Tierras del sol, Nueva vida, Tita??? Help please.

[ashlern]

My fiance and I are headed to Tulum for our honeymoon at the end of July. After reading what seems like hundreds of post and reviews, we've narrowed it down to these 3. We would appreciate any last bit of advice before we make our final decision.

Tierras: beach cabana $150
Nueva: Alma del Mar (or even pasion marina) $175
Tita: #1 tapir $110

If it helps, we are looking for a quite place with a nice beach, relatively clean cabanas, lizards/bugs are okay, friendly staff, close places to eat.

Thank you sooo much!! :palmtree:

[PhyllisB]

Welcome Ashlern! Congrats on your honeymoon!!!!

I'd scratch Tita's place. I love it, but it doesn't have an intimate feel to it, really, and even though Cabana 1 is right on the beach, I bet the cabanas at the other 2 would be better and have more of a private feel to them.

I'm assuming both TDS (Tierras) and NV have ceiling fans? July could be hot hot hot.

I'm not familiar with Nueva Vida's layout & cabanas, so not knowing that, I think I'd pick TDS first. The pics of the place look great and it's always been on my "I'd love to stay there sometime..." list. Fewer people down at that end, which I like too.

Just my dos pesos!

p.

[Gale in KY]

I will have to put in a vote for Tita. I love the look of the place, and especially the location. Not too far south, not too close to the north, it's really ideal with many places to walk to along the beach for meals...and speaking of the beach..it's awesome at Tita! Although Tita isn't your normal "cabana" type rooms, more like cabins, I would still give it a try.

TDS is a wonderful place too. Would love to stay there sometime.

[austxdan]

Hi ashlern,

I'll put in the second vote for Titas. We're going back again in May, and I found it to be quite relaxed during our last visit. I'd skip Tapir tho, we request #5 (Carey). It's directly on the front edge of the beach with a nice wrap-around front porch. Not to mention those 10 - 15 steps to take to be at the first beach palapa.

One thing that doesn't get nearly high enough marks from folks reviewing a place is the friendliness of the staff. The entire staff at Tita's felt like family. We chatted with the maids, handymen, and of course all the restaurant crew. And Ninfa is the best, she is sort of the onsite manager/jacqueline of all trades. She rocks!

I see your dos pesos pb, and raise you dos mas! :)


Dan

[PhyllisB]

Alright, here's another peso then! Haha!

It isn't that I don't like Tita's, I really do. It's on a great stretch of beach and they do have a friendly staff (Tita and the other women, in particular).

But there are often families there, and there isn't a lot of space between people, and to me.... for my honeymoon.... I'd just want something a little different.

I know a lot of people don't much care what the room looks like or feels like, since you're really there for the beach, but there's something to be said for ambience too I think. I didn't stay in Dan's cabana, or the other better cabanas, so that might be part of it, but I sorta see their rooms as being pretty basic. Not bad at all, mind you, just nothing particularly special.

The thing that might dissuade me from Nueva Vida is that their restaurant is road-side, not beach-side. It's cute, but you'll be eaten alive by buggers! But I don't know that particular cabana - it might be wonderful - and it's certainly on a great part of the beach.

[Lynnette]

That's a tough one. I haven't stayed at any of your choices, but have toured all of them. We loved Nueva Vida for the accommodations and beautiful beach. At the time we looked at them, there wasn't much beach shade...no palapas. TDS is charming and probably is more secluded.!! Tita's was wonderful because of the restaurant. Do all of them have vacancy for your time? If not, that might be your deciding factor. I wish that I was faced with your accommodation dilemma right now! :)

[irishgirl]

I have not stayed at any of the three but I am making my first trip to Tulum in mid July and have booked the beach front cabana at Tierra. I can tell you that dealing with Carlos was a breeze...he responds quickly to e-mails and questions. Also, I paid the deposit with paypal w/ no problems. We chose Tierra due to the remote spot and seclusion but will be renting a car due to the fact that we are away from much of the "action". Tough choice....I fell in love w/ Tierra the minute I read the reviews on TA. Good luck and let us know what your final decision is!

Tracy

[TnTWalter]

I really really really considered Nueva Vida but Horizonte Perdido and Posada Lamar Zafiri. Have you looked into Posada Lamar? I think both these places seem private and romantic.

