This was my second stay at Catalonia Royal Tulum and I definitely made the right decision to visit again.  I was first here in July 2021 when accumulated sargassum was in piles of 4 feet+ and more kept rolling in with the currents and winds on a daily basis.  It literally was impossible at that time to get into the water up and down the Xpu-Ha beach coastline.  I made the decision to book this resort again at the time of my first visit since Xpu-Ha beach is known to be one of the loveliest in the Riviera Maya.  I am a beach lover and it was a no brainer to keep this resort on my travel radar.

This resort review will be brief since I already did a lengthy review from my first stay–if you are interested in reading about more resort details and seeing an extensive picture gallery, just click here.  This review will focus on the changes I experienced during my current stay as well as what the beach was like without all that sargassum.

The first item to be aware of is that it’s impossible to download a resort app prior to your arrival.  However, there were multiple places on-site to download the resort’s QR code to gain access to information about activities, amenities, and make restaurant reservations, just look for the QR code at the lobby check-in when you arrive or on the ground floor guest room building entrances by the stairs.

I booked the same upgraded room category as I did last visit–a Privileged Deluxe room, and wound up in the same guest room building (Palma, which is not far from the lobby area, multiple restaurants, and the new Rauxa dinner show area).  If you want to see more of what the room category was like, you can access the guest room video of my prior stay on YouTube, just click here.  Lots of space, a huge bathroom area for a three star resort, but be aware that there were no elevators on this property.  If that is a problem, be sure to request a ground floor room.  A Privilege Deluxe room provided access to Bloved restaurant which was right on the beach with a great ocean view.

After quickly unpacking I made a beeline for the beach to see what the current sargassum situation was like.  Luckily, there was only a mild problem at the start of my stay–ocean water was a lovely sea green color with changing hues dependent on the amount of direct sunlight, it was everything I anticipated in booking a second stay.  As my stay progressed, more sargassum began to arrive, but it was nowhere near the amount I experienced during summer 2021.  I noticed during this stay that as sargassum began to accumulate in the surf in front of beach loungers, many guests entered the water south of the resort–there is a lengthy beach section with a beach club (Xpu-Ha Beach Club) and Serenity Eco Luxury Tent Camping (or “glamping”, as some vacationers call this type of tent experience); this beach section miraculously missed most of the sargassum which was coming in at the time, so don’t despair of not having a great beach experience if incoming sargassum is on the mild side.

The beachfront Jacuzzi was still in operation; it offers a great ocean view but it is still not heated.

An unexpected but wonderful surprise was the nature of food taste and quality in comparison to my last stay in 2021.  Overall, the food was so much better; plate presentation at various restaurants could still be improved for some dishes, but I’d rather have a tasty dinner than a “pretty” dinner which is unappetizing.  While the buffet restaurant is typically not open for dinner, it was open for Mexican Fiesta night which occurred on Saturday evening; don’t miss the barbacoa, I wish I had the recipe!  There was live music with xylophones during dinner and a poolside party later on which included games and mechanical bull riding.  No reservations were required to attend the buffet dinner or the following party.

While dinner reservations were not necessary during my 2021 stay, this time around they were required but they can easily be made using the QR code’s downloaded resort information.  Rauxa must be popular because it was fully booked during my stay–if you want to improve your chances of getting a reservation, make it a priority when you check in.  I arrived around 11 a.m. on a Saturday and tried to make some dinner reservations but no luck for Rauxa.  I did have excellent dinners at The Grill–the elaborate wooden door leading to the restaurant was located inside near the check-in desk, and Toscana was much better this time around.  I would definitely check out those restaurants.  FYI:  I talked to a resort guest about Rauxa; he told me he saw the entire show without having any reservations or food by being seated at the bar for a few drinks prior to the show; no one told him to leave.  While it worked for him and his party, I didn’t try it myself so I cannot verify if this was a one-off experience or if you too could see the show as long as you arrive early, sit at the bar, and don’t expect dinner.

Since I paid more for an upgraded room which included access to the beachfront Bloved Restaurant, I can’t be remiss and not mention my experiences there.  First of all, the location of this restaurant cannot be beat.  While most tables were inside the open-air restaurant, there are some where you can sit with your toes in the sand while you have an incredible ocean view.  Eating breakfast here is a must–the chilaquiles with red sauce is still one of my favorite dishes at this resort, and their fruit plate had an incredibly diverse selection.  Breakfast service was wonderful, the waiter didn’t try and hurry my travel party since we closed out the breakfast service, but dinner service and food were a different story.  If you want to increase your chance of getting better dinner service and a better ocean view, make your dinner reservation around the time the restaurant opens (breakfast at Bloved did not require a reservation).  My travel party arrived while there was still enough light to enjoy the ocean view at the dinner service, but by the time we were done eating, there was a huge line of guests waiting to get in and service tanked.  I requested the dessert menu after finishing the main entree, and while it was delivered our waiter was never seen again.  So, I suggest dining at this restaurant for breakfast and perhaps lunch but skip dinner at Bloved, go instead to The Grill or Toscana for great service and good food.  FYI:  Don’t order the scallops for dinner, it tasted wonderful but I had doubts they were fully cooked.

 

Here’s another restaurant tip–unless you only want a hamburger or hot dog for lunch, skip Sorrento restaurant.  It’s a very small outdoor lunch venue across from La Palapa buffet which is located poolside.  Try the buffet restaurant instead, a much better lunch choice as far as food and service.  The service was terrible at Sorrento (I gave the restaurant a second chance but service was even worse the second time around) and the pizza was inedible.  If the poolside taco cart is manned, don’t miss getting several tasty street tacos.  I only saw it available during the Sunday afternoon pool party (no foam pool party, however).

Covid restrictions present during 2021 were no longer enforced.  No mask requirement at restaurants or lobby area, and no plastic gloves were required at the buffet restaurant when getting food.  In terms of the new smoking ban in Mexico, there were people smoking right outside the buffet restaurant which had no specific smoking facilities such as sand receptacles to put out cigarettes.  I did not see people smoking on the beach, however.

During my last visit in 2021 I saw many, many coatis along the main pathway to the pool and beach areas.  This visit I saw less than a dozen over the course of a four night stay, a vast difference in what I saw in 2021.  I can only surmise that some have been relocated to other areas of the Riviera Maya; there was lots of aggression amongst the coatis when guests started feeding them during my stay in 2021, so perhaps relocation was done in order to avoid a nasty encounter between coatis and humans.

Well, that about wraps up my newest stay at Catalonia Royal Tulum.  As I stated in the beginning of this blog post, check out my last resort review if you want to read more about the property and see a more extensive picture gallery.  Would I stay a third time?  I really like this resort, it’s not luxurious but the setting is lovely with both mangrove jungle present and a beautiful beach as long as sargassum isn’t a problem.  So I guess the answer is yes, I definitely would return.  I would be tempted to return sooner if there were more lunchtime food carts, a pool foam party, and a buffet option for dinner.

Take a moment to look at the picture gallery below–just click on any of the thumbnails to get a larger picture and caption.

The comments in this review are those of the author/reviewer.  The trip to this particular resort was paid for in its entirety by the author; at no time were any monies or services exchanged for this review.

Location:  70 min. south of the Cancun airport

Telephone:  52-984-875-1800

Email:  royaltulum.reservas@cataloniahotels.com