If you’re looking to stay at a 5 star resort in Playa del Carmen, find a different place to stay now. La Rana Cansada is not your typical tourist trap; rather it is a welcoming establishment, with an air of staying with your laid-back relatives.

Owners Thed & Pia go out of their way to ensure you have a pleasant stay. Upon arriving, my husband and I were a little distraught – our bus from the airport had been in an accident, leaving us to find our own route from the accident to the hotel. Thed immediately took care of us, brought us complimentary beers and upgraded our reservation to the suite with 2 balconies and a small kitchen. (The stove was a traditional Mexican stove – not something that we would have used because we didn’t know how, but the fridge and microwave were nice to have!!) Throughout our week-long stay, Thed and his friend (also staying at the hotel) offered countless suggestions for places to eat, things to do, and a means of doing it all for cheaper! Thed even called his favorite restaurant, Tango Taco, to make sure they would stay open for us and ordered for us over the phone – we were exhausted and it was appreciated! Thed would check in at the end of the day as we’d come back from our adventures to make sure that everything was up to standard. They also have a reading corner where travelers are welcome to borrow books – this definitely was appreciated by day 3 for me!

Some things to note:
- We did have 3 cockroach encounters (sadly, 2 were within our first 20 minutes when we were already a little fragile from travelling and our accident… not a fun way to start!). That said, you’re in Mexico… what do you expect?
- Other reviews mention the noise – they aren’t kidding. We listened to terrible conflicting Mexican techno all night every. We were warned that the music would go late (until 2:00am) and were somewhat prepared for that. But in reality it never died. The music actually went all the way to 7:00am, had a 15 minute break, and then the morning mix started. By the end of the week, we were exhausted. We had briefly considered taking a “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach, but couldn’t because of the excursions we had booked and the early start times for those days. A simple solution: bring earplugs.
- Past reviewers complained about the hardness of beds. I've stayed in Mexico 3 times in the past year and found that each time the beds were about the same. I don't think that's a fair complaint for La Rana Cansada!
- The property is on a major strip, 10 Calle and between 5th & 10th, but is not right on the beach. There are lots of places on the beach where you can rent a lawn chair and park for the day. We found Alhambra to be the best price (about $8.50 for the two of us for the whole day) and we could order our drinks as we wanted them. The other places cost more ($15 a day) and we felt obligated to always have a drink on the go so it added up to a lot more!

A few general recommendations for your trip to Playa del Carmen:
- Eat at La Parrilla (on 5th heading towards Jaurez) and get the Tacos Arraqueso or Manuel’s special. Or Tango Taco (on 10th Calle heading West towards Walmart) and get the Arracherra Steak or one of the Milaneses. These 2 restaurants were definitely our most favorite and among the cheapest!
- Make sure to book excursions to Chichen Itza and Xel-Ha. They are incredible! Tulum was nice too, but way too crowded. If I could do it again, I would have just paid a cab to take me to Tulum early in the day and paid the entrance fee so I could avoid the massive crowds.

All in all, I would do this trip again, but I think the earplugs would have drastically improved my experience! I would consider them a necessity for a return trip to La Rana Cansada.