Villas HM Palapas del Mar

Amazing hotel on the most magical island. So stylish and clean. Holbox is an out of this world experience. Service was great and the food And drinks so good and reasonably priced. Only thing I would say is that it is quite a family friendly hotel so if you are a couple on a honeymoon like we were the kids could be quite annoying at times but still it didn’t take anything away from the experience. Also a tip in general on holbox is to wear lots and lots of insect repellant, we have never had so many bites in our lives. It’s a great place though so it’s worth the sacrifice of being a mozzy buffet.

Check-in wasn't really smooth. We arrived a bit early and asked if we could leave our bags until the room was ready, which they allowed, but we saw them checking in others with welcome drinks during the time we were waiting for our room (no welcome drinks for us). We were in a room with a partially private pool, but were unable to use is because the people in the room next to us made it very uncomfortable. When we went to use the main pools they had a ton of mineral corrosion. Just go to the beach. The food was absolute crap! I wouldn't serve it to my dog. All of the breads were hard, and the only thing worth eating was the fruit and/or the made to order eggs. As others have expressed, the waiters had no idea what they were doing. We would ask for something, like more coffee for ex., and they would never come back. You aren't allowed to to take your own alcohol (beer cans from the liquor store) into the lounging area where the chaises and hammocks are, they will come and tell you it's not allowed. Now for the nickel and diming... rental bikes are 60 pesos a day, even though other hotels include them, beachfront massages (that are not really right on the beachfront) are 1500 pesos (and don't expect anything other than a swedish massage). There is a stand ON the beach in front of the hotel with two ladies that do massages starting at 600 pesos (cash only). If you pay for all inclusive, not all alcohol is included. The front desk guy was nice and helpful.

My friends and I were so excited to stay here, we'd never been and thought the pictures looked so cute. When we arrived the staff was unfriendly and not helpful. Our room was dirty with Urine stains on the toilet and hairs in the bedsheets. The hotel is set back from the Ocean fairly far and our room overlooked a dirt lot next door so even though we had the private pool, it was not beachy or relaxing spending time on the patio. The overall service of the staff was quite bad, we had to make arrangements for our shuttle home multiple times because the front desk staff wouldn't follow through and book it after we had gone and booked it with them. There are no large resorts on the island but this has a very generic all-inclusive type of vibe, which was not what we were looking for. With overall poor food, service and a lack of personality or soul to the stay. There also seems to be an intermittent Sewage tank problem. Our room smelled like sewage for 2 days of our trip. I don't usually write poor reviews but in this case I wish I had an know some of these things about the Palapas because I would have chosen a different hotel to spend my vacation time at. I would strongly not recommend this hotel. There are so many lovely hotels on the island.

The hotel is quite pretty and comfortable. The rooms are large, minimalistic but modern and clean, although I found few hairs on bed and around the room upon check in. However the 4* rating is misleading as the service and staff are not up to such standard. We arrived and checked out during a storm but weren’t provided with a transfer from hotel to the ferry which is only 1km. We had to pay $200 one way which was outrageous price for such short journey and should have been covered by the hotel. We weren’t provided with an umbrella which meant travelling from our room to other parts of hotel were made during heavy rain. Upon checking we were given a room with two queen beds during our honeymoon as they did not have any single bed rooms avaaible unil next day. Normally this wouldn’t be huge problem but I specified this was out honeymoon during booking so we should have been prioritised. We asked for two wine glasses for our room but been told we weren’t allowed any and to use our bathroom glasses. After asking for the third time we were provided with plastic cups as if we’re children! During breakfast service our food was taken and table given away when we left to get a refill of juice which meant we had to wait for another table and re fill our plates. The receptionist didn’t care about our questions and only answered with one word answer “no”. Overall it’s a nice hotel but the service is actually terrible and I wouldn’t not stay there again.

Great hotel with comfortable amenities. Great stay if you plan to go to Holbox