During our trip around Mexico, we also wanted to visit Tulum. It’s a resort that isn’t talked about as much as Cancún, but which I think is definitely one of the most beautiful on the entire Mayan Riviera.

Is it worth staying at Shibari Tulum? How much did the stay cost?

We spent two nights at Shibari and paid a total of637 usd, including breakfast. It’s certainly not cheap, but by Zona Hotelera standards in Tulum, it wasn’t an exceptional price.

I booked the Shibari Hotel in the usual way via Booking.com; I didn’t come across a significantly better price anywhere else.

• 👉 Check the current price and availability of the Shibari Tulum hotel

Shibari is an adults-only hotel, and I’d particularly recommend it to couples looking for peaceful, stylish accommodation who want the hotel itself to be part of their Tulum experience.

The hotel’s biggest strengths:

• a stunning natural cenote right in the middle of the grounds
• a very peaceful setting surrounded by greenery
• spacious and stylishly furnished rooms
• a hot tub on our room’s balcony
• within walking distance of many restaurants and bars
• free access to the beaches of partner hotels

The biggest drawbacks:

• limited opening hours of the cenotes
• 20 usd s per day for parking
• limited choice at breakfast
• the hotel is not right on the beach

If you want to stay right by the sea or are expecting a large resort with several restaurants, I wouldn’t choose Shibari.

However, if you’re drawn to an intimate hotel with character, privacy and something that most other hotels don’t have, it’s a very good choice.

Why we chose Shibari

Our choice of hotel this time was based on an exceptionally ‘sophisticated’ criterion: we wanted to stay as close as possible to the ARCA bar.

In 2025, it was ranked 77th in The World’s 50 Best Bars list. Shibari is just a few minutes’ walk away, so we didn’t have to worry about taxis in the evening.

In Tulum, that’s a bigger advantage than it might seem. Uber doesn’t operate here and taxi fares are high. I discuss the best ways to get around the town in more detail in my article ‘Getting Around Tulum’.

Shibari is situated right in the liveliest part of the hotel zone, but once you enter the premises, the hustle and bustle of the main road practically disappears.

The hotel is tucked away amongst the greenery and feels much more peaceful than I would have expected given its location.

We describe the different parts of the town in more detail in our guide to where to stay in Tulum.

Check-in: a great first impression

We’re travelling to Tulum in a hire car.

We find the hotel easily; it’s well signposted and has valet parking. All we have to do is pull up in front of reception and a member of staff parks the car for us.

The check-in process is quite quick; we’re given some nice wristbands with a chip to unlock our room.

The concierge then accompanies us to our room and shows us around the hotel.

We’re also given a welcome drink in the hotel restaurant.

That was a very pleasant check-in process!

The Tuuch Cenote is the main reason to come here

The hotel’s greatest asset is its own natural cenote, Tuuch.

This isn’t some small decorative pool that the marketing department has hyped up as a natural wonder, but a truly beautiful cenote around which the entire complex is built.

Of course, Gran Cenote and Aktu Chen are much larger, but of the smaller cenotes in the Tulum area, this one is particularly lovely.

The water is crystal-clear, the surroundings are lush with greenery, and thanks to the low-rise buildings, the whole area feels very natural.

There are sun loungers and daybeds around the cenote, with a bar and staff on hand to serve you.

During our stay, the cenote was only open from 11:00 to 20:00. To be honest, I didn’t really understand why. Swimming would be most pleasant in the morning, and in the evening the cenote is beautifully lit.

However, this doesn’t detract from the cenote experience itself. It is precisely this that sets Shibari apart from the dozens of other designer hotels, of which there are plenty in Tulum.

The Cenote Bar

You could easily spend a whole relaxing day at the cenote.

The area is surrounded by sun loungers and a bar where you can order drinks, soft drinks or light meals.

I really liked the vegetarian quesadillas with spinach. Absolutely brilliant!

The prices here are quite reasonable: just like in the restaurants along the Zona Hotelera.

Tacos and quesadillas cost around 300 mxn, bowls around 400 mxn and alcoholic cocktails around 300 mxn.

As well as the little fish, the atmosphere at the cenote is enlivened by numerous water birds.

The overall atmosphere is really lovely, clean and full of handy touches such as free sun cream and a cold-water shower.

The Tuuch cenote looks stunning at night when it’s lit up.

Unfortunately, however, swimming is not allowed after 8 pm and the bar is closed. You can, however, lie on the sun loungers and just relax.

Hotel design: the name sounds bolder than the reality

If the name Shibari has aroused your curiosity, raised your concerns, or both, you can rest assured. The hotel, themed around the Japanese art of bondage, takes a very subtle approach.

Ropes and other themed details feature in the interiors and guest rooms, but nothing comes across as vulgar or tacky.

