Babel tulum

Do Not Book with Babel!
We planned a two-day stay at Babel to celebrate a special occasion at the end of our Tulum trip. By that point, we were already familiar with Tulum’s general pricing culture and “upsell everything” approach. Unfortunately, Babel takes this to another level.
Yes, the property is visually striking. The architecture and photos are exactly what draw you in. However, aesthetics alone do not make a hotel experience, hospitality does. At Babel, nearly everything is an added cost: lighting a candle in the room, using the cold plunge pool with warm water, even milk for your coffee. Each guest is given a single coffee token for the entire stay, and that coffee is black, any addition costs extra. At one point, we were provided only two hand towels and one bath towel for a couple, and the overall atmosphere made us hesitant to even ask for another. It's possible in the future they might charge extra for electricity and water too.
Tulum already suffers from poor cell reception, so reliable Wi-Fi is essential. We had zero cellular at Babel. Upon check-in, the Wi-Fi was not working. We patiently asked for updates and were told by the front desk manager that there was no guarantee it would be fixed. Technical issues happen we understand that. What made this frustrating was the lack of communication and infrastructure. There is no intercom system, so every update required us to walk back and forth between our room and reception.

Babel Tulum is a very nice and stylish place, with a modern design and pleasant atmosphere. However, with a few improvements it could be much better.
The pool area was quite disappointing — it didn’t seem to be cleaned daily, even from trash left by guest, which affected the overall experience of common areas.
The apartments are not cleaned during the stay. In our case, the apartment was not cleaned even once during a one-week stay, which was a major drawback. Specially due to humidity, would be nice to have dry/clean towers and sheets.
The hammam/steam room was not in use, which was disappointing, especially as it is advertised as an amenity.
No toiletries, just a sope — quite basic.
No kitchen towels etc. — bit difficult to maintain cleaning of dishes and so on (that is not provided).
The B Café has excellent coffee, but that’s unfortunately where it ends. The menu is extremely limited, with no real food options, and it was closed on some days, which was inconvenient.
Overall, Babel Tulum has great potential and strong aesthetics, but the amenities and service consistency need improvement to match the quality suggested by the design.

This is the 16th property I’ve stayed at in Tulum, and I’d been meaning to try it for a long time because it looks gorgeous. Visually, it’s stunning and captures the classic Tulum vibe. The apartments are spacious, with a clean, well-designed layout.
One concern I noticed in past reviews was the extra charges for almost everything, such as heating the jacuzzi or accessing the steam room.
The unit itself and the furnishings are cozy and comfortable, with ample storage for luggage. It’s perfect for meditation. However, there is a noticeable dampness and scent in the apartment. The Wi-Fi in my unit was average and disconnected frequently. The hot water is tank-based, so long or back-to-back showers aren’t practical. The refrigerator is very loud, and the pillows are quite flat.

We stayed in the penthouse & while it is like the pictures & very beautiful, like a lot of Tulum it’s a little past its prime. The night lighting is bad. So dark it’s hard to use the kitchen. Every unit has jacuzzi but it’s freezing, so you must pay $18 per day to warm it up. Service was great & friendly tho. Oh & the penthouse doesn’t really have a nice view of the inner tower. But, for nice decor & architecture it maybe perfect for you.

This hotel is very nice. We definitely enjoyed our stay here. We like that the place was quiet and you felt like it wasn't Tulum downtown. Get away from the speakers, the noise of the city. We had no issue getting sleep and felt very pleased. The hot tub had leaves but seeing that we travel during the raining season I can understand why. The rooms and pool area are great to relax and decompress. Highly recommend. We stayed here for 3 days and can't complain. We were provided with 2 hand towels and 2 towels, hand soap, shampoo, body wash and even dish soap, a sponge and microfiber cloth to clean the plates and silverware.

The place is beautiful and the room is big and has everything you need. However, the check out is at 10am and they seem to do it on purpose so to put $15usd for late check out.

