up your own hammock under the palapas.
The room was clean, if a little outdated, but since we spent most of our time outside it didn't matter. However, because there is no TV or radio, I suggest bring passive speakers to connect to your MP3 player to have some music. The major draw back was that the water was salt water based - so you washed off the ocean salt with a little bit less salt in the shower.

The staff at the hotel were usually helpful - the maintenance staff came to fix a mechanical problem in our room within 5 minutes and they had it remedied within 10 mins.

The restaurants on the property were a little expensive, but the area was a bit expensive for food in general. The loncheria next to the super chomak grocery store had great tacos for $5, and the Turtle Bay Bakery had awesome brownies and carrot cake.

There are 2 grocery stores outside the entrance of the hotel - La Pueblita is the better choice for most things as they actually have prices on the items, where as Super Chomak doesn't and one gets the impression they change the prices when it suits them.

The "travel agency" in the lobby of the hotel - akumalguides were a bit vague on the details of a tour we went on - if you book a tour with them (which we did - Chichen Itza - the tour company was decent altho they did a little too hard of a sell on tourist items, and Chichen Itza was awesome. ) just make sure that you write down all the details and ask plenty of questions about start/end times, and what to bring and what the itinerary is.

If we go back we might try some place else, but for the price and the location, Hotel Akumal Caribe was a pretty decent deal.