Casa de Miel

[beachreader]

OK, as promised, here's a more detailed review of Casa de Miel than I put in my trip report. There may be some duplication, if so, I apologize.

As you know, it's owned by the same folks as own Amansala and Casa Magna (and the new restaurant in the beachtown next to Trece Lunas called Garden Grill). It's at the north end of the south beach, right next to Hemingway, between Heminway and the Ana y Jose beach club.

The property is being managed by a couple of young American guys, Tommy, a certified kiteboarding instructor, and Matt, jack of all trades/tour guide and Melissa Perlman's brother (she's the owner). Matt's two puppies are the sweet mostly-lab brothers Che and Fidel:

Don't they look like they're covered in snow?
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b147cfbf900000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS


Due to their location, there is some risk for seaweed, spilling over from the Maya Tulum bay issue. I'm not saying this is a constant problem, because seaweed comes and goes and changes with the tides and currents, but there seems to be more a risk of seaweed up in this neighborhood of the beach than, say, farther down south. Having said that, we also had seaweed all the way down at Cabanas Tulum, so we were just unlucky I guess. It was an extraordinarily windy week, I'm sure that the rough water had much to do with it.

Having said that, Casa de Miel is gorgeous. The rooms are the largest and most handsomely designed rooms I've yet seen in Tulum. They also win big points with me for putting their double queen rooms in prime beachfront location--many hotels reserve the best locations for their king rooms. I guess Melissa recognizes the value of friends traveling together, that it's not all just couples down there! She also recognizes the value of storage space. Miel has the best storage spaces I've seen as well.

They do not yet have a restaurant, though one is planned, but Matt is running a little orange-juice and taco business from the beach deck:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67bf4277ae200000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

He gets the tacos from a lady in the pueblo and they're wrapped up tight in a big paper package. He had egg, chicken and pork, and will sell 4 tacos and a large bottle of fresh-squeezed OJ for $5 US. It's a little side business for him, and he said he was going to start offering coffee in the morning as well (if he can get up early enough).

Right now they have six rooms, three are kings, three are double queens. Two kings are in the building on the left, two queen rooms are in the building in the center, one of each in the newer building just a step back. Don't mind the disaster area in the picture, it was an old structure that fell down the night before we got there and it was all cleared away by the end of my stay:

Kings to the left, queens to the right in this pic:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b1d793a5000000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Queens to the left, new building (one of each) to the right:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b10cb7a7c00000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Another shot of "our" queen building (our room was upstairs):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b1c84fb0500000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS


And the queen room pictures. One thing I loved in the queen over the king room was this deck:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b21e73ad000000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Notice the nice windows. They slid beautifully, but no screens on them. I hope they fix this before summertime bug time. I mean, I know they have nice mosquito netting over the beds, but personally I'd like to be protected in the bathroom and on the couch as well as in bed.

OK, some interiors. Just notice throughout all the little places for storage as well as the big places. Lots of sturdy pegs to hang things (and varnished, too, so no snags), little shelves here and there, bigger shelves too.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b241d7ab000000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b257cbb7900000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Note the fancy bath products, all made with Mayan honey:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b3bfe3ac400000025108Aas2rVo2ZuS
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b3bb83a8200000025108Aas2rVo2ZuS
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A peek toward the sink from the bathroom entrance from the bedroom. It's around the corner and the toilet is around yet another corner, plenty of distance between bathroom and bedroom for my door-loving taste:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b398abb8100000025108Aas2rVo2ZuS
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b3c2cfbbd00000025108Aas2rVo2ZuS

One of three similarly-sized storage areas:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b3932bb3900000025108Aas2rVo2ZuS

And another:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b3363bb6d00000025108Aas2rVo2ZuS

And this banquette, large enough for someone to sleep in a pinch, maybe:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b27423a7600000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

The view from our deck:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b6badbb8f00000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

The deck from above (showing Matt's OJ business):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67bf0b2fb4500000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

