Xcacel Dreams

I DO NOT RECOMMEND STAYING AT THIS VILLA! Gemma Ximenez is the owner of this villa and primary point of contact. My initial experience with Gemma I noticed that she was selective on when she decided to respond to my messages. However, when it came to asking for money she was very responsive and made a point to contact multiple people within our group of 12 demanding for her money (despite her knowing I was the organizer of our event). Facility: the venue is beautiful, however because you are literally in the jungle the internet connection is inconsistent and there were several bugs, roaches, and tons of mosquitoes despite the several cans of OFF repellent spray we used or burning insense used. I returned home with at least 25 mosquito bites. Also they do not allow you to bring your own alcohol to the villa, otherwise you will be charged a fee for not buying alcohol from them even though they are not an all-inclusive villa. Transportation: Gemma offered to provide a one-time transportation service for $320 USD to take our group to dinner and back to the villa. As any smart comsumer would do I shopped around with different vendors to get a better deal and even asked local drivers if they could offer us a better rate outside of Gemma's offer. A translator within our group was able to make a deal with one of our drivers to take us to dinner and back for half of what Gemma wanted to charge us. When we arrived back from dinner, the villa manager told us that making a deal outside of Gemma's offer is not allowed and we are forced to take Gemma's offer despite the fact that the driver called his agency and agreed on charging us a much lower rate. The villa manager Hector began to get visibly angry because we resisted their attempts to coerce us into over-paying for transportation. His visible anger began to make several people in our group feel uncomfortable and threatened. I offered to speak with Gemma myself to help her understand that we made arrangements outside of her offer. When I called Gemma, she was yelling at me saying "you don't get to make any deals", she repeatedly talked over me, ending her sentence with "you have to pay" and before I could finish saying anything to her she hung up in my face! I have organized several events and NEVER seen such unprofessional behavior in my life! After Gemma hung up in my face she immediately called the villa manager standing in front of us. She reiterated to him that we must pay otherwise him and the staff at the villa would suffer consequences. The villa manager now grew more impatient and hostile with us. I honestly felt like if we did not pay what they were demanding our safety would be in jeopardy if it wasn't already at this point. From the start of planning this trip I felt that Gemma over-charged us for most things. She arranged for us to go on an all-inclusive catamaran and when I arrived at the dock other people outside of our group told me they only paid $85-$150 and Gemma wanted to cha

Do not stay at this hotel. You will be jeopardizing your vacation, your financial safety, and (in our case) your feeling of personal safety. To preface, this review is not to complain about ticky-tack issues. Yes, when we arrived there was no A/C in one of the rooms, but it was resolved by that evening. The wifi connection was spotty, at best, but that’s to be expected at a property of this type. Out of 4 staffers, only 1 was self-proclaimed qualified to cook and pour drinks, resulting in long waits and forgotten orders. Ex: conservatively 10-15 minutes for water or mixed drinks, 25 minutes for a side like fries, and entrees had a 30-35 minute gap between first person getting their food and the last meaning group meals were sometimes awkward. On our final night we were offered a Taxi service by the property owner to Tulum, a 24 minute one way taxi ride, for $320; $160 there and $160 back. Yes, those numbers are typed correctly. We clearly and unquestionably rejected their offer because it was unreasonable. The staff later informed our group translator, who speaks Spanish as her first language, that the rate can be $160 total round trip, not $320. There was NO room for miscommunication. We specifically clarified and said $160 round trip. We word for word broke it down for them: “you’re saying $160 total, not $320, correct?” The staff verbally agreed. After we returned, at 12:30 AM, the property manager Héctor told our translator that the price was now $320, not the $160 our group had agreed to. We disputed politely, assuming there was an innocent mistake and that he would fix the issue. He abruptly and rather dramatically stormed off. Around 1:00 AM we all decided to close our tabs. Héctor again informed us that the charge is not the previously agreed upon price, but that it is still $320. We again reminded him of the deal we had made and his response was “the price is the price”. We tried reasoning with him, but he would stare at us with a deadpan face, clearing ignoring us, and when we’d ask him if he was listening he’d make us repeat ourselves only to say “the price is the price”. We asked to call Gemma, the property owner, and he coldly refused, opting to step away privately and explain the situation on his own terms. We then called Gemma ourselves to let her know the situation and she informed us that ‘her staff are not owners and cannot negotiate the rates, no matter what deal they offered’ before hanging up on our trip organizer, mid sentence, while she was explaining the situation. We were standing across the bar from Héctor when he received Gemma’s call, immediately after she had hung up on our host. I assumed Gemma was telling Héctor to charge the agreed upon $160, but she was actually telling Héctor that if he didn’t collect the $320 then the STAFF was going to pay for it and they would be facing suspension! That is when things shifted, quite dramatically; you could tell the staff was afraid of the bill and couldn’t afford to be

First off: thank you to Hector, Jesus, Belly, Roberto & staff!!! these guys were incredible. best hospitality my group has ever experienced. they were attentive, kind, friendly, and communicative. They became our friends by the end of the trip and always had our best interest! I stayed here for 6 days with 16 people and we couldn't speak higher of this place. If you are traveling in Tulum and dont want to pay the crazy beach prices STAY HERE!!!!!

E' un piccolo hotel, molto curato nei dettagli con piscina molto bella e super ben tenuta. E' un oasi di pace e confort immerso nella giungla ma a 10 minuti di macchina da Akumal. Finestre dotate di zanzariere. Il ristorante interno è di buona qualità. Purtroppo il personale presente in loco non parla inglese. Pur avendo scambiato dei messaggi prima del nostro arrivo in cui chiedevo un letto extra per nostra figlia, quando siamo arrivati niente era stato predisposto.