Although a good value I wouldn't stay hear again. I agree with the previous review that the staff was too chilled out. I don't really need anybody all up in my business but the staff really seemed like they hated being there.

Also, I know I'm in a foreign country and I speak very little spanish. I will admit that but its very frustrating when the staff who I know speak and understand english perfectly will pretty much only talk to you in spanish. Really frustrating. They also are not very good at responding to emails if you have questions ahead of time.

The location is way at the end of the strip so you a ways from beach and the bikes were not all that great especially for the price. The rooms were dank and we pretty much tried to stay out of them until you had to go to bed. They're the kind of rooms that more than one night feels like way too many nights.

The breakfast was really hit or miss. The first day it was eggs and tortillas and an orange, second day eggs and tortillas and an orange, third day slice of toast with jam. So kind of unpredictable. If you're headed out on a big day you'll need to pick up a second breakfast which kind of defeats the purpose of this breakfast. Lower the rates and ditch the breakfast would be my advice.

The only good thing I would say is that the showers always had hot water.

The staff at this hostel are very chilled out. Perhaps TOO chilled out, but that's okay I guess, considering the alternatives.
We had a double room on the ground floor. The room was simple but clean, however it had a bit of a dank smell.

Pros:
1. Free breakfast (acceptable quality, but not many options).
2. Honour system with the water - they have a big plastic jar where you can fill your bottle and pay for it - saves plastic!
3. Nice taco stand nearby.
4. Moderately priced.
5. Friendly and nice staff, with lots of tips (esp if you speak Spanish).
6. Nice, large common areas to relax and meet travellers in.
7. Kitchen access.

Cons:
1. Location is a little bit off-center, but easily walkable from the town center and the bus station.
2. The staff can be a little too laid-back. When we were checking out, the guy with the cash was away so we had to wait for him to return to get our key deposit back.

Overall, our experience at this place was extremely agreeable. We stayed here two nights, and only checked out and went to another place because we wanted something ON the beach. Casa del Sol is a great option for Tulum town. Tulum town itself is a bit far from the beaches and the ruins.

Be very careful with the payment and pay all nights you want to stay upfront!! They seem to not control their online bookings very well since we arrive without booking, paid for one night and said we might stay 2 or 3 nights. The next morning they told us to leave since they had reservations and no rooms left. We asked how they could throw someone out that was already in a room and they just told us we should have paid all the nights we wanted to stay in advance. We had already told them one of us is sick with stomach problems and needs to rest but that doesn´t seem to matter at all. One other really bad thing is the toilet paper, it is not available in the bathrooms. Each time you need to go to the common area and take the toilet paper you need from a huge roll. Not very nice when you have an upset stomach and on top of it the roll runs out half way through the night and there is no one around to ask for more. Worst service so far!!!

Casa del sol is a great cheap option away from the main road. It's a couple blocks south and 1 block west of the centre. Stayed in one of the dorms. there's a very social common area right next to the dorms which means things get noisy in the mornings and nights (although Lucia, wonderful woman who runs the place, makes people quiet down by 11pm - midnight). You can rent bikes from the hostel (but there are usually less bikes than people who want them, so make sure to grab Eric as soon as he emerges in the morning if you want one) and snorkel gear (also thru Eric). Breakfast is hit or miss, some days it's just a bread roll and butter, other days you get fried eggs or rice (but always coffee). Free wifi but it often seemed to go down when I was there. Lockers are in a separate room to the dorms, where grandma (?) sleeps, so it's sometimes shut/locked when you need to access your valuables, but this wasn't a big deal