my boyfriend and i did extensive online research before choosing to stay at posada lamar for 7nts. i've been using trip advisor for many years and once again, it provided us enough insight to book our stay at PL in the marfil room.

overall, i gave it a 7, my boyfriend gave it a 4. the PL website wasn't very thorough and some of our questions remained unanswered until our arrival when we met dora. she said she'd be there daily and wasn't. we had questions about distances, eating in town, even the weather, but nobody was around to ask and my boyfriend found that frustrating. not a concierge, just a live body.

we thought there wasn't electricity and we were happy to learn there was and hot water, albeit little pressure. breakfast, we hadn't read anything about, could also be had for a few pesos, convenient but not hearty. we found the girl and her boyfriend who made the breakfast, in the back seat of their car one night, she was filling in for another woman who wasn't there. not something you expect to see and it angered us. a workman and another woman with two boys showed up for a few days and they didn't make eye contact or say hello. they seemed very disinterested. the little boys, cute at first, were left to the play around the bungalows, not a big deal, but they beat a small palm tree to a pulp and i couldn't believe the disregard. again, if you can overlook some of this, if we were somewhere else on many of these occasions it would have been fine, but this is what we observed. on the last day we gave them our leftover beer and the man managed a smile.

we had breakfast and dinner next door at the posada margherita. no, it's not for everyone. the owners are cool and completely uninterested. lunch and dinner consist of the same thing every night, fresh pasta, lobster, whole fish, maybe salad. breakfast equally limiting. the pasta was good, not very flavorful. get an omelet as opposed to scrambled eggs. the omelet was great.

everything the other reviewers stated is all true. it's a matter of what you're willing to tolerate. the nets over the bed did have holes, some big enough for bugs to make there way in. we put toilet paper in them. however, the wind howled most of the time we were there, so although we made a constant effort to keep our bags zipped shut, snacks in the cooler, etc...the wind kept the bugs away. the last night was the worst, the wind died and they all marched in. we bought the coils and lots of repellent as recommended but didn't use any of it until the last nite. one morning i awoke to tiny, red bumps on my forearm and they are still spreading. i suppose bedbugs. the sheets were changed most days. the towels everyday. be sure to bring beach towels!!!

i was grateful for my miner's light and bars of soap i brought. we had to stay on the nice cleaning lady for toilet paper twice. she spoke limited english. one day i cleaned some of our windows because the wind placed a thick film on them and we couldn't see that beautiful water. on the last day, the sand was swept. other hotels did it daily.

i've been to mexico 7x and never rented a car. we did this time and i highly recommend it. we used it nearly everyday. what i didn't find on the site prior to our trip was this must-have. some mentioned it, but i highly advise it. we felt the walk into town was a little far and due to the frequency we went into town, we were glad to have the car as it would have been a waste of time to walk. i do not recommend walking on ave. paila, the road parallel to the water, where the hotels are. this is a fairly narrow and bumpy road at times and it is difficult to see people walking at night. it is not a good idea to walk to other hotels (for dinner) on this road. if you want to walk, go to the ruins or walk the beach. thus, the car was essential. it also gave us the freedom to drive to coba, muyhil, into town for beer/wine, ice etc...at first, i thought i didn't want a car, i'm on vacation, but not so and i did all the driving.

i had read about other hotels being 'hut-like' that rain could be a problem. i'm very sorry to hear that one couple woke up in sand and water. it did rain late two evenings and the wind was wild but we experienced nothing more than sand blowing through the slats.

i hope this is helpful to those of you interested in tulum. thank you all for posting your experiences. it helped make our trip great!

DO NOT STAY HERE.

I'm convinced all the wonderful reviews on this site for Posada Lamar are written by the owners themselves, or something has changed between when they were written and we visited last week (mid-November 2007).

I will say - the location is gorgeous, but you can't really credit the
hotel with creating the beautiful beaches of Tulum. We stayed in "Rubi", which is supposed to be the most romantic beautiful cabana. I guess its romantic if you are into people watching. There is no privacy as the cabana next door is about ten feet higher, so the two rooms in that cabana look right down into Rubi. There are transparent curtains you can draw, that don't do much good and nothing to keep people on the beach from looking into your room. Pretty romantic.

There is something you should know about Tulum in general. It is not unusual for the hotels/cabanas to have limited electricity. They call it "Eco-Chic". Posada Lamar is run on solar energy only - not a bad thing. However there are MANY hotels that have 24
hour lights and supplement their solar energy with wind energy. There are also many - for the same price with beautiful locale - that have electrical sockets.

Electricity at some places means only lights. SO, if you have anything you NEED to plug in, be sure to ask about this in advance.

I could deal with the lack of electricity - would have been nice to be warned, but whatever. But then there was the issue of shower and water pressure. When we spoke to the proprietor of a nearby restaurant, he said, "I heard they were having water problems
over there". That was an understatement. You're on the beach, you get dirty, the ability to rinse sand from your body should hardly be considered a luxury. But ok, fine - now we're roughing it, again whatever.

Then the second night we were there it stormed. Water leaked in from the thatched roof and sand blew in through he cracks between the roof and the walls. (Guess what, the nets on the bed are to keep sand out, not bugs - and they don't work very well).

We woke up covered in sand and water - mud basically. Then we noticed the roof wasn't in the same position it was in when we went to bed. It had visibly shifted in the storm. The nails were sticking out of the walls where the roof was attached, and the roof looked as if the only thing holding it to the rest of the cabana was the copper conduit for the lights. Now we're passed glorified camping, we would have been safer and more comfortable in a tent - and saved $120 a night. Definitely not worth it.

When we explained to the manager the problem we were told "it is safe", and treated as if we were just being paranoid. We left the hotel that day and moved to a hotel for the same price on the beach, with electricity, curtains, water pressure and a secure roof.

The proprietors take payment in cash or Paypal only - so we were out the money for the entire stay with no recourse. There are hotels and cabanas close by that DO take credit cards, so do your research and you will likely find reasonable, eco-friendly accommodations without being ripped off or taken advantage of.

I found this bungalow on trip advisor, and it was exactly like I hoped it would be....the bungalow and all the others ( there are only 6) are really cute, and well taken care of, you cant go wrong with any of them, there are a couple that are right in front on the beach, and a little more, but they are all great. We stayed in the Esmeralda, the bungalow was very clean, and decorated really nice, it had a nice breeze when you opened the slats under the window, so that time of year was really nice, and you didnt need a fan or aircondtioning. The bathroom even had hot water! Towels were provided, for the shower and the beach. The beach was really nice , and they had great lounge chairs to lay in, and there was plenty for all. The restaurant next door ( kin ya) was being remodeled, so we did have to venture a little ways to have our meals, which was fine , since it was very quiet there, and you had the time. They do provide a choice of breakfast in the morning, for a small price, and they will even deliver it to your bungalow! We ate our outside on our patio. The couple and the owner are really nice and helpful, they make you feel like you are staying at their house. Tulum beach area, is really quiet and we only found one little store down the way that we had to take a cab too, but there are stores, restaurants and atms in the town of tulum, only a $5 cab ride away. This place is ROMANTIC! I went with my friend, but a great place to go with your mate! We looked at alot of other bungalow places around there and thought ours was the nicest!

Friendly and welcoming hosts, clean amenities, quiet beach, convenient location, beautiful views, and only one small insect in several days. As a returning traveler to Tulum, I hold Posada Lamar in the highest regard.

My fiance and I stayed in Bungalow Rubi, and wouldn't have traded it for any other on the beach. It was by far the most private beachfront bungalow on the Posada Lamar property.