We spent 2 weeks at the Flamboyan in September 2010. Every morning we sat on the bedroom balcony and watched the sun rise over the Caribbean and every evening we sat on the front balcony and watched the sun set over the bay. Our unit was extremely well appointed and we could find nothing to complain of.
Our housekeeper Lupe was there to greet us when we arrived and checked in on us daily. She was wonderful.
When we arrived we found finger foods and 2 cervezas in the fridge and a congratulatory bottle of wine to help us celebrate our 30th Anniversary, graciously provided by our hosts. The infinity pool was perfect as was the rooftop patio.
All in all a most complete and utterly enjoyable holiday.
We will certainly recommend Casa Flamboyan to anyone looking for a peaceful, relaxing vacation.

I had researched places to stay on Isla for a couple of months before choosing Casa Flamboyan. I was impressed with the reviews on here, and for the price the owners were asking for, it seemed like a good deal. I was blown away when we actually got on the island and saw the casa...it was beautiful! We stayed in Real, and were impressed at how large the apartment was. It is a nice open space with very high ceilings, it feels very roomy. It was nice to open the front and back doors and let the wind blow through the apartment; it kept Real at a nice temperature. The first couple of nights it was so windy, we didn't even need the air conditioner. But it was lovely to have the cold air for the rest of the stay, as we were there in May and the weather was beautifully sunny and hot! There are so many places to lounge in/around the apartment. We spent every morning eating a nice, big breakfast on the front porch, watching the boats and the planes (which were rare, but interesting to see!) We would lounge in the hammocks on the porch after breakfast and read. To enjoy the full sun, we would lay in chairs on the roof. When we wanted to watch the sunrise, we would sit on the balcony off the bedroom. And in the afternoons when it was hottest, we would lounge in or around the pool. The views from everywhere are spectacular, inside and outside the apartment. The casa is in a location which is perfect. Although during the day there are always cars, scooters, and golf carts passing by the front, if you have windows open, the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks drowns out any sounds of civilization! The casa is a perfect distance from downtown, so we rarely needed a cab. We also didn't need to rent a golf cart for our whole trip which was nice, because they were very expensive. We rented one for a couple of days when we wanted to explore the south side of the island. (the view from the south point is beautiful, and the fish tacos there are delicious!) I am convinced that we stayed at the cleanest location on Isla. Every few days, Lupe would come and scrub the place from top to bottom. She put so much effort and care into keeping our place clean, it was very appreciated. In 15 days, we found 1 spider in our apartment. That's it. No bugs, no geckos. Incredibly clean, which made it very comfortable for us. Lupe was phenomenal.
It was nice to have a book recommending dining establishments, but we found it was a little outdated, as some of the places in there no longer existed. We suggest trying every restaurant! Everything on the island is affordable. (Olivia's was a very romantic and delicious dining experience, probably our favourite)
The island itself is beautiful. After passing through Cancun to get to the ferry, we were SO glad we decided to stay on the island! We felt incredibly safe walking home every night when the sun was down, which we know wouldn't have been the case if we had stayed in Cancun. It was the most relaxing vacation we had ever had. We highly recommend both Isla Mujeres and Casa Flamboyan to anyone looking for a relaxing getaway!

Casa Flamboyan is a beautiful place to stay. We enjoyed a lovely week celebrating our anniversary. The building is amazing, so colorful, every angle is a view. We enjoyed sunrises on one balcony and the sunsets on the other balcony! The swimming pool was great to relax, cool off and enjoy the ocean view. The kitchen had everything we needed. The shower is beautiful with plenty of hot water. I liked the location close to town and yet far away enough to be quiet. We enjoyed walking to town and found it easy to get a taxi if we wanted one. The island is beautiful as well-great food and very friendly people. We would highly recommend Casa Flamboyan and the island!

My husband and I stayed at Casa Flamboyan for the first 4 nights of our honeymoon at the end of April. This was our first trip to Isla Mujeres.

I had done lots of research regarding where to stay and chose CF based largely on the reviews here as well as by the help I received from owner Harriet Lowe before our trip - Harriet sent lots of information regarding getting to/through customs, recommending a car service to get us to the ferry (Cancun Valet - they were great.), what to bring, and things to do/check out on the Island. We also chose CF based on location - we wanted to be close to town, yet not in the middle of it. Here's our honest review of our experience there...

