Mistarz Adventures

Travel Services

Bahia Principe July 2025

My first ever FAM Trip was to Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts in Mexico.

FAM Trips = familiarization

This property was a very expansive resort that included 4 different hotels on its property. I had the pleasure of staying at Bahia Principe Grand Tulum in 2021 with my family but didn’t get the chance to visit any of the other hotels at that time.

The FAM Trip was hosted by ALGVacations which consists of multiple booking agents including:

  • Apple Vacations
  • Funjet
  • Travel Impressions
  • Southwest Vacations
  • Blue Sky Tours
  • United Vacations

#TravelAdvisorsGetYOUThere

I began by flying non-stop into Cancun from Chicago – ORD on United Airlines, but there are multiple airlines that fly non-stop on that route.

Once I landed in CUN, I had private transfer from the airport to the resort through AmstarDMC. It was extremely easy to find my transfer once I exited the airport and luckily air conditioning was in good working order.

Upon arriving at the resort, you are immediately greeted with staff that will attend to your bags and help with a quick check in so long as there are not many people arriving all at the same time. For this FAM Trip, our rooms were situated in Villa 61 at Bahia Principe Akumal.

After all the advisors had settled in, we had a great welcome dinner the day of arrival, but the real fun began the next day when we had our morning presentations and then on to our site inspections.

For the site inspections, we had the opportunity to visit the following hotels:

  • Bahia Principe Akumal
  • Bahia Principe Grand Tulum
  • Bahia Principe Sian Ka’an
  • Bahia Principe Coba

All of the hotels are located in the Riviera Maya area of Mexico approximately 1 1/2 hours from the Cancun Airport so be prepared for the drive.

Starting with Bahia Principe Akumal. This beachfront hotel has 758 rooms in Junior Suite Deluxe, Junior Suite Superior, Junior Suite Premium or 2 Bedroom Suite with 3 pools, gym, spa and 8 bars to choose from.

appetite:

  • Yum Restaurant – International Buffet
  • Tikalito Restaurant – International
  • Katok Restaurant – Grilled Cuisine
  • Gourmet Ku’uk Restaurant – Gourmet
  • Frutos del Mar – Seafood
  • Mikado Restaurant – Japanese Cuisine
  • Dolce Vita Restaurant – Italian Cuisine
  • Plus the restaurants located at Bahia Principe Grand Tulum, Bahia Principe Grand Coba, Sian Ka’an

The next hotel stop was Bahia Principe Grand Tulum. This beachfront hotel has 774 rooms in Premium Superior, Junior Suite or 2 Bedroom Suite with 3 pools, children’s waterpark, gym, spa and 5 bars to choose from.

Plenty of restaurant options available based on appetite:

  • Yucatan Restaurant – International Buffet
  • Andale Burger – International
  • Beach Food Truck – International
  • Tequila Restaurant – Mexican Cuisine
  • Hindu Thali Restaurant – Indian Cuisine
  • Gran Tortuga – Brazilian Steakhouse
  • Don Pablo Restaurant – Gourmet
  • Plus the restaurants located at Bahia Principe Grand Coba

Sian Ka’an is the resort’s adults only hotel that is a very long shuttle ride across the street from the other 3 hotels that is on the property. There is a very popular PGA golf course alongside this hotel, but we did not get a chance to see it specifically. This hotel has 420 rooms in Junior Suite, Junior Suite Superior or Junior Suite Superior Penthouse with 4 pools, gym, spa and 5 bars to choose from, but beware it is NOT a beachfront hotel.

Plenty of restaurant options available based on appetite:

  • Yalku Restaurant – International Buffet
  • Pool Restaurant – International
  • Alux Restaurant – Gourmet
  • Maiko Restaurant – Upscale Japanese Cuisine
  • Plus the restaurants located at Bahia Principe Grand Tulum, Bahia Principe Akumal and Bahia Principe Grand Coba

Finally, Bahia Principe Grand Coba was the last hotel we visited. This beachfront hotel has 1,080 rooms in Junior Suite Superior category only with 1 pool, children’s waterpark, gym, spa and 5 bars to choose from.

Plenty of restaurant options available based on appetite:

  • Kukulcan Restaurant – International Buffet
  • Pool Restaurant – International
  • Le Gourmet Restaurant – Gourmet
  • Mikado RestaurCant – Japanese Cuisine
  • Portofino Restaurant – Italian Cuisine
  • Plus the restaurants located at Bahia Principe Grand Tulum

There is a project in the works currently at this hotel to revamp and create a portion to become an adults only option called Bahia Principe Grand Tequila which we saw renderings of. Junior Suite Superior will be the only room category available. It will have 2 pools, spa, gym and 5 bars to choose from.

The restaurant options will be:

  • Cozumel Restaurant – International Buffet
  • La Casita Restaurant – International Cuisine
  • Nikkei Mashua Restaurant – Japanese & Peruvian Fusion
  • The Smoked Restaurant – BBQ
  • Plus the restaurants located at Bahia Principe Grand Tulum and Bahia Principe Grand Coba

We also stopped over at the Hacienda that they have on the property where you can check out the little shops for your souvenir purchases, but they also occasionally host special shows there as well.

After our site inspections, we were treated to a sample of the Mixology experience they offer to guests; please note that this experience does require an additional fee. We were offered a choice to eat at either Katok, Gran Tortuga or Dolce Vita so I decided to go with the Brazilian – YUM! Took in a Magic Show at the theater to finish off the fabulous day.

Of course, there was some downtime for enjoying the amenities and yummy treats at the hotel so you could find me at the pool until I got sunburned. Please don’t judge my soft serve ice cream technique!

Naturally, being drawn to animals, I couldn’t help but get all the photo ops I could of the creatures I wouldn’t normally see on a regular basis. What I learned was that the brown looking raccoon animal is called a Coati typically, but when I asked a lifeguard what it was called, they said a different name so I researched and found that these animals can be called any of the following:

  • Coati
  • Coatimundi
  • Pizot
  • Hog Nosed Raccoon
  • Tejon
  • Moncun
  • Cusumbo
  • Cuchucho
  • Cholugo
  • Gato Solo

Depending on where you are because they can be found across North and South America, Central America, Brazil and Mexico. Tejon is the one that I was told.

After our free day, the final obligation was the farewell dinner on the last night we were there, so we were shuttled to Bahia Principe Grand Tulum to eat at the Tequila Restaurant. They entertained us with some traditional Mexican music, but the real treat was getting back to Bahia Principe Akumal for the silent disco.

Just like that, the trip came to an end on the 4th day with all the advisors departing at different times to get back to CUN for their return flights. I and a few other advisors had flights that were late enough to afford us a final breakfast together and even a couple hours at the pool still before having to officially check out.

The tours and activities we had, the information I received and the connections I made were so invaluable that I have a ton of gratitude for this trip and I’m looking forward to future ones. But the real benefit is what I am able to now pass along to clients based on this trip.

Until the next one 💖

| Adventure Awaits |