10 Days at the Bahia Principe Si’an Kaan

In September 2024, we stayed at the Bahia Principe Luxury Si’an Kaan for ten nights. This was our third trip to Mexico together! We were looking for a quiet resort to completely unwind and forget about work for a while. Though we enjoyed our stay overall, there were some hiccups along the way and it didn’t feel like a luxury resort. it was hard for us not to compare our stay with the amazing experience we had at the Blue Diamond Luxury Boutique Hotel in 2022.

Below I’ve summarized our stay, which includes our thoughts on two other resorts within the Bahia Principe properties: the Luxury Akumal and Grand Coba. We did not visit the Tulum resort during our stay, so that is not included in my blog post. Please note that our feedback is based on our preferred travel style. We aren’t drinkers and we have quite healthy lifestyles. We are very active and prefer to sleep at a reasonable hour and get up early to enjoy the daylight. My partner and I spent most of our days at Si’an Kaan reading and relaxing by the pool.

Table of Contents

1. Pros & Cons – Bahia Principe Luxury Si’an Kaan
2. Tips
3. Si’an Kaan
   • Property
   • Dining
4. Luxury Akumal
   • Property
   • Dining
5. Coba
   • Property
   • Dining
6. Final Thoughts

PROS & CONS OF SI’AN KAAN

TIPS WHILE STAYING AT SI’AN KAAN

• Upgrade to a superior room. We started our stay in a Junior Suite, which was very dark and not spacious. Our room also had many issues including a broken showerhead and many lights that weren’t working. Because of all the issues we had, the staff upgraded us to a Junior Suite Superior and what a difference it made! The Junior Suite Superior was much more spacious, with a dining table and it was well-lit. Had we stayed in a Junior Suite, I would have rated our overall stay a 6/10, but after changing rooms I would rate our stay a 7/10.
• Ask for a quiet room away from the stage (unless you’re a party animal). There is pounding club music and/or live performances every night until 11pm. For non-partiers like us, the pounding bass music got a bit draining.
• Download the Bahia Principe app and check restaurants daily for last-minute cancellations. Dinner reservations are hard to come by and must be booked in advance, especially for the more popular restaurants. The app also makes it easy for you to cancel reservations.
• Get up early to reserve your spot by the pool. I would say that most guests staying here are older, which means there are lots of early risers who grab the best tanning spots by the pool every day.

SI’AN KAAN PROPERTY

The Si’an Kaan adults-only and the smallest of all the Bahia Principe properties, nestled in the jungle of the Rivera Maya. There is lots of wildlife around. We saw coatis (Mexican raccons) and a variety of birds on multiple occasions. As the smallest of the resorts, I would say there are the least amount of things to do at the Si’an Kaan, but that didn’t bother us too much. It is a five-star luxury resort, but honestly it didn’t feel like one. We started in a Junior Suite, but there were so many issues with our room that they upgraded us after three nights. Even with the upgrade, it didn’t feel like a five-star stay.

If there was a proper indoor gym at the Si’an Kaan, we would’ve been very happy with the overall size of the resort, but unfortunately there was only a jungle gym with a small assortment of kettlebells and dumbbells. I just used the jungle gym one time on a day that I was too lazy to take a shuttle to another resort.

There are three pools at Si’an Kaan. Since we spent most of our days reading in the sun, we liked the smallest and quietest pool the best. The other two pools were more lively with music and a ping pong table. One pool had daily aqua fit classes as well. Overall, the average age of guests at Si’an Kaan was older – I would say 50 and up. Though a bit aged, the overall vibe of the resort was very relaxing and peaceful.

DINING AT SI’AN KAAN

The dining options at Si’an Kaan are very, very limited. There is Yalku, a buffet that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, a pool restaurant and a more upscale restaurant called Alux, open for dinner only. Reservations were very hard to get at Alux and it was not open some days that we were there. We were only able to get a booking at Alux because the Guest Services team wanted to make it up to us after all the issues we experienced with our room. The food was indeed quite delicious and there were surprisingly good vegan options.

We had breakfast and lunch at the Yalku buffet pretty much every day. The omelet bar during breakfast was great and we loved the abundance of fresh, tropical fruits. We feasted on papayas every meal. Yalku had different cuisine themes for dinner, including Mexican, American, Japanese and more. I did find the dishes to be a bit repetitive after a few days, but overall we found the food at Yalku quite satisfactory. There was almost always sushi available for dinners, which is what I found myself reaching for most nights.

