Clean, simple hotel a few blocks from all the action. Friendly staff, breakfast at sister hotel a few blocks down , get passes for mamitas beach club. Great spot to explore the city of playa del carmen!!

Beautiful design, comfy bed, Great location and a wonderful staff. We will be back.

My fiance and I were in town for a friend's destination wedding. The all-inclusive resort hosting the wedding was nice - but it was hard to justify paying *that* much for lodging and food. I looked around and read lots of reviews, and the Aqualuna kept on popping up with positive reviews.

Pros: very, very lovely. The staff were impeccably polite and had great advice on where to eat, how to get places, and general tips. The room was small but very, very clean - and one of their employees is quite talented at folding towels into animals. There is an incredibly lovely little atrium filled with plants and places to sit and relax, and they have a computer with internet access if you didn't bring something on your own (they did have great wireless, which helped when uploading trip pics for people back home to see).

We also had a great experience exploring town, eating, drinking, and shopping. My friends who had been at the all-inclusive resort literally never left the property - why would they? So even though we weren't plied with all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink, we got to see a lot more, eat a lot more, and do a lot more than the resort people - and we did it in a much more affordable fashion.

Cons: It's pretty small, and our taxi driver didn't think he had heard of the Aqualuna before. Remember to tell them Xperience hotels and scribble down the physical address to have handy, just in case. He eventually got us there, but I was wishing I had written something down with the address to expedite things!

The bed is a bit on the firm side - but some people like that. Also, there was some minor noise from passing traffic outside - but if you were touring about like we were, we were pretty tired at night, so it definitely didn't keep us up.

Summary: We had a wonderful experience, and I would absolutely go back. I feel that we had a much more unique and enjoyable time than my counterparts who spent their entire time at the resort. Thank you so much, Aqualuna!

We chose to stay at the AquaLuna Hotel due to it's proximity to the beach, fresh decor, affordable prices and quiet location a block away from the main drag in Playa del Carmen, and felt at home the moment we stepped out of the taxi and were greeted by the extraordinarily friendly and knowledgable staff.

The room was a very pleasant surprise, with fresh white paint, sublime decor, festive towel presentation, a spacious bathroom and comfortable beds. Though there was no natural light to speak of from the window to the backyard, it still felt airy and bright, and the thorough daily room maintance made it a joy to return sweaty and sandy from the beach every afternoon.

Of course, the hotel offers little in the way of amenities, except for the coffee machine and couch in the tropical communal garden, and you have to go elsewhere for a pool area and breakfast, which are both on offer at the AquaLunas larger sister hotel further up the street, but were an unattractive option since you can get a better breakfast at the same price elsewhere in Playa (and have way more fun at the beach).

What the AquaLuna does offer is a friendly, safe, quiet, affordable and excellently located base for those who wish to enjoy and explore Playa del Carmen and the surrounding area without blowing the budget. During our stay here we had absolutely no complaints, and found the hotel to be delivering on all of it's promises, thus being a hidden gem in a city where you often have to pay for more than you actually get.