Playa del Carmen, Mexico ~ Thompson Main House

Mexico, North America 8 Minutes

February 2024

We have a pretty good track record with hotels. From five-star properties with big reputations – where we expect exceptional experiences – to more under-the-radar finds, we typically love the hotels we choose, and this makes writing about them a joy.

But either we missed the mark with Thompson House, or it missed the mark with us.

Our choice of the Thompson Playa del Carmen Main House, which is right in the center of this beach town, was driven by a handful of things. First, we wanted a warm vacation and didn’t have time to do something complicated. We’ve had terrific experiences in Mexico – particularly in Mexico City and Valladolid – and the Riviera Maya is indisputably beautiful.

When many vacationers think of the Yucatan Peninsula, they think of beachfront resorts. For us, resorts are perfect for a few days, but beyond that, we tend to feel trapped, particularly in properties far from towns or cities. Our last few vacations involved moves halfway through, which worked out well, but for this trip, we wanted to get someplace and stay put.

For a seven-night stay, we thought being right in a town but near a beach would be ideal. We looked at Tulum but didn’t find anything intriguing, and one of us had been to Playa del Carmen 20 years ago and remembered it fondly. Thompson House showed up on a few of our go-to references, and it seemed like it had potential to be a fun detour from a typical Mexican beach vacation.

Not a great start, but holding out hope

Our hour-long drive to Playa del Carmen from the Cancun airport was smooth, and a driver arranged by the hotel dropped us right at the front door (we’ll admit, by driving down a pedestrianized street). Upon checking in, we were told that the room we had booked was not available because the air conditioning was broken, but it would be ready the next day. The reception staff – in an extended back-and-forth text conversation with someone who was apparently the manager – seemed to be trying to figure out what to do with us. In the end, they said they would put us in another room and waive our resort fee as recognition for the inconvenience. So much for getting to one room and staying put…but we understand that things happen, and sometimes adjustments have to be made.

Our first room – a king room – was a downgrade from the suite we had booked. This occurred to us after our credit card had been charged but before we headed to the room. We noted this to the staff member at reception, and she said she would talk to the manager and get the charge adjusted. By that point, we were more than ready to get up to the room – and the manager didn’t seem accessible – so we said we would check back the next day when we moved rooms.

Paradise lost?

When the Thompson House opened in 2015 (we stayed in the “main” house; there is also a “beach” house), it must have been stunning. Its modern, curved façade; hallways and rooms with shiny stone floors and dark wood walls; floor-to-ceiling windows; big balconies; dramatic common areas; and an expansive rooftop pool with a bar and restaurant on either end were indisputably eye-popping.

But nine years had not been kind to Thompson House, and it seemed to us that from the moment the hotel opened, it started to decline. Of course, hotels take constant maintenance and continuous attention to service and amenity standards; we certainly understand this challenge. However, during our weeklong stay, it became clear that Thompson House wasn’t getting the attention it needed or deserved, and this showed up in ways big and small.

#127 to #132

We didn’t take time to settle into our first room because we knew we would be moving, but in some ways, the first room was better than the suite we would occupy for the remainder of our stay. It was in the middle of the semicircle and a little sheltered from the street noise below (more on that later); it had a nice seating area, a big shower, lots of storage, and fresh air conditioning. The room was a little dark, and it looked out onto the faded metal roof of the shopping center that is part of the hotel complex, but the mid-century aesthetic was a fun detour from traditional Mexican or typical beach designs. What’s more, everything in the room seemed to work.

The transition to our second room – the one we originally booked – didn’t go smoothly, and to be honest, midway through day 2 we weren’t sure we would actually make the move, as we got vague responses to our several inquiries. But in the late afternoon, a very kind porter escorted us upstairs to make the key exchange. Room #2, which had a pie-shaped footprint, was light and airy with wrap-around windows; a shower with a sliding door to the balcony, which had a deep soaking tub; and lots of space. Because this room was situated on the end of the semi-circle, we had better views out to the streets below and also a fun canopy created by a giant kapok tree. Just as we thought about the rest of the hotel, we could imagine how the room must have looked when it first opened.

