Hotel Okaan

The worst hotel of a 20-day trip between Guatemala and Mexico. We arrived in the evening and there was no electricity. The air conditioning didn't work. There was no staff available to help us, and no one did anything. The humidity stained the walls and courtains. The roofs were cracked, with plastic covering the holes. The pool loungers (only four in a 20-room hotel) had rotten wood. The windows didn't close, with rotten or broken wood frames. The pool was dirty, full of insects, and the edge was broken. The electrical appliances were dilapidated with a risk of electric shock. Even unsophisticated travelers like us had a hard time staying a night. No refund from the hotel. No response to our complaints. Total indifference and zero customer service. Better a cheap camping!

Likes The location is simply superb and truly feels like the heart of the Selva Yucateca. The property was clearly designed (and built) as a passion project with an incredible eye for detail and some seriously fun design quirks. Of particular note are the cenote-inspired pool area and the viewpoint, which enjoys incredible views over the top of the tree canopy - and although we couldn’t, we were told that when the trees are trimmed annually, it also provides views of The Temple of the Sun in Chichen-Itza. The waiting staff and the kitchen were excellent! The food was good quality and fairly priced. Thank you fellas for the efforts made! Dislikes Unfortunately it seems that a combination of lack of continued investment and possibly, lack of a strong general manager to guide current owners, the hotel and facilities are somewhat rough around the edges. Although clearly it would take a huge amount of investment to bring this stunning property to its former glory, smaller improvements such as replacing lightbulbs, fixing ceiling fans, repairing air-con units, replacing broken pontoons, and generally spending some time with the paint brush, would go a really long way to improving the guest experience. Despite the above, we feel that what we paid for our room already took these issues into account and felt quite fair. We would gladly pay double if the hotel was in a better state of repair.

After looking at the website, we thought why not. A jungle hotel near Chichen Itza would be great. We got our rental car and made the 2.5 hr drive from Cancun. We received an “upgrade” to our reservation from standard to royal. There was nothing Royal about the accommodations. We checked in after 11 pm. There were only shutters on the screened windows, the full size bed was short for a 5’4” person. My husband at 6’4” slept in a ball to avoid half his legs hanging off the bed. Needless to say, not pleased. Cold water, low flush toilet, past guest hair in shower drain. Gross! Free breakfast consisted of slices of fruit, basket of toast, butter, jam and lukewarm plain yogurt with granola. Anything else was extra charge. Even the bottles of water we had to pay for since they only offered coffee or tea. We checked out soon after and asked for refund of second night. We couldn’t stay another night. Hopefully we will get the money back. Headed back to Cancun and in comfort at another hotel. But if you are wanting a primitive jungle hotel with none of the amenities shown on the website, this could be your best vacation. For us, it was very disappointing.