If you're looking for other ideas...I'm sure beachreader will have many options if you want to list more of your 'desires'.

Oh and we chose Cabanas La Luna.

I'll be there in May.

I'm sure they're all lovely.

Congratulations.

[Jana]

Hi Ashlern,

We stayed at a TDS beachfront cabana in early December and there wasn't a fan - I'm pretty sure the ocean view rooms have them though. You might want to just double check that since you're going in July.

If you haven't seen it already, there's a link to my trip report below with pics of the beachfront cabana. I think TDS would be an amazing spot for a honeymoon - it's at the "quiet" end of the beach but you can walk to a few resturants and the beach is fantastic.

I'd be happy to answer any TDS specific questions you might have. :)

Welcome to the board!

Jana

[mariposa]

We stayed at Nueva Vida in Feb 2007 and loved it. Loved eveyrthing except the fact that they had no beach chairs or shade..BUT when we were down just now we saw that they had new Palapas and mattresses and chairs! So, I'd pick one of the beach front cabanas. We stayed in La Ola (we had our son along and it has a sleeping loft..) In your case I'd choose Pasion Marina, since it's a standalone cabana.

[Vital Turbulence]

We stayed at Nueva Vida in Feb 2007 and loved it. Loved eveyrthing except the fact that they had no beach chairs or shade..BUT when we were down just now we saw that they had new Palapas and mattresses and chairs! So, I'd pick one of the beach front cabanas. We stayed in La Ola (we had our son along and it has a sleeping loft..) In your case I'd choose Pasion Marina, since it's a standalone cabana.

We just came from Nueva Vida and stayed in Pasion Marina March 8-13 and LOVE IT and service is Outstanding! Our car ("thanks" to CONTINENTAL rental NEVER AGAIN!!) had a very bad gas leak and we were parked next door to the kitchen with full tank of gas leaking. Riccardo was there at midnight calling and fixing everything and security guard all night long was washing it away with soaped water and sand while we were sleeping.
We walked along the beach line in both ways and there was nothing better than Nueva Vida de Ramiro and Riccardo did everything you ask day or night. Nueva has that kind of inviting vibe.
You will be surprised how some hotels look different from pictures you see on locogringo.com Hemingway for example doesn't look the same anymore. Their front cabanas were washed away with last year hurricane so as some other hotels. It looks like everyone is moving a bit back from the beach line to save their businesses next time hurricane comes.

As for the chairs, they are under next cabana (to the left of Pasion Marina) and you can get them anytime you want. The guy who brings them out in the morning along with mattresses knows there are limited amount of people sit there. There is no need for him to take them all out. All you need to do is ask or take one yourself. There are PLENTY of chairs and mattresses.

Nueva Vida de Ramiro is the only place we are going to stay next time we are in Tulum!

[PhyllisB]

Uh oh. That makes two recent bad experiences w/ Continental. Not good news for them!

[Vital Turbulence]

Uh oh. That makes two recent bad experiences w/ Continental. Not good news for them!

Switched the car to crappier one and almost killed us. When we drooped it off yesterday, they had a guy that spoke no english (nice move Continental), so there was noone to fight charges, but we payed with Amex and we will dispute the charges to the fullest.

P.S. Don't mean to hijack this thread.

[PhyllisB]

I hope you write a full trip report for us!!!! The good and the bad! (Hopefully there was some good, too!)

Sounds like Nueva Vida took great care of you, though!

[Vital Turbulence]

I hope you write a full trip report for us!!!! The good and the bad! (Hopefully there was some good, too!)

Sounds like Nueva Vida took great care of you, though!

I will try to do my best ! :) That was only Good in Tulum, this is minor thing that didn't really have any impact. :eat-drink:

[ashlern]

Hey guys.
Thank you all so very, very much for your advice and stories. After much debating and considering, we decided to go with Nueva Vida. (especially the last posts by mariposa and vital turbulence -- you answered my concerns over beach shade/experience) I am so very excited about staying in Tulum and am sure it will be an exciting (and relaxing) adventure. :D

ashley

(PS -- Sorry it took so long for me to make it back to the forum. life's been crazy!)