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Another last minute break for us – booked just 17 days before we travelled, as we just couldn’t make up our mind where to go! We were originally only planning on going to Spain and well… we ended up in Mexico at the Bahia Grand Coba resort.

We booked through Tui – You can get cashback when you book through Tui with my link https://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/itsmechrissyj/tui or drop me a message and I can put together a package for you.

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Transfer

We booked a private transfer, mainly because I hate waiting for everyone to make their way to the coach! We were checked in, unpacked and back up in the lobby with drinks by the time the Tui coach pulled in.

Highly recommend checking out Holiday extras for the cost of a private transfer before selecting it with the package providers, we were quoted £300 with tui and only paid £125 !

Location

Around 90 minutes south of Cancun airport you’ll find the Bahia Principe complex containing several different hotels spread out across a vast development within the jungle. It is pretty remote and you couldn’t easily walk anywhere (especially in the heat!)

Check in

As we opted for the private transfer our check in was quick as noone else was waiting. However during our stay we did see the queue so long it was spilling outside and a few people did say their check in took over an hour.

To help speed it up you can pre check in via the app or website. This includes adding all your information and a photo of your passport so they don’t need to enter all this and take copies when you check in.

Rooms

We had 2 identical rooms, unfortunately not next door but the 2nd room was directly above this which suited us as Chloe and Lottie could have that room and we had the other with Holly and Oscar. Check out the walk around video on Tiktok

Each room has a large double bed and a single sofa/bed, a 2nd single bed will be added if a room is book for 4 people. You get a mini fridge which is restocked daily, TV (bring your firestick as its just a standard TV but it has a USB to plug it in), hairdrier in the bathroom, toiltries (they weren’t great I wish I took my own shampoo), 2 double wardrobes (Take your own hangers as there were only maybe 8 in ours).

Towels are provided in the room and you can collect pool towels from down by the pool. Make sure you keep hold of them as there is a $10 charge for each one you don’t return.

Kids Club

I actually think hands down this. may be the best kids club Holly and Oscar have ever been too. I didn’t think they could top the club at The Grand Sirenis but it has.

Not only do they have a jam packed daytime activity diary they even rehearse and perform evening shows in the indoor theatre. Including a talent show, Frozen show and circus show!

They keep parents updated all day with photos of what they are doing and we had to drag them away at the end of each day. They also have this playground available for use during kids club hours.

Dining

Alongside the main buffet are a selection of a la carte options. You do have to prebook these and I have done a seperate post about them to save clogging this one up with so much food info!

Main Buffet Restaurant

The main buffet restaurant is located next to reception and it open;

Breakfast 7.30-10am
Lunch 12.30-3.30pm
Dinner 6-10pm

The strangest thing we found was you couldn’t eat outside anywhere other than the snack bar, but they also didn’t have air con so it was uncomfortably hot the majority of the time although the food was really good.

We generally found going to eat within the first hour was the quietest. They have a theme each day and we thought they were quite good with Asian being my personal favourite. They always had a Mexican selection along with Pizza and breads.

Each day also has a cocktail of the day which you can help yourself too as you enter the restaurant from the main entrance. Mimosa’s and Bloody Mary’s were the main breakfast options.

The Childrens selection changed slightly each day but generally consisted of Jam, Ham, Cheese or peanut butter sandwiches, cakes and / or jelly, fries, burgers, hotdogs and then switching between meatballs, pasta and mini pork burgers.

Snack Bar

The snack bar is open 10.30am – 6pm and 10pm – 7am with a mix of food options – generally burgers, salad and breads were available and then a combination of fries, wedges, cakes or other mains from the main buffet.

Sports bar & Arcade area

The sports bar is air conditioned (the only area we found on site but it’s only on when the bar is open in the evening) and shows sports on a dozen different screens. They had a mix of stuff on from athletics to american football. They did also show the premier league matches as we got to watch Crystal Palace absolutly run rings round the Villa.

The arcade is just at the back of the sports bar with a handful of arcade machines, bowling, basketball and air hockey. You do have to buy a top up card (which it charges you for!) I topped up $200 MXN and it gave me $180MXN on the card the games are $40/50 MXN each to play.

