This is a review of Amansala and its bikini bootcamp. Overall, the lack of cleanliness and organization left me feeling like my vacation required more work on my part than I had wanted and as I expected after reviewing this establishment.
Positives:
-Food - awesome, healthy, flavorful, good variety.
-Bikini bootcamp workout classes are great. Instructors are fun, motivating, in great shape, etc.They offer a variety of both cardio & yoga/meditative/pilates-type classes.
-Location - can't be beat. Right on the beach, lots of hammocks, places to lounge, etc.
-Staff - many of the staff, Ben, in particular, are great. Ben took our group on two day trips - to the cenotes and Mayan ruins and we had a fun time. Ben knew the lay of the land, took fun photographs and was great about going with the flow.
Negatives:
-This place is not as advertised. The staff needs a major lesson in hospitality. That starts with the American owner Melissa and should work itself down the line of employees. They are disorganized and will use the excuse that people run on "Tulum time." But as an American-run hotel, that tells me they have zero sense of urgency and don't respect their guests' time.
-Example: there was a gecko and large trail of ants in my shower. I told a staff member, who was sweeping and his solution was to come into my room with his broom and kill the gecko w/his broom. Then he looked at me like: how should I clean this up? So I gave him a ziplock bag from my toiletries and toilet paper and he took the dead gecko out of my shower but left some of it there. This man was probably just doing what he thought was best, and there was a language issue, but this is the kind of issue that staff should know how to handle or have some type of protocol for. When I told the staff my tiny, dark room was unsatisfactory and wanted to move, they agreed but it took 2hrs for them to move my luggage even after I offered to just do it myself and after they said they'd do it in 30mins; frustrating bc they weren't respectful of my time.
-The staff - much of them are lazy or rude. Example: my friend & I asked to use 2 of the bikes, which hotel guests are entitled to use. The response I got: the bikes are locked up and the manager took the key home with him. When we pressed the issue and said that seemed unlikely, low and behold - they quickly found the key and got us our bikes. That showed me they were lazy and didn't want to bother until we toyed with complaining to other staff.
-Rooms. They are significantly shabbier and dirtier than they are chic. I felt completely taken advantage of for paying what they require and I felt the owner nickels and dimes guests. For bibiki boot camp, you're paying roughly between $500-700/night; one could stay at the St. Regis for that price and this DOES NOT COME CLOSE. These prices were outrageous for what guests get. As stated in other reviews, my sheets were also stained, windows didn't close all the way, window sills were completely dusty and had dead bugs in them. Window curtains were crooked and didn't fully cover windows. These problems sound minor, but made a big difference in my sense of privacy in my room. As someone who was on the ground floor, the lack of appropriate-length curtains left me asking for extra towels to hang along the window so no one could see me in my bathroom, which didn't have door! Also, the mosquito nets are pointless. Mine had holes and was totally open underneath the bed, which defeated the purpose altogether.
-"Eco" - there's nothing "eco" about this place other than that they only change your sheets or give you new towels once during your week-long stay.
-Safety- Amansala offers no real way to lock your room door from the outside unless you ask for a lock, which has a key that they have the key to. Not total security in my opinion. And from the inside of one's room, you have a little latch to "lock", but the truth is that if someone wanted to really push their way in, it'd be no problem at all. As someone who traveled alone - like so many people who go to Amansala do - this didn't make me feel safe.
-Because there are no locks on the doors, I asked what I'd do if I heard trouble or something dangerous in the middle of the night. I was told there was security posted 24-hours a day in both the Amansala and Amansala Chica locations. That was not the case. I stayed there five nights and never saw anyone stationed at these desks after 10pm.
-Transportation - The advertise $135 fee each way to/from the airport for one of their contracted drivers. What I didn't find out until returning to the airport--and after asking about each of my transportation options--was that you could pay $110 for a smaller car, still with a contracted driver. Would have been nice if they were more forthright from the beginning.
-Wifi is crappy even if you pay; don't waste your $ read more