The home -
The place itself was beautiful and comfortable and our apartment, Azul, was roomy, clean, and bright. Unfortunately it had a pungent moldy smell that was a little overwhelming when first coming in. We immediately opened every window and door in the place, which definitely helped, but the smell never totally went away. Every time we left the house and had to close and lock everything up, the moldy smell was back with a vengeance when we returned. In an apartment as nice as this one, you do actually want to spend time "at home," so I would suggest either looking into Real, or asking Harriet how long it's been since someone has stayed...when I mentioned the odor to her, she thought it might be because it had been some time since the apartment had been rented and it had remained closed up during that time. Makes sense, especially since you are literally right on the ocean and it's next to impossible (at least it was while we were there) to dry anything out all the way - there is constant sea spray and humidity...part of being in paradise is walking around with damp and salty skin, hair, clothes, etc.

The view from the bedroom porch out to the Caribbean was indeed stunning. We spent a lot of time on that porch, having a drink and watching the waves or watching the moon come up over the sea at night. It was particularly windy while we were there and the ocean was LOUD. This porch is a great place to watch the sunrise as well.

The front porch was much much quieter, and very peaceful, and had a little table with chairs and a hammock. Nice place for breakfast when we wanted to get away from the crashing waves, or when we each wanted some time to ourselves to write we'd each take a porch - perfect. The front porch looks out across the road, across the airstrip, to the bay and the boats in it. We got a kick out of watching the Mexican Navy march down the airstrip at 6am to do their exercises and formations. It's the kind of place where you are in bed early and up early, so we were already up before they started sounding their bugles (true story) - and anyway the waves are so loud that if you keep your bedroom door open, you wouldn't be able hear the trumpets from the bedroom. The front porch screen door is in need of repair - keeps sliding off of its track and requires using two hands and a few tries to get it to open - small thing, but became annoying every time you go in and out of the apartment.

We were the only ones in the house for our first 3 nights - and it seemed the only ones on the block. We didn't see any neighbors out walking the tide pools looking for shells, or out on their roof decks at night...although it was SO windy that we only spent a minute or two up there each night ourselves.

The bed was comfy and the sheets were nice. We chose not to use the AC and instead left the back door screened to keep a breeze coming in at night. Once or twice the waves / the ocean were so loud I actually used earplugs to get some sleep - I know that just seems wrong, but they were REALLY loud! The bathroom had a shower with a window out to the ocean, which was lovely. We also enjoyed the plunge pool downstairs and dipped in more than a few times to cool off.

The kitchen was very small in this apartment - Real's kitchen and living room are larger - but it came equipped with 2 five-gallon jugs of purified water, which was greatly appreciated. There were also 2 Sol beers in the fridge as well as some eggs, a can of refried beans, some salsa and chips for us to make breakfast if we needed it. Nice touch. It was great having a toaster and coffee maker. Plenty of room in the fridge and a small freezer for ice. There was even a blender, which we didn't end up using, but which tempted me. Despite the small kitchen, there was nothing lacking.

Harriet & Richard have a notebook full of suggestions for restaurants, things to do, etc. We discovered that a few of the places they have listed actually didn't exist anymore / had closed down, so maybe ask around first (or call, if you have a working cell phone while you're there - there is no phone in the apartment.)

This was another source of frustration at times - it was nice having the whole place to ourselves, but that also meant there was no one there for us to go to for advice / answers to questions, etc. Lupe, the housekeeper, was extremely sweet and helpful, but we weren't able to communicate well between our Spanish and her English, and we couldn't get our cell phones to work in order to call her or her English-speaking husband Russell if we needed anything. Eventually we happened to catch Lupe when she stopped by the house, and she helped us by listening to the Spanish message I kept getting on my cell phone and followed the prompts to help us dial out. Phew.

Location - we were just below town on the "bottleneck" section of the island, by the airstrip. We could easily walk into town in about 15 minutes and did several times. Mid-afternoon it was pretty hot, so we'd just flag down a taxi - they are continually going up and down the stretch and it was always easy to get one without waiting very long at all.

We rented a golf cart one day to explore the rest of the island - well worth it. The walking path along the cliffs down at the south end of the island at the "Maya Ruins" was fantastic. Not much there in the way of ruins, but worth the price of admission just to walk down the cliffs to the water.

The tortugranja was cool, Playa Norte was beautiful - shallow, crystal clear warm water - great swimming all day long followed by a perfect sunset. The two best meals we had while there were at Olivia, a gorgeous Mediterranean place, and La Lomita - total hole-in-the-wall local place with fabulous sopa de frijoles and yummy fish tacos.

It was too windy the whole time we were there for any small boats to go out to Isla Contoy - we were bummed about that, but I guess we'll just have to go back and do it next time. :) Overall we had a great time on Isla Mujeres and other than the moldy smell and sliding door, we found Casa Flamboyan an extremely nice place to stay - very comfortable and beautiful, and you can't beat the view!