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Relaxing and serene hotel near 5th Avenida. One of the finest hotels in Playa and very reasonably priced.
10th Avenida near Calle 14
Downtown
The Tortuga Hotel and Spa is a quiet and lovely little hotel located near the heart of Playa's downtown scene. This is a high-end hotel at a very reasonable price, with many amenities. You are sure to have a relaxing vacation here without having to worry about any of the little things that tend to go wrong at many other local hotels.
The hotel offers a serene environment designed to help you relax and get away from it all. Located one block away from 5th Avenida, it is close enough to walk to the major destinations in town but far enough away where you won't be bothered by the noisy late night crowds. It is two blocks away from the beach, but if you are planning on spending most of your time in the sand, it is something you may want to take into consideration.
Most visitors to this hotel rave about the wonderful meandering pool which winds around the foliage through the center of the hotel. It is very unconventional in that winds all through the property, even leading to the very door of five "swim-up" rooms. There is a bar by the pool area and enough lounge chairs so that you don't have to wake up early just to get a pool-side seat. One of the more artistic touches is a walking bridge across the pool that appears to be made up of rocks floating on the surface of the water.
The hotel has five styles of rooms ranging from 10 standard rooms, 5 swim-up rooms, and 11 deluxe junior suites. The rooms are immaculately maintained and all have tiled floors and aztec decor. The main differences are that the swim-up rooms allow you access the pool directly from your balcony while the junior suites are larger and have private jacuzzis. These jacuzzis are sometimes located on the roof (and have an excellent view) but one is situated on its own private patio on the ground floor. Rooms also vary by number of beds - if you are coming with 4 people, be sure to request a room with two queen sized beds, otherwise you'll get a single king size.
The rooms all include air conditioning, cable television (mostly Spanish stations), mini bar, telephone, ceiling fan, safe deposit box, coffee machine, and hair dryer. You will need to request an iron, should you need one. Internet access is not available from within the rooms, but you can get online wirelessly at the pool lounge area. The hotel also has a computer that you can use, but it tends to be busy so you're better off bringing a laptop PC. Finally, at the time of this writing, the Hotel Tortuga was installing flat screen televisions in some rooms.
The Tortuga has an indoor entrance to the well-known Spa Itza. This is a full-service spa that many visitors to Playa frequent (not just those who stay at the Tortuga) and certainly something that would be well worth taking advantage of.
This is an excellent choice for adult travelers, especially couples. Children under the age of 15 are not allowed, so you can expect a peaceful and relaxing stay at the Tortuga.
The Hotel Tortuga is one of the finest that we've found during our travels in Playa del Carmen. Enjoy your stay!
Traveler Tip: :
* For Christmas or Holiday season, a minimum of 7 nights are required for reservations.
* Breakfast is included and it is excellent, but it will be on the light side for many people
* The Hotel doesn't have a fitness center, but be sure to ask for complimentary gym passes.
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Reader Reviews
Just got back for a 4-day trip to Playa and stayed at La Tortuga. Not at all the fault of the hotel, but it rained almost the entire time we were there, so it was a bit of a downer. This was our 1st time to Playa and liked it more than Cancun. Restaurants/cafe's were great. We enjoyed our free daily breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Everyone was nice and courteous at the hotel. There was a minor issue at check-in: we had confirmed a 1st flr jacuzzi rm but were given a 2nd fl. and nothing else was available. It was diasappointing, but there was no use in arguing over it. I would advise anyone considering a jacuzzi junior suite have 3rd floor or none. Our room didn't have a balcony overlooking the pool, but the jacuzzi area was nice, air conditioning in room worked well, flat panel tv, not very noisy. The room was clean but may need a little updating soon. The pool area was great. We would recommend this hotel. Also saw some nice properties while walking around - mosquito blue looked very nice as well.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 18, 2006 3:14 PM