Very Unique experience; great customer service
Review Submitted: July 9, 2008
Date of Stay: June 2008
We stayed at the Shell House for a week in mid June 2008. Just from a value-point of view, it is very difficult if not impossible to find an entire house ( that you do not share) with air conditioning in the bedrooms and a beautiful private pool for what the Shell House costs. It is a very good value for the money. It does not have a DVD player or computer. By American standards, there is not 5500 square feet indoors. The 2 bedrooms are good size, and bathroom in the first floor shell is quite nice. The bathroom on the second floor is very cramped. There really is no other usable space inside-the living room is very artistic/pretty but not functional. The kitchenette is small but usable, as long as you don't want to prepare elaborate meals. The outside area around the pool and the Shell is very nice and comfortable.
The house could use some up dating, but nothing that is horrible. The house does sit on a major road on the island. Daytrippers from Cancun come by at a pretty constant rate, and tours stop and take pictures. This can happen dozens of times per day. Again, this can be a non issue or very annoying depending. One issue that I feel I must add for full disclsure, is that there is a full sized bus to the side of the House. It does add some character, but it was a bit of a surprise initially. The little restaurant at the Mayan Temple at the very tip of the island is very good, although they have limited hours. A golf cart is nice to explore the island for a day, but not necessary unless you want one-$40-$45 per day. Raquel can get you a number for a taxi, and we never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes. Round trip to town is $10, and we never had any problems. Again, personal preference. Pizza Rolandis does deliver, which is a nice alternative if you want to just relax on the balcony for the evening.
Raquel and Eduardo are about as nice and accomodating hosts as you could ever want. They are very responsive to any issues with the house, and are just very nice.
Isla is a great experience. BUT, it is not Cancun. It lacks some of the amenities and glitz, and is a little more real/gritty. Downtown is great with wonderful restaurants and cantinas. If you are into natue, I would recommend the Granja Tortuga ( Turtle Farm) and you can see turtles and dolphins off the cliffs at the Mayan Temple.
I would highly recommend Isla and the Shell House, but, you neeed to have realistic expectations.
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Helpful votes: 17/17
marks the location of the property in Quintana Roo