And like the rest of the hotel, the room was showing its wear. The leather headboard of the bed had worn spots; the drapes that stretched the full length of one wall needed to be cleaned, as did the furniture on the balcony, which left black smudges on our clothes; the coffee cups didn’t sit squarely on the mismatched saucers; one of the sinks didn’t properly drain; the toilet ran continuously if we didn’t jiggle the handle just right; the soaking tub had hot water only on request; the room smelled musty whenever we closed the balcony doors and turned on the air conditioning; and each time we took a shower, we had to wipe up loads of water from the bathroom floor. We’ll admit, this list sounds long, but these weren’t fatal flaws. We know things can be worse. With that said, we also didn’t expect these kinds of issues from what seemed to be the premier hotel in town.

Do you want to pet a baby tiger?

In our new room, we soon realized that we were right above an “attraction” where, for a fee, tourists could pet – and get a picture with – a baby tiger. From about 8:30 in the morning to well into the night, we would hear employees calling out to tourists, “Hey guys, do you want to pet a baby tiger?” Add this to the competing mariachi bands on the street and the club music coming from every surrounding restaurant and club, and we felt a little like we were in the middle of a theme park for adults.

Because our room wasn’t exactly an oasis, we sought other spots for relaxing. The rooftop pool, like the rest of the hotel, was surely beautiful at one time and was clearly designed to provide lots of amenities. But most of those were gone or on hiatus, and the pool was so cold that it was impossible to get in without getting chilled to the bone.

Thompson’s sister property – the Thompson Beach House a few blocks away – is available to all Thompson guests. Our afternoon visit there, however, was also disappointing. After looking around a little, we found a lounge chair that wasn’t too dirty (most of them needed a good scrub), but nothing was on offer in terms of services. Instead of hearing the call to “pet the baby tiger,” we got the sounds of drills and saws in the property’s restaurant. At least, we thought, renovations were underway.

As the disappointments with the hotel grew, we decided to lower our expectations, but even then we seemed to be foiled at every turn: Our tickets for the ferry to Cozumel ordered online never arrived; our search for seven art galleries listed on Google maps turned up not a single one (most were places trying to sell a time share); and the tequila we bought to make margaritas in the room ended up all over the floor – along with the bottle that broke into what seemed like a thousand pieces –  when the shelf of the mini fridge collapsed and sent everything nearby crashing down.

We’re the first to admit that had we talked to anyone who has spent time in Playa del Carmen, we likely would have been alerted that central Playa is “party, party, party.” And we’ll also say that plenty of people looked to be having a really good time. The whole thing just wasn’t our cup of tea – or, shall we say, our shot of tequila.

Postscript: What does it mean to be part of a hotel group?

We’ve noted before in hoteling.org that we tend to prefer independent hotels over properties that are part of a chain. That doesn’t mean we won’t choose a chain, and we’ve had some great experiences at branded properties; the St. Regis, Four Seasons, and Mandarin Oriental come to mind. For our visit to Playa del Carmen, we actually thought that choosing a hotel that’s part of the Hyatt group might be a good idea. Even before we arrived, we were a little uncertain about our choice of Thompson House. It was a curveball, for sure, but having the Hyatt name attached gave us a little comfort in thinking that the hotel would meet a certain standard.

Our disappointing experience at Thompson House, which continues a month later as we try to resolve a problem with the bill, has taught us a lot about what it means to be part of hotel group. The answer? In the case of many affiliations, not much. 

One of the most frustrating parts about our stay at Thompson House was its poor management. The hotel had several kind and well-intentioned staffers who were doing their best to make disappointed guests happy, but the person or people in charge – none of whom we ever saw – were only reachable through a QR code that required texting via the What’s Up app.

What does it mean to be part of a hotel group? In the case of many affiliations, not much.

Eventually we gave up trying to resolve our issues while on site and decided to pursue them from home through Hyatt rather than directly with the hotel. Hyatt customer service sent us back to the hotel, so we reached out but haven’t received a response. We’ve now gone back to Hyatt with feedback that the hotel isn’t responding, but the effort this is requiring is starting to outweigh our desire to resolve the bill.

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