Unfortunately with our dairy intolerance, we did find the Yalku buffet to be a bit challenging to navigate. The food signs did not indicate all the ingredients, so we often had to ask the staff which dishes we could and couldn’t eat. A lot of the time they didn’t know and had to check with the kitchen, which meant that we spent a bit of time waiting around for an answer. Some dishes we thought for sure wouldn’t have dairy ended up being cooked in butter, so we did have the occasional stomachache and bloating. Only once did we see a dessert with a vegan sign.

LUXURY AKUMAL PROPERTY

The Bahia Principe Luxury Akumal was probably the property we spent the most time at outside of the Si’an Kaan. This family-friendly resort was much larger and honestly prettier than the Si’an Kaan. It felt newer and more upscale overall, with several large pools to lounge at, including an infinity pool. The Luxury Akumal is also right next to the beach. We enjoyed the view from the infinity pool, but didn’t stay for too long because there was loud club music which made it difficult to relax. We ended up migrating to the beach, which wasn’t much more peaceful as it was very crowded.

The Luxury Akumal resort felt more luxurious and five-star than the Si’an Kaan. It is family-friendly, so there were lots of young kids around, which made the behaviour we saw around the pools very alarming… We witnessed multiple people who had drank way too much. One gentleman was very belligerent and was trying to fight someone while his young son was holding him back. An older couple was completely passed out and vomiting while lying down on the lounge chairs. All of this was around their young family members and other children. We felt so bad for the resort staff who had to deal with these drunken guests.

DINING AT THE LUXURY AKUMAL

With seven restaurants, the Luxury Akumal resort has far more dining options compared to the Si’an Kaan. We quite enjoyed the Yum Restaurant buffet at the Luxury Akumal. It is considerably bigger than the buffet at Si’an Kaan, so it was nice to mix it up and eat there for lunch or dinner. For our first a la carte dinner, we went to Ku’uk Restaurant, a formal and modern Mexican restaurant at the Luxury Akumal. This was one of our favourite meals and all our dishes were wonderfully prepared. There were lots of dairy-free options for us.

We did find it a bit tricky to book the other restaurants at the Luxury Akumal during our stay, as reservations for earlier time slots filled up quickly. There is a pool restaurant for those who want a quick bite.

GRAND COBA PROPERTY

The Bahia Principe Grand Coba is another large, family-friendly resort with two pools and a children’s water park. We noticed by far the most children at this resort. My partner and I often came to Coba to use the gym, as it was recently renovated and the most spacious. Though the facilities were new, some of the machinery was not. One of the treadmills appeared to be falling apart. Despite this, this gym offered a lot of equipment including squat racks, multiple TRX stations, a large assortment of dumbbells and kettlebells, and a variety of gym equipment. It was definitely worth the shuttle ride from the Si’an Kaan.

DINING AT THE GRAND COBA

The Grand Coba has the most restaurants of the three resorts we went to. There are ten restaurants to choose from, but again, we found it challenging to secure reservations for the a la carte restaurants during the times we wanted. We did try the Mashua Nikkei Restaurant, which ended up being one of our favourite meals of our entire stay. After going to the gym one day, we decided to try out the Grand Coba’s buffet, the Kukulcan Restaurant. The space is huge and we were amazed at how many diners the restaurant seated. The food was good, but we found the buffet experience stressful as there were huge crowds of guests attacking the buffet, often cutting in line.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall we enjoyed our our ten night stay at the Bahia Principe Si’an Kaan and we got the much-needed rest and relaxation we were looking for. The value of the trip was pretty good, considering we paid about $2,600 CAD per person for our Air Canada package. However, the issues with our room put a bit of a damper on our trip and then the loud music every night was grating. The resort is also aged and didn’t feel like a five-star luxury resort. Despite the challenges, the staff were really great and friendly, and always made us feel welcome.

After taking everything into account, my partner and I agreed that we would not return to the Si’an Kaan or any other Bahia Principe resort that we experienced during this trip. There are many other beautiful resorts in the Rivera Maya and honestly, we wished we had just stayed at the Blue Diamond Luxury Boutique Hotel again.