We stayed 4 days at Hotel El Paraiso Tulum, located at a marvellous beach but the rooms have the view on the parking lot. Looks like any motel in America. The staff is not available after 19:00, we were left alone with a Columbian partying gang. Compared to the other cabanas next door it is completely overpriced, in our case 30% went to the agency MEXICAN CARIBBEAN without they doing anything. Breakfast is lousy considering the price, no fresh juice, no hot milk, no variety, no salt.... If you go to Tulum, pick one of the neighbouring hotels, the beaches are public, you choose the one you want to go to.

The beach here is gorgeous. We rented a bed and table/chairs for 150 pesos for a relaxing afternoon. The waitstaff was timely and friendly but the food was horrible! Our shrimp hamburger consisted of 5 whole peeled shrimp with melted cheese on a cheap bun. Our fish tacos were cold and has no flavor.

Come here for the beach but don't get food. There's probably places just as nice - we just didn't have time to check out other beach clubs.

My husband and I stayed here from Dec 30th 2008 to Jan 6th 2009. ALthough this was our first trip to Tulum, this was not our first trip to Mexico. We enjoy rustic, simple settings and were not disappointed with our room at all. We were also quite pleased with our maid service. As far as any other service that this place had to offer, it was very minimal. Thanks goodness we did not need any.
Upon arriving, we were dropped off in the middle of a crowded parking lot and a taxi cab driver, not ours, pointed us in the way of the check in area. She then pointed us all the way across the dunes, where are rooms were located. Probably about 250 yards which was no big deal except a little of a hike since we were carrying luggage. Good thing we pack light.
Our rooms faced the parking lot and were away from the beach. Being in room number 10, we had a partial beach view if you stood on the front porch and looked to your side. All of the other rooms would have been looking through us to get a beach view. There are 10 rooms all connected and so privacy was an issue. Also, the parking lot that the hotel faced was crowded everyday. This was where everyone who drove a car and wanted to come to the beach parked and some buses would transfer people to and from the beach so it was a busy place. No privacy at all during the day. At night, the hotel was set far enough away from the beach club that music drifted but was not annoying except for on New Years Eve which was to be expected. However, the people who run the kite boarding school camp next door to the hotel and could get loud. Was uncomfortable just because they were so close by.
The rooms were clean and quaint. There was a ceiling fan and standing fan in the room. We used the ceiling fan very little and never even plugged in the standing fan.
The bathroom was very clean and had open tiled shower. Again, very minimal but we loved it. the one drawback was the shower. The water that came from the shower was a trickle and I am not exaggerating in the least. It was very warm, sometimes even too hot, but very sparse.
We only bought drinks and quacamole at the beach bar/restaurant one time. The service was horrible, even compared with Mexico standards, the drinks over priced and the quac the worst I have ever had in Mexico. We tried to eat breakfast there one morning and, after 15 minutes of the waiters standing around and not bothering to acknowledge us, we moved on to La Vita e Bella which is where we spent our days. They had a restaurant and bar that had very decent food and good service.
Overall, El Paraiso was good value, clean and maid service was good and discrete. Hotel service was non-existent but we never needed it. Privacy was an issue as well as the fact that the hotel faced the busy parking lot and you really could not see the beach and could hear the other guests coming and going next door. If we had been in a middle room, I think I would have been really disappointed. The beach itself is beautiful. We would have to walk a little bit away to get some privacy as the chairs were always full from just the normal crowd and the kite boarding school also took up a lot of beach space.
As far as recommendations, yes and no. Really depends on what you are looking for. If you just want a room that has access to the beach, this will be great for you. If you would like to look out at the beach and have some decent service, I would recommend finding another place. I will attempt to post pictures at a later date.

During a day trip to Tulum, my wife and I discovered this beach front hotel and bar that is south of the Mayan ruins on a simply amazing beach. We spent the afternoon on the beach near the bar and dining area and eventually moved to the bar area for a some afternoon cervezas and an early dinner. The beach and ocean are wonderful in front of Paraiso with white sand and clear blue ocean. We also took a 90 minute snorkeling trip with a guy set up on the beach who had a boat and guide to take us out to several reefs in the area. The snorkeling was excellent. I would characterize this area as very Euro. There were lots of languages being spoken, lots of topless ladies, thongs and guys in speedo bikinis. We felt very comfortable wearing the same as the entire scene was very laid back and relaxed - more so than Playa del Carmen where we stayed. The food and service at Paraiso were fine - nothing fancy but good. The hotel didn't appear to be fancy and instead; is dependent on its location as its selling point. I am not sure if we would want to travel all the way to Riveria Maya again and stay in such a basic place but I can tell you it looked like a totally relaxing place to spend a vacation.