Lukewarm

Our room in Zahra was nice, however there were speakers hanging from a couple palm trees playing music 24 hours a day. The volume was not blaring, but the proximity of our room to the speaker prevented me from getting any sleep.

Around midnight I did ask the girl at the front desk if she could turn the palm tree speakers off; she rudely agreed and then never did turn off the music. I found her attitude out of the ordinary as everyone else at Zahra was friendly.

Zahra is better for someone looking for a party atmosphere.

Great place, beautiful beaches, pleasant staff

Stayed at a beachfront cabana for three nights last week. The beaches were amazing - great sunrises and sunsets. At night the sky was amazing with tons of stars. The cabanas were nice, clean, comfortable and very rustic. Didn't miss not having a phone, television, computer, cell service or for that matter power in the evenings. It was a wonderful separation of civilization and wonderfully romantic. Only negative is that you don't have a lot of privacy as all the walls are windows and they only have burlap as curtains. However, the nice thing about this place is that you can also use the facilities at Azulik and Copal. This is definitely the place to stay - a lot more privacy and the beach is spectacular. The staff was very nice and the spa services were very good. One of the best massages we've had was at the Maya Spa. We are planning a return trip soon. This was the most relaxing vacation we've ever taken.

Nothing great - should have been half the price for what it is.

Biggest plus is the beach, which is a fairly private cove (100 meters wide) tucked between two rock outcroppings. Shared only with 1 or two other small hotels, so it was always quiet and tranquil.

Downfall of this place are the accomodations (mostly little cabanas)- which as advertised are very basic - but are crammed close together as to afford little privacy. Those not on the beach will hear the road noise - and this complex happens to be right across from the only little cluster of commerical activity along a long strip of hotels and beachfront. We stayed in the beachfront cabanas. Sides of structure are entirely of glass, with strips of burlap cloth hanging from inside to try and give a bit of privacy. Felt like living inside a fishbowl. From bed, you could see and hear people walking by, as well as well-meaning but clueless maintenance people washing windows and doing gardening at 8:00am in the morning.

All of this would have been fine for US$40 per night, but these beachfront cabanas were priced at a healthy $150 per night. Mispriced. Pay more to get a more comfortable experience, or a lot less to get the same backpacker experience.

A great escape...

After staying a few nights in Cancun and another place in Tulum (near the ruins), it was a pleasant surprise. I only stayed one night, but would come back for more. Falling asleep hearing the crash of the of to waves on the nearby beach was so great.

I stayed in the basic cabana with the shared bathroom. The rate they gave me as a walkup was 280 pesos ($25 USD) per night. WHich is lower than the rate on the website.

I stayed near the road. Yes some cars did go down it, but it was not near a highway like the night previous. I suspect the cabanas further back woud not hear the road noise

The beach is very close by and as all beahces in Mexico , it is a public beach.

BY all means before deciding to stay here read the website carefully and the FAQ especially. Yes, they do cut power at 11 pm. THey do provide candles in each room. The FAQ tells you the things you should bring with ytou. One of them being a flashlight.

A cab into town is 35 pesos. THere are small shops very close by.

It may not be for everyone , but I definitely would come back

Go elsewhere

Thanks to the reviews of some of the folks on tripadvisor I thought Zahra was the perfect place to experience the Mayan Riviera.

Aided by their polished website I decided the Tunich room at $40/night was a deal that couldn't be passed up.

Well was I taken for a ride! The room is right by the road, no privacy as the wind blows the light curtains open and the "private bathroom" should have been condemned, the shower didn't work and with half walls and no door it was far from private. When I voiced my disappointment the only option the hotel gave me was a room upgrade to the $95/night room. I was caught between a rock and a hard place since my reservation was a prepayment for my entire stay. The upgrade room was only slightly better, the bathroom was tiny and never looked clean. The plumbing was rusty and the shower door let enough water out that there was a nice puddle in front of the toilet. Oh and there was a nice little cricket that kept us up for two nights til we found it. Oh and yes there are fans in the room, but be aware that the generators shut off at midnight, and hence no fan, had to keep the window open even during the stormy night.