Gym

I didn’t use the gym but Gaz did, it was pretty busy most of the time(it was closed when I took these pictures). On the welcome desk they have water and fresh fruit available along with towels for you to use in the gym.

Pools

Currently there are some building works going on at Coba and they have removed access to the ‘quiet’ pool. However the main pool is huge and we didn’t feel like we were missing out.

Main Pool

The main pool is split into 2 sides with a bridge in the middle, to the one side is the swim up bar and the other is where the activities happen. There is also a shallower section which we found to be the coldest water, by lunchtime the main pool was like a warm bath.

Childrens water park

They have a weird 5ft height restriction on the water park and while I understand they don’t want adults on there it meant Chloe and Lottie also couldn’t go on as they are taller than me.

Jacuzzi Pool

Weirdly noone seems to mention this pool, we only know about it as it was by our room. It has 3 jacuzzis in surrounded by cabanas and loungers. It looks like they have a bar but it wasn’t in use during our stay that I saw.

Entertainment

There are 3 main locations for entertainment – the indoor theatre, the outdoor stage and down at the Hacienda Doña Isabel.

Indoor theatre

Along with the evening kids club activities which include a talent show, performing Frozen and a Circus show there are nightly performances in the indoor theatre.

It isn’t air conditioned and although it is quite open it is HOT in there.

Outdoor stage

Every evening outside you will also find shows, bands, singers, karaoke and even a silent disco (which was really good!) Tui advertise a mini disco but this doesn’t seem to be the case as the kids club team are busy doing the performances indoors.

There is a small bar outside or you can head into the sports bar or lobby and use the bars in there.

Hacienda Doña Isabel

This is located on site and although you could walk to it, there are plenty of free shuttle runs so it is best waiting for them.

Fiesta Mexicana

Adults $500 MXN / Children $250 MXN (Approx £20 / £10)

We didn’t go to this as it is an additional cost and we didn’t really see the benefit of paying to attend.

Hacienda Doña Isabel opens its doors to celebrate the Mexican Fiesta, where upon arrival Frida Kahlo welcomes you and shows you the rich culture and traditions of Mexico. A traditional fiesta where you can enjoy a variety of games, savor the flavors of our cuisine, and marvel at the colors and traditional music.

Casino

(18+ Only)

We managed to sneak out for a couple of hours to the Casino and we had a really good night. They do have a bar which you can get free drinks as long as you are playing the games in the casino, otherwise it is a cash bar. They have local alcohol included or an upsell for ‘branded’ ones.

They have poker, blackjack, roulette and plenty of slot machines. You can exchange cash for chips at the tables or if you want to play the slots you need to load up a card with the cashier at the desk.

Kids Party

Sunday night – Free – 7.30-9pm

I was a bit dubious visiting this as it was free when all the other parties were paid for. I was definitely expecting them to want us to part with cash for everything the kids would want to do but it was all completely free!

Along with party dancing, a circus act and a movie they had activities going on around the edge of the seating area. Characters are also around at the beginning for photos.

Face painting is by the steps as you come in, they number the kids as they get in the queue so just keep an eye on what number they are allocated.

They also do wax moulds of the kids hands, this gets VERY busy and they close the queue quite early on so get there early if you want to make sure you get a slot.

All the shops are open and I recommend grabbing snacks in the OXXO (the bright pink shop with the photo point outside) as they are waaaaaay cheaper than the shop on the resort.

Neon Pool Party

Adults $400 MXN / Children $200 MXN (Approx £16 / £8)

This was so much fun, at the start the guy running it was literally pouring alcohol down peoples throats, I gave that a miss but they seemed to be enjoying it!

The kids absoloutely loved getting in the pool with the foam machine, I was the only one who got face paint but this was free, they also handed out glow stick wristbands.

Closing off the night we had a fire show which was really good and around 20 minutes long. Everyone could stay in the pool to watch and it was still hot like a bath!

Beach

The coba beach was a bit of a let down. It feels like they almost forgot Coba needed a beach and shoved it on the end of the other resorts beach areas.

