Great location in a town that is losing its charm. Roof deck is fabulous - great food, view and people. Rooms are too hip for their own good. I am not one to prefer having your bathroom and bedroom in the same place, and so this place got on my nerves from the outset. The blinds/shades that separate your bed from the restaurnt tables a few feet away do not really provide 100% privacy (ok, they don't provide 80% privacy). The shower, despite it's location next to the bed, has fantastic water pressure. If I go back to Playa, probably will look for somewhere else to stay.

My partner treated me to 3 nights at this hotel over Christmas. He booked directly with them and was given a rate for the room. CHECK-IN: When we arrived and checked in, there was some confusion about the price of the room and a higher rate was quoted to my partner. After pointing out that he had received a lower rate confirmed by email, the original quoted price was reconfirmed. Hopefully this was just an innocent mistake... Watch out for the fact that the initial prices don't include VAT OR local taxes though! (This is stated on the hotel's website). Check-in is from 3pm - we arrived a couple of hours early and they said they would have our room prepared within about an hour and we could leave our bags with them, so we took a walk down to the beach nearby. HOTEL - General: The Basico is a design-conscious hotel for the young and trendy. The fittings and furnishings are mostly made from recycled objects. The rooftop has a bar, comfortable 'beds' to lounge on, and two small pools in the form of large vats. Very cool. Surely the location of many a fashion photo shoot. At night there was music on the rooftop, and we could definitely hear it quite clearly from the room we were in, though being heavy sleepers this didn't bother us too much. There is a restaurant at the hotel and breakfast is available (surcharge) - we didn't eat there so I can't comment on the food. The staff were generally friendly, and young and trendy like most of the other guests! According to the hotel website children are not allowed. ROOM: The room was one of the 'patio view' ones. It was interestingly decorated - slightly 'clinical', but with a few quirky touches (flippers under the bed, a Polaroid camera chained to the bed - film for it was available in the room at an extra cost). The bed was metal-framed and quite high up - I felt like I was on some kind of (admittedly comfortable!) operating table!! There was a mirrored wall behind a set of hand-basins, the exposed pipes serving as towel rails. What with the Polaroid, the operating table bed, the mirrored wall, and a fluorescent light, it seemed like the set of some kind of porn movie! The room was accessed by a sliding glass door, and the rest of this wall of the room is also glass. There were rubber strips which form curtains on this window-wall, but, as mentioned by another reviewer, you feel quite exposed to the view of people walking past because the 'curtains' are just a number of strips. We could see into our neighbour's room when she had the curtains 'closed'. The toilet was in a small cubicle on one side of the room, and the shower on the other side of the room. It consisted of a large shower head over a square, high-sided tub - not your average bathtub or shower, but it had good water pressure! There were shampoo and conditioner provided in quirky, ketchup-style bottles, and a bar of soap. There was a small amount of hanging space, one drawer and a useful pull-out stand under the bed for luggage. Other room details: * TV with DVD * Stocked mini bar (prices are provided in the room) * Telephone * Wireless internet connection * Air conditioning * No hairdryer or safety deposit box in the room itself, though these might be available if you ask at the front desk. * Water - In some hotels in Mexico we've noticed that drinking water is provided, since drinking the tap water is not recommended. There was a glass bottle of water in the room, but it came with a price tag of $50 Mexican pesos! (approx. USD $4.50/ 3 euro) * There was also a small container with cotton wool and cotton buds - with a price tag of $250 Mexican pesos!! (approx. USD $22 or 15 euro) - that HAD to be a misprint, but we didn't use them just in case!! These are nice touches, but not when they come with a price tag - in a hotel of this price range we would expect that if such items are left in the room at all, then they are for the guest's use free of charge. * A note for anyone with reduced mobility:* The pool requires climbing a few steps to get in. There IS a lift in the hotel. The shower/bath and bed in our room would not be easy to get in and out of - check if there are other rooms which are more suitable.

Last February myself and 3 other guys took a trip to Playa and stayed at Basico. I have stayed in many hotels around the world. Basico ranks high on the "great vibe" chart but was a little noisy for me. The hotel is cool, rooms are nice, beds and linens are great and the Staff is excellent. But when I returned to my room at 2am each night after hitting the clubs, the music at the rooftop bar is still rocking. When we were there, a couple had moved to Basico from their sister property down the street because it was worse. However, I must the say the bars at both at both places are very cool and worth a visit.

We did a road trip from Mexico City down to Playa del Carmen & back up again. We had a very long journey & had driven through the night which had rather disorientated us, & when we arrived at Basico they couldn't find our reservation, this was through no fault of theirs. It was ours, we accidentally arrived a day early! This was not a problem & they showed us to our room. Firstly let me say, you will not be dissapointed with the appearance of this hotel, it looks exactly as it does on the website & is very well maintained - everything looks brand new. Our room looked onto the courtyard, the bed is elevated & super comfy, there is a big book for you to draw & scribble in & look at other peoples drawings & scribbles, they even supply a polaroid camera for which you can buy film (also in the room). A sink each, huge bath, separate toilet cubicle complete with disco ball light pully. It even has one of the 'libre' (free) signs from the Mexican taxi's in the window, which you flip down when you go out so they can come & clean your room. The roof terrace did not dissapoint, with the big round tanker/pool & the bar staff are lovely & the cocktails are fab & really not that expensive at all. They also do food, we had a few snacky things, which were delish.. They have a little area in the reception where they sell cool little bits & pieces. They are incredibly helpful here & for such a hip hotel, the staff are not pretentious or snotty in any way at all. They make an effort to remember who you are & one day when my partner went to the terrace without me, they asked where I was... This is quite a 'party' hotel, so if you want quiet early nights - forget it, lots of people seemed to be coming to the hotel in the evenings to go to the terrace to have cocktails & listen to the dj - who plays most nights, plays late. This has now taken over from the Hudson (NYC) as the coolest hotel I have ever stayed in. It was the full package, it was unsual, beautiful, well maintained, excellent value for money & the service was absolutely faultless. This was the first time in my life where I would have been quite happy just to be in the hotel all day. I would highly recommend this hotel, the designer is brilliant & I hope whoever it is designs lots more because I will stay at them all. THANK YOU BASICO x