If you still decide this is the place for you, take a flashlight. We were left in our upgraded room in the dark, feeling around all the walls for a light switch and finally found them inside the wardrobe. No thanks to the not very helpful staff that when asked the whereabouts of the light switch, sarcastically answered "on the wall"...

Oh and if you get freaked out by military hanging around offshore and onshore while sunbathing Tulum isn't for you. We saw military each day of the three day stay there... As for food, go to Don Cafetos in the town of Tulum, great coffee!!

Nothing special

I stayed at Zahra's based on the review and the website. Stayed in a Tunich, which was simple as advertised. I was only frustrated with the placement of the hut, facing a passage way next to the street. To their credit they upgraded me at no extra charge. The food in the resturant was fine, although a little expensive. I was not wowed by the experience.

Beautiful Romantic Hideaway

We arrived at Zahra late one evening via the public bus from Cancun Airport. Taking the bus is SO EASY and relaxing and SO MUCH cheaper than the expensive transfer. So anyways, not really expecting too much, we arrived at Zahra and were immediately shown to our freestanding beachfront cabana by a very courteous staff member. Our jaws dropped when we laid eyes on our charming little "rustic-modern" cabana with a private patio facing the most gorgeous little cove imaginable. At $75 a night, this place is a steal. We were maybe 100 feet from the water's edge. The cabana was simple yet elegant... the perfect little love shack. We had 2 king size beds covered by mosquito netting and a cute little bathroom with an open shower (very little water pressure). A strong ocean breeze blew in thru the screen window at night to keep us cool and the ceiling fan was a nice touch.

We spent our days in the hammoc reading or sunbathing on the pristine (although a bit rocky) beach. There is another beach next door (by Azulik) which is much nicer with a sandier bottom for swimming. The water is UNBELIEVABLE... a warm seafoom green that fades out to a rich turquoise blue. At night we just talked, played cards, drank coronas, stuffed our faces at Zahra and Zamas, and made love like never before. Tulum is magical that way!

Zahra has the most delicious plantain tacos with mole sauce... I highly recommend those. Any EVERYTHING at Zamas is delicious and resonably priced.. we loved the seafood pizza, shrimp quessadilia, grilled lobster, and chicken enchilladas. In town, we loved Nave(Italian) and a hot little Hungarian-owned bar called Azul.

We made great friends, toured all the local ruins, and just relaxed under the ancient Myan sun. We will definitely be coming back to Tulum AND Zahra next year. What a great vacation!!! Just don't forget your sunscreen AND bug repellent!

Great Fun

We spent the first week of June in Tulum and stayed 7 nights at Zahra. My parent (in their 70's) had one of the Nohoch cabanas and a friend and I had the other. The cabanas were definitely rustic but we loved it. The view was gorgeous, the staff was friendly and helpful, and there's lots to do around Tulum. The cabanas contained 2 beds, a shelf, some wall hooks and not much else (well, my parents' cabana had an iguana, too). There was hot fresh water for the showers and nice fluffy towels. There is supposed to be a hammock on every porch but there weren't enough to go around. We had to complain a bit to get ours. The sunrise will wake you up in the mornings! The breeze sometimes gets a bit strong, but you need it to stay cool. The other hotels were quite close by (it doesn't look like it in the pictures but there's not a lot of privacy). But that meant several restaurants and bars were in walking distance. The bar was lively and the food great. This was the best place we ate. I don't recommend swimming off the beach except on the calmest days. Be sure you climb up on the rock by the beach--there's a wooden bathtub up there with an ocean view.

Living in Paradise

We have stayed 4 nights at Zahra & enjoyed it very much. The lovely 'nohoch'cabanas with seaview is very romantic.

Also staff is very friendly and food was very good.

Paradise

Just came back from our Mexico vacation , we stayed at one of the beachfront cabanas at Hotel Zahra and we loved it. The staff were very nice and helpful, the cabanas were very clean, the beaches awesome, food was also very good, no problems or hassles. We will be back !!!!!!!