The view across the bridge to the neighbors' house, the upper king (Mariposa's room, then Sakid and Kim's):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b55ccbbf100000025108Aas2rVo2ZuS


http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b0bb7bba500000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Interiors of the upper king, but I really need a wide-angle camera, and it was the wrong time of day and the maids hadn't been in to clean yet, so I apologize a bit for these. I think it's a nicer room than these show:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b0af5fb7f00000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b0a1e7aa400000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS
King bathroom and storage areas:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b0afe7a4400000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

[beachreader]

My standard "here are my toes showing the view from my bed" shot, but the sun was pouring in so you couldn't see anything else. It does show the nice windows, though, and there was another one on the other side (as well as openings in the bathroom that gave good light).
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b5689fb2d00000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

I could probably do a whole album just of my toes shots. Swinging in hammocks, lying in beds, off the end of chairs, etc. Bet you all could do that too!

OK, some more random shots of the property, beach, etc.:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b23b23a8400000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

This one shows the proximity of Hemingway--the building on the right is one of Hemingway's new beachfront units (new post-Dean):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b3a89fb1b00000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Matt and one of the boys:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b13983ab600000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67bf16cbb0300000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Some of the crazy rough water on my last morning, crashing around the Hemingway rock:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67bfd733a2a00000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Another rough-water shot from my last day:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67bfd0abb6300000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

The cool light at the top of the stairs that guides you safely back to your room (the stairs are steep). If you're sure that both you and your neighbors are home and want the darkness, the switch is in the post on the left as you're looking down the stairs, painted brown so you can't see it easily.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b8dd34b3127cceb67b1d3f3a1600000026108Aas2rVo2ZuS

Overall, a really beautiful place. If it were on a more pristine/peaceful beach, it would be almost perfect, but there are a few things that will still push me to go to La Luna next time. 1) La Luna has screens on all their windows and in the gaps between the palapa and the wall. 2) La Luna has ceiling fans, mounted inside their mosquito netting. 3) La Luna has a more beautiful beach. 4) La Luna has a certain peaceful and communal vibe that I really appreciated. 5) La Luna's doors stay closed without locking. This is probably an easy fix for Miel, but it was a strange thing. If I left the room while Giddy was still sleeping, there was no way to close the door without either locking her in or waking her and have her lock me out. I ended up using a small stick that would break when she pushed on it, but it was a strange kind of problem to have.

Miel wins, hands down, on room size, storage space, logical layout and really handsome room decor. Is "contemporary rustic" a design term? La Luna's decor leans heavily on the Indian side of the ledger, but I still want to stay there next trip.

[susan]

This looks great what are the rates? Zulum was ok but I though expensive for what yoo get. The one huge problem I had with it was absoluyely no strage. There was not a shelp to put anything on, no where for your toiletries. With 3 people in the room it was very small. Howver it was kept very clean and i felt quite comfortable leaving stuff in our room and haaving the door unlocked and windows open while we were on the beach even though we were on the ground floor.

[TnTWalter]

thanks for the details. the showers are the best feature and that cool light. ok matt's a nice touch too!:)

susan...the website says $175-$200 per night.

[beachreader]

Trish, Matt would be flattered, and you should see Tommy too! LOL.

Sorry, I completely forgot to include their website. It's not a "real" website yet, unless they've updated it in the past few weeks, but it gives the picture. www.casademiel.com (http://www.casademiel.com).

We had great communication with a Melissa, but I'm not sure if it was the Melissa, rather someone in her office (I heard there are two of them). Still, quick replies and helpful responses.

[heenan]

Thanks for the detailed review. We noticed Casa de Miel on our last trip, but did not stop to investigate. It looks a bit crowded into the space next to Hemingway's. But the rooms do look nice. Heenan

[beachreader]

If you mean it looks crowded because of that shot with the Hemingway building right on the other side of the fence, it doesn't really feel crowded that way. Hemingway has a large property, and Miel has about half their lot open to the south of the buildings. I guess that's where they'll put the restaurant and/or spa when they get it going. That will then be right on the fenceline with the next property, which is still an open lot between Miel and AyJ beach club.

If that helps describe the situation any.

[heenan]

Thanks. I know it can be difficult (at least for me) to get a picture that shows everything one can see from standing on the beach at Tulum.