There is very little sand as its mainly rows of sunbeds squeezed in, if you want to laze on the sand it’s better to head off to the left towards the watersports hut and turtle nesting grounds.

There is a small bar serving most of the drinks you can get elsewhere but the service was slow and there was always a queue so grab a couple of drinks at a time, or make sure you have a large insulated cup.

Coba guests can’t get food down on the beach.

Activities

I had told myself this would be a relax holiday and not a full of activity one like we had in Rhodes. So I tried not to book myself on everything but I did do a few things

Bike Tour

This is advertised as a 45 minute activity but we were out for closer to 90 minutes. We left Coba and headed towards the Hacienda Doña Isabel this is the first stop where you can grab a drink and have a wander.

Next we cycled down to Coba beach where again you could grab a drink and look around. The last stop is at a look out tower which you can climb and look over the resort and jungle areas. We were far too tired to climb it so just stayed at the bottom.

If you are going to do this – suncream up, take a bottle of water and be prepared to be very tired! The bikes don’t have gears or brakes, you have to back pedal to stop which I struggled to get the hang of.

Bingo

They play bingo every couple of days and I came prepared with my dabber only to find they had these little pre made bingo boards which I guess makes more sense. The prizes were bottles of tequila!

Free daily watersports

Each day as a a Coba guest you can claim a free hour of watersports. The options are snorkeling, kayaks and catamarans however they are weather dependent and when we went they were only offering snorkeling and we had our own masks so didn’t need theirs. We weren’t able to do the other activities during our stay due to the sea conditions.

You could also pay for parasailing, jetskis and banana boat rides. They were quite a bit more than Rhodes with the Jet ski being nearly 20 euros more with the tax added on.

Wildlife

Across the resort you will find Coati, Iguanas, Squirrels, Agouti and even Raccoons! The coati are much better behaved then they were at The Grand Sirenis and we need not have worried about them stealing our bag here they rarely came near the loungers, possibly because food wasn’t allowed around the pool.

Oscar also made friends with this raccoon at the Hacienda and it would take a biscuit, run off and eat it and come back for another one.

Resort

Overall the Bahia Grand Coba resort was generally clean and well kept in the main lobby and restaurant but some areas did let it down. For a 5* I would have expected a better quality ‘feel’ but there are many areas where things have been left to get quite tatty.

Every piece of rattan furniture in the theatre looked like this, I pinched my leg quite badly on one of the chairs and several of the glass table tops were missing so you couldn’t really use the tables. Lots of bathrooms door frames were damaged and our bathroom mirror was patchy like this the whole way round.

Away from the central area where the lobby and restaurants are there is definitely a lack of litter picking. Some of this litter was here the whole 10 days of our stay (and yes I could have picked it up but also I wanted to see whether it was dealt with) These pictures are just outside our block but it was the same around others.

Its also small things like the state of the rim of the coffee cups that let the site down as overall it’s been a very enjoyable stay.

My last moan was the staff driving round on site, they drive up and down the paths where you walk and they don’t slow down or wait for you to pass. They also park up to do deliveries, leaving the vehicles idling (so much for being a Green & Fair Hotel!) making it difficult to get round them especially if you had a buggy or wheelchair to manoeuvre.

Summary

Bahia Grand Coba is definitely the ‘budget’ hotel on this resort, a short stroll through Tulum and you can see where the money is spent. The buildings are much nicer and the grounds well kept.

One thing I would say is ignore the weather apps, it said it would rain and it only rained a tiny bit late one evening it was glorious the rest of the time. Dare I say it was too hot at times.

We don’t return to hotels but if we did we probably wouldn’t there are better hotels in Mexico but it’s fine if you are looking for a budget deal. We could have upgraded our bands to access Tulum and Akumal but we didn’t see the need.

And the bit I know you are all interested in really…

Price Breakdown

Amount

Adult Package Price : £7,672.00
Child Package Price : £2,602.00
Discount -£3,266.00
Promotional Offer -£100.00
Total Price £6,908.00 (£1,151.33/person)

As always any questions just ask – and check out the videos on my tiktok!

ChrissyJ xxx