The result is rather elegant, slightly mysterious and always very tasteful.

The whole complex is surrounded by greenery. Instead of a traditional large hotel building, you’ll find low-rise buildings scattered around the cenote.

It is precisely this combination of nature, understated design and a small number of guests that creates an atmosphere which we fell in love with at first sight.

A room with a hot tub on the balcony

Our room was spacious, beautifully furnished and equipped with everything we needed during our short stay.

The interior was in keeping with the style of the hotel as a whole, but the themed elements were, once again, subtle.

We made the most of the balcony with its own hot tub. In hot Tulum, this might not sound like an absolutely essential feature on paper, but we ended up really enjoying it.

Perhaps that was also because we discovered that you could adjust the water temperature, so you could turn a hot hot tub into a pleasant, refreshing one.

The room was also quiet and offered plenty of privacy. We couldn’t hear any noise from the other rooms, and from our balcony we could only see a small part of the neighbouring balcony at most.

Handy features in the room

This is something I always think about quite a lot on every trip.

They may be minor details, but they can help with planning and make your stay easier.

At Shibari, there was really nothing missing from my room:

• a capsule coffee machine
• a hairdryer
• safe
• 2 free bottles of water every day
• bathrobe, slippers

What’s missing, for example, is an iron and an ironing board.

There is also a minibar available for a fee. For example, soft drinks cost 75 mxn and wine 150 mxn.

As well as chilled drinks, there are also crisps, biscuits and condoms.

Breakfast and the hotel restaurant

Breakfast is served à la carte only.

I still can’t quite decide whether I prefer this to a buffet breakfast or not. After all, you do tend to overeat less this way.

Here, breakfast is served in the restaurant by the cenote.

To be honest, the choice is rather limited; it focuses mainly on Mexican dishes, but you can also have a traditional English breakfast.

I was unpleasantly surprised by the restrictions on drinks – the price of breakfast includes unlimited water, but only one juice or one coffee drink.

Shibari also has its own restaurant, ATTA, which is open for dinner.

The menu didn’t appeal to us enough during our stay to make us want to try it, and we hardly ever saw anyone in the restaurant when we walked past.

Massages and fitness

The stay also included a short, free 15-minute massage. It’s obviously mainly a taster of the paid treatments, but it was pleasant and well done.

Next to the spa centre, there’s also a yoga studio, which you can use free of charge throughout your stay.

The hotel also has its own fitness centre. It isn’t huge, but it’s perfectly adequate for a regular workout whilst on holiday and is a far better facility than the obligatory room with two machines that some hotels have the nerve to call a gym.

The hotel isn’t right by the beach, but you can still make use of it

Shibari isn’t situated right by the sea. It’s on the inland side of the main road, so you won’t see the sea from the rooms at all.

However, the hotel has an agreement with around seven neighbouring hotels, allowing Shibari guests to use their beaches free of charge, including sun loungers.

In Tulum, this is a significant advantage. Whilst access to the beach must be public by law, in practice you often find yourself searching for an inconspicuous passage between the hotels or paying a hefty bill at a beach club. With partner access, this problem is eliminated.

You can find out more about public access points, beach clubs and transport in our guide to the Zona Hotelera in Tulum.

Price: is Shibari expensive?

For two nights, we paid a total of 637 usd including breakfast, which works out at just under 319 usd per night. Parking was charged separately and cost 20 usd per day. That’s quite a lot.

In absolute terms, it’s a high price. However, within the main Zona Hotelera area, Shibari wasn’t particularly out of line price-wise, and for our money we got an experience that a standard beach hotel simply doesn’t offer.

The value here isn’t created by the number of restaurants, a huge swimming pool or the services of a large resort.

You’re mainly paying for the atmosphere, privacy, design and the chance to swim in a stunning cenote right in the middle of the hotel.

Check prices for the Shibari Tulum hotel

What are the transport options without a car?

There are always local taxis waiting outside the hotel, and of course the reception can call one for you at any time, 24/7.

If you’re heading to the hotel from the airport and want to book a transfer in advance – bear in mind that Uber and other common apps don’t work in Tulum – a good option is to book a transfer via Booking.com.

It works out cheaper than the transfer arranged directly by the hotel, which Shibari offers from Tulum and Cancún airports.

Our overall rating

We enjoyed our stay at Shibari and would happily have stayed there for longer than two nights.

The rooms are beautiful, the setting is surprisingly peaceful, and the hotel’s own cenote gives it a truly unique character.

We also appreciate the option of free access to the beaches at neighbouring hotels and the location within walking distance of good restaurants and bars.

Three things were missing to make the stay truly flawless: longer opening hours for the cenote, a more varied selection of food, and parking included in the price.

Shibari simply embodies the very essence oftranquillity, relaxation and an extraordinary experience.