A beautiful place, but is not kid friendly.
Rooms are small, beautiful and with a little private spa. The architecture is amazing and the interior design as well.

Babel was a great spot to spend a week… I was planning to spend 2-3 days, but ended up extending my stay. As a digital nomad, I worked full time from here on the Wi-Fi (powered by starlink), only experienced one interruption of a few seconds. Honestly, better than my fiber connection in CDMX.
I didn’t splurge for the pool heating, but I loved jumping in the lukewarm pool after being out in the town and getting sweaty. That to me was the best feature of the place.
The staff are friendly, respond quickly on any issue, and offer additional services if you need them. There’s a spot right up front to park your moto.
Also, all delivery services come here, so food was a breeze. There is a pizza place within a 4 minute walk; and a couple corner stores. Heading to jungle gym was a 20 minute walk, and to town around 25. I rented a moto, but you could walk.
There was a message about street noise. I’ve lived in Mexico for a while, so it didn’t bother me, and really was non existent compared to where I live. I guess maybe you hear a moto once in a while?

We had overall a great stay and enjoyed the bed the most with linen sheets — we slept incredible! Feedback to improve: change the check out time to 11-12, provide kitchen towels and salt and oil — other than that amazing stay!

Such a great experience. Beautiful interior, spacious rooms and a friendly Argentine host. We would absolutely book here again next time. The only improvement so far is the Wi-Fi connection.

Architecturally it is amazing but the check out time is 10am when most places it’s 11. So they charge you 15 dollars to check out at a normal time plus a processing fee. They also charge to heat your private pool but then it doesn’t even get that hot. The steam room also doesn’t get that hot or steamy. Also they don’t pay a fair wage to their workers obviously since they ask for a tip. It seems like they are adopting all the bad habits of the USA but not every tourist is American. Tipping shouldn’t be expanded. Pay your workers properly. Also use the local currency and not dollars as as once again not everyone is American. Also the kitchen didn’t even have oil for cooking or a kitchen towel. No ironing board but they do provide an iron. So I guess they want you to request one from the front desk so you have to tip the guy for bringing to you what should have been equipped? They didn’t provide any coffee or water which most places do. The architecture is amazing, and the people working there were nice, but the decisions by management I don’t understand. It takes away from the overall experience.

My husband and I had a pleasant stay at Babel. The unit was very clean and the shower was hot (something to be excited about in Tulum Pueblo from past experiences). The location is a good walk from town or La Veleta. We did not have a car or scooter so it made it difficult and we have had bad experiences renting them in the past so we opted to walk and get cabs when we absolutely had to (they are $$$). The beds were very comfortable and the kitchen was nice to have.
Cons:
They were strict with check-in and I later found a pricing sheet that you could pay to check in early. We got there at 2:20 after a long flight and they made us wait until 3.
The prices dramatically decreased before we stayed and I asked if they could price match or at least upgrade our room and they declined (I suggest you book on booking. Com and then you have time to cancel and rebook if this happens again). Babel has a strict cancellation policy.
It cost $25 to heat the tub on our balcony. We refrained but that left a bad taste in my mouth.
You'll need to rent a bike or scooter elsewhere unless they upgrade theirs. The sun/saltwater and roads do a number on bikes here so I don't fault them but I would plan ahead.
Tips: Make sure you visit Vesica Cenote Club just down the road. It was the highlight of our trip! We went to Casa Malca for a day pass and it was very nice although $$$ and very windy that day. The beach was still stunning with no seaweed :)

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Babel. The interior design and architecture is beautiful, and the apartment is spacious and modern. There is also a really nice market and a few restaurants nearby if you haven’t figured out transportation yet. The staff is friendly and its a great spot if you want to be closer to the city. I'm giving it 4 stars because there were many ants near the bathroom area. Although I enjoyed the bedding, the mattress itself could have been more comfortable, and the hot tub in the main area was out of order. We also were under the impression that the hot tub in our actual apartment would get hot, but they aren’t heated; at most, it gets warm.