we were looking for some peace , and the supouse spirituallity you would find in Tulum, discontracted people, hippies and chamanic spirience. Nuno made the perfect bussiness. He propouse us to stay there , but, plus our rent , we have to give some work skop . No food or warm water is included .He offer 60 us for a wrong made tippi , and the "posibility " to work for him !!!. He has a group of hippies who made a charm to the place, and give an atractive sfier there. So, it s a " Perfect esoterical bussiness "

I have just returned from a trip to Mexico where my partner and I spent seven nights in Tulum, three of which were spent at the Uno Astro Lodge.

The lodge itself does have its own unique charm. The cleaning and cooking staff were of a very high standard and the breakfast was simply delicious - the best bit about staying there.

However there were too many negatives to our stay here to make it even remotely relaxing and enjoyable. For a start there was no electricity which I felt was not clearly stated beforehand. This wouldn't have bothered me as much if I could have prepared a little better.

I felt that too much attention was put on the classes provided by the lodge; yoga, meditation, healing etc and taken too seriously, rather than focusing on keeping the customers happy. One day I wanted to charge my laptop at the office (they have electricity in the office) and was told I could not as they were running low on power. I was starting to wonder what I was paying all the money to stay there for.

The cabanas themselves were very rustic but equally quite beautiful - there is a composting toilet which isn't as bad as it seems and the shower has plenty of hot water and is partially outside which I found really lovely when showering in the morning or afternoon. One tip however: unless you like showering in the pitch black outside, have a shower before the sun sets. The beds were rock hard and the pillows even worse - I ended up using my beach towel as a pillow and the mosquito net is full of holes. Attention to detail seems to be lost in a meditation class somewhere.

But the final straw was when me and my partner wanted to leave. We had booked three nights and wanted to leave after the second night. We were willing to pay for the two nights we had stayed and even pay a little more for the inconvenience and asked to speak to the owner but he couldn't speak to us as he was taking readings. We were then told by the person covering the reception desk that we would have to pay for the three nights in full. However I was never shown a cancellation policy and a copy of my credit card was never asked for (they only except cash by the way).

Overall I don't feel like I was looked after in any way - I feel like I have been completely ripped off. I paid a lot of money to stay at the lodge and feel I got nothing for it. The reception staff changed every day - some of them were very helpful and friendly - but I felt that the owner of such a small lodge (there are only 6 cabanas) should have come and spoken to us to resolve the issue of us checking out early and dealt with us personally.

In my opinion if you want to stay at the beach in Tulum, book your first night somewhere so you know when you arrive you have a place to stay and then go and investigate all the cabanas along the beach. Each place has it's own style and atmosphere and often the owners do you a better deal if you just turn up on the day. Me and my partner found some lovely places, at a much better price then Uno and with more to offer.

It's a shame but I would never go back to the Uno Astro Lodge and would never recommend it to anyone I know.

We went there on January 2011. I will start with the possitive experiencies as this was what we wanted to have: yes, it's quiet, located right on the beautiful beach Tulum, nice organic breakfast.
Not so positive experiences: we all know that human mistakes can happen. But when we arrived one day at around 7pm the guy in reception told us there was one situation with the Cabin "Gaia" which we had reserved since October 2010 by paying 50% of the room by then. Looks as they didn't even know what was happening and they had some disorganisation: apparently the previous guest was still using the Cabin Gaia, it was 7pm and we could not get in because of that. The reception guy offered us to stay in another smaller Cabin (Supernova) for the first night, which was smaller, cheaper and had no terrace. We denied and said this situation was just not acceptable and we asked to talk to the owner (Nino) but "he was busy cooking for a yoga class". So the reception guy offered that we could speak with him only in the kitchen. We had to go to him and we kindly asked for a solution. He said that staying at Cabin "Supernova" with a price compensation would solve it. We honestly saw no "compensation" at all on that, since "Supernova" is actually cheaper than "Gaia" and paying just less for one night would not solve the problem and our main impression on their service. He said that "our blood pressure" was too high to discuss further with us and that maybe the day after we could speak to him (not that he would not come back to us, nope, instead we had to look for him again). What kind of answer is this? Honestly the first impression the hotel and the owner gave us was not the best. Nevertheless if we wouldn't have had this experience at our arrival, our impresion on the hotel and the owner would have been a better one. Looks as they care more about their Yoga workshops and Yoga guests rather than the Cabin guests. By the way after 9pm there are some yoga workshops so if you don't mind hearing chants with guitarrs and clapping hands when you want peace and silence before going to bed, then this is certainly not the right place for you.
The reception girl Carolina was very nice and interested in us. Too bad she wasn't there when we arrived on the first day.
There was some green fangus surface on the shower floor in Gaia (attached picture), be careful because it can be a bit slippery and bring your own flashlight! - we were never warned by the lodge staff before that you should get one as the candles they provide you are certainly not enough - in our opinion -.
I completely find nice that there is no electricity, that makes the lodge somehow special but in case of emergencies there is absolutely no cel phone signal.
The bed was also too small (on the height). Attached picture.

While we were at Uno we experienced a higher state of peace of mind and body. Start your day rising to a spectacular sunrise, going for a swim and meditation. Then eating delicious organic foods, such as homemade pastries, bread, fresh fruit and fresh seafood followed by lounging on the beach or in a hammock. Or instead, partaking in one of the group yoga or dance sessions.

We had first visited Uno in 2006 when we scouting out places for the guests of our wedding to stay. At that time Nuno (one of the owners) was still building and could not accomodate our guests. But after that first meeting we knew we would have to come back another time.

We recently celebrated our 3rd anniversary there and the only regret we have is that it took us so long to get back. The energy that surrounds the grounds is that of tranquility and peace. Nuno and Katarina have put there hearts into every aspect of the Lodge and it is evident.

The grounds offer beautiful electricity free cabanas, with outdoor showers and composting toilets. You are provided with a candlelit atmosphere and showers by moonlight. The toilets are very well maintained by the staff and are a far fetch from what some might envision to be a "port-a-potty". This may seem daunting to some who are extremely acclimated to full service accommodations. However, I encourage you to open your mind to a place that respects the land that we tread on and is doing their part to preserve the breathe taking habitat and natural resources that draw us to this unique place.
Hats off to you Uno AstroLodge! We will return soon!!!