Cancun hotel recommendations

We always stay at the Moon Palace. Most relaxing vacations ever.

Thanks Aly, I will look at your recommended hotel.

Which is better for a short trip, Cancun or Tulum?

I would stay in Tulum (pueblo) if you have a choice. There are a lot of smaller boutique type hotels there, more more mellow than Cancun which is a giant commercialized hotel zone and more local, down-to-earth downtown area. Even Tulum is changing rapidly from a small outpost to another Cancun (sadly). You can find Tulum hotels on booking.com. After having been to Cancun a number of times, I would even stay in Valladolid at least for a night (you can get there by bus from the central station). Valladolid is a small authentic Mexican colonial town with lovely small streets and architecture, which is very different than Cancun. No beaches there, however. For day trips (depending on where you're ultimately based), I'd highly recommend Valladolid, Chitchen Itza, and Tulum Mayan ruins, as well as Isla Mujeres. There are lots of sinkholes (called cenotes) all around to go swimming in, as well as the beaches. Prepare for major humidity and heat. If you go to see any of the ruins, bring insect repellant as well.

Hi Agnes,
Yes, Tulum sounds just right.
Can you recommend a hotel?
We want to swim in the ocean. So, being able to walk to the beach seems important.
Thank you

I unfortunately didn't stay overnight in Tulum (I'm stuck in Cancun because a good friend has a timeshare so we mostly stay there, although neither of us prefers it). All the Tulum hotels/bungalows/ etc. are on the beach, so access is no problem. The beach cannot be more relaxing. I can only send you a link to one place where we had dinner on a day trip, which looked like a nice place to stay.
http://www.posadamargherita.com/?lang=en

There are many others, some are pretty rustic (you can't even count on electricity except during daylight). I would look on www.booking.com to compare. I don't know how easy it will be to get a reservation this late. Cancun (proper) has thousands of tall hotels rooms, whereas Tulum is much smaller without the tall hotels.

Thank you Agnes!

Here's another idea. I had this hotel in my old photos and I recall it was nice and had a lovely gift shop (I have a little gift from that shop in my living room).

Posada Del Sol
http://www.laposadadelsol.com

I hope you have a great trip! Be sure to also see the Mayan ruins of Tulum overlooking the Caribbean Sea - it's absolutely a gorgeous and interesting place. It's not far from Tulum Pueblo (or "city").