We have stayed in these cabanas (Cabana Chetumal) for 2 nights and really loved it! The beach is beautiful and very closeby. The cabana provides the basics: a bed, a musquito net and a fan which you can use in the evening and part of the night when electricity is provided. We didn't need the fan at all. Just open the window (which has a anti-
bugshield and anti-burglar steal) and feel the breeze and listen to the ocean. Our cabana was on the upperside of the toilets, which may be unconvenience when you really have to go in the middle of the night, but it also means you are sleeping on the other side of the generator which can be noisy in the night. The showers and toilets were clean during our stay. The various music (from red hot chili peppers to lounge music) was not bothering nor disturbing us. The restaurant served good food and beverages, although it does not open for breakfast untill 8.30 a.m. At the beach is a little beach bar for water, beer and cocktails. Next to the restaurant is the bar (outside) with pooltables (inside). There is also a meditation pyramide near the toilets and a diving center (also for snorkeling tours).

If the sky is clear at night you can see stars as far as your eyes can see. We saw several iguanas and little crabs. When you are in the ocean you can watch the castle of the maya fort. A few hundred meters was a camping on the beach. The little centre of Tulum and the ADO busstation is a 10 minutes taxi drive (45 pesos) away. The temples are a 5-10 minutes walk away.

We definitly loved our stay here.

I stayed here just before peak time in mid-December. I was a little worried based on what Lonely Planet (LP) was saying that: (1) this place is always packed and (2) that this is THE place to stay in Tulum. LP was right on the first one but not necessarily on the second point. All of the beachfront of Tulum is lined with cabana places that are generally filled to occupancy during peak season. I walked most of the beach and there are other cheaper places to stay if you don't get Zazil. While at the front desk paying my bill, I saw countless backpackers turned away because Zazil was full and they all seemed like they were going to have a nervous breakdown. Don't worry, there are other places to stay at.

Don't bother trying to contact them or make a reservation over the internet. They won't have any of it. It seems just because LP dropped their name into the book, they'll have years of full occupancy. Everyone, and I mean everyone, at Zazil was carrying around an LP book.

Zazil is everything it is built up to be and more. The beach is amazing and the location is envied. The bar does get a little loud at night so if you get stuck in a cabana near the bar, just try to ask for a different place each night.

So best advice: stop here first. They'll probably tell you they are full. Don't panic simply walk 100 yards down to the next cheap place and see if they have some cabanas. If all else fails, there is a hostel (Mayan Hostel Tulum) on the road between Tulum city and Tulum beach that takes reservations over Hostelworld. Also, there are plenty of places to stay in Tulum town.

Unbeatable location right amidst white sand dunes, only 10 minutes from the Tulum Ruins. The cabanas are rustic- but secure with locks, cement floors and cement fill. Definitely not a glamourous stay- beds are spartan (they have mosquito net) and there are no facilities in the cabanas. Shared bathrooms are clean as are shared showers (cold water only but considering temp is over 40c, didn't mind.) Electricity only at night. Lots of security on site. Kitchen is expensive but convienient- better dining options in town. Great place to meet other backpackers. They have a dive shop on site. There is a cute beach bar with swings. There is live music at the disco and a good melange of international travelers there. There is a basketball court and a chapel on site too. Great way to experience one of the world's loveliest stretch of beach on the cheap.

We arrived to tulum without having a place to stay. A taxi driver approached us and reccomended this place. He seem nice so we accepted that he took us there. To begin with, the reception guy was rude and unfriendly. He told us about the shared bathrooms and gave us the keys, in a very rude manner. We see the hut, very simple but the area looked amazing. We thought it would be a very peaceful staying without electricity. At night it was a complete different story!. They kicked out a local family where they were laying because they were going to set up a generator. The generator was on about 5:00pm. Now you couldn't hear the waves. Around 6:00pm they blasted the music in a bar right infront of our cabañas. That turned into a bar/club with horrible techno music blasting like we've never heard before. It only got louder until 4am. We simply could not sleep all night. It truly made our honeymoon a nightmare!.

The shared bathrooms were filthy, there was not even toilet paper. The restaurant staff was really rude, it felt like being at prison. The food was not good at all and they didn't have half of the stuff in the menu!!!!!!. We had to drive to take a taxi to town back and forth. The taximen were rude and always trying to pull a scam on you!. Some came off friendly at first but then tried to pull a scam. I reccomend that you don't stay at this dumpster if you really want to have a peaceful time at night. The beach was awesome though. We stayed in town the next night and took a taxi to the same beach. That worked out just perfect!!!!!.