La Zebra is part of the bigger La Zebra resort, and while there’s one address, they have two very distinct beach club vibes to offer their customers.
The main La Zebra Beach Club is all about chilling and Mexican cuisine. It’s cheaper to get in, and all the entry cost for a day bed is refunded as a food and beverage credit.
Then La Zebra Mediterranean Beach Club (Lula) is more about a lively, social vibe and Mediterranean-style cuisine. The entry costs are higher, and you get all but $100 MXN credited towards food and beverages.
Whichever experience you choose, you are given access to the hotel amenities (though some may incur additional charges), and children under the age of 12 enjoy complimentary access.
So, our team were curious about the chance to experience 2 beach clubs under one roof, and this is what they learned at La Zebra in Tulum.
Introduction – Getting To La Zebra
Where Is La Zebra? Carr. Tulum-Boca Paila 800, Tulum Beach, Zona Hotelera, 77780 Tulum, Q.R., México
Online: La Zebra
Opening Hours: 7.30 a.m. – 11 p.m. with specific additional hours for food service
What’s Available At La Zebra?
La Zebra offers a pool, day beds, sun loungers, and beachside food and drinks. It has two restaurants and a bar to choose from. In addition, there’s a jungle-gym and play area between the beach and restaurants for kids between the ages of 4 and 12.
There is an on-site spa (and wellness services) that are available to beach club guests for an additional fee.
Our Detailed Review Of La Zebra
We follow one reliable method to review all beach clubs. This helps us assess owners, managers, and staff fairly and produces consistent reviews that simplify venue comparisons.
Review steps:
- Select a team for the venue assessment.
- Each person visits the club alone on different days.
- Scorecards are completed with ratings from 1 to 5 and notes.
- The team discusses their visits and agrees on final scores.
- The review is written by one member and posted online.
Reservation and Booking Process
La Zebra does offer an online booking service, but it’s not part of their website; it’s hosted on SevenRooms, which is more of a restaurant booking service than a beach club service.
That means they have two separate pages: one for the standard service and one for the Mediterranean one, and you can’t book a specific day bed.
We can’t fathom why this wouldn’t be a key investment for any beach club owner; securing reservations is such an important part of the business, and this set-up is pure amateur stuff.
Ambience and Atmosphere
The two beach club options offer different vibes, and if you want family-friendly fun, the standard La Zebra deal is perfect. You could also opt for the Mediterranean vibes if you’re going to be finishing up early, as the socially vibrant atmosphere doesn’t really get fired up there until the afternoon.
They do a good job of transitioning the day to the night with a gentle increase in the volume and pacing of the music, etc. across the day.
Location And Accessibility
Tulum itself is reasonably easy to get to from the Americas (though the journeys may be long and involve flight changes) and less so from Europe, Asia, Africa or Australia.
Once you get to the town, La Zebra is quite a way out down the main beach strip, and you will need transportation to and from this beach club unless you are staying at the La Zebra resort or one of the other nearby resorts.
Aesthetic And Design
The boho-chic design is very typical of Tulum. Day beds that have been chosen for their ability to blend into the beach. The earthy tones and driftwood accents also help the buildings blend into the jungle backdrop.
There are some elements of vibrant colour that help to add a touch of energy to the vibe, but otherwise, there’s not much here to distinguish La Zebra from other beach clubs in the neighbourhood.
We’re not sure if this was intentional or a feature of local planning laws, but as we visited more and more beach clubs in this area, we found them to become more and more similar from a design perspective.
Staff Friendliness and Professionalism (Service Standard)
It’s fair to say that the staff are as friendly and professional as you could expect them to be in a location where they are quite clearly overwhelmed on a regular basis by the volume of guests.
La Zebra is something of a Tulum icon on the beach club scene, and you see an awful lot of people come through the doors, particularly in the peak season, and they really could use more staff to handle this spike in demand.
Service Speed and Efficiency
As you might expect, when things get too hectic, the speed and efficiency of service tends to tail off too. We found that orders were often completely forgotten, which was very frustrating.
It’s not that they are inattentive; it’s that it’s impossible to be efficient with the number of people vs. the number of staff, and it feels like there’s an almost total absence of management trying to guide and improve the situation.
Food Quality and Variety
Overall, the quality and variety of the food at this beach club is very good. Though we have to note that they don’t serve everything from the restaurants poolside, that’s a minor annoyance given you can always opt to sit in the restaurants to eat, but we’d still like not to have to move.
However, there’s no getting around the fact that this place is expensive for Tulum and no matter how tasty the fish tacos are, it’s a bit painful to pay this much for them
Beverage Selection and Creativity
The beverages are outstanding at La Zebra, and while they do command a premium price tag, we felt that it was wholly merited (and their two daily happy hours help to keep the costs down somewhat).
We can thoroughly recommend the Mezcalitas, the house speciality cocktails, which pair fresh locally produced ingredients with the hit of Mezcal to add a smoky mystery to the proceedings.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
La Zebra has an outstanding reputation for cleanliness, and we weren’t disappointed at all to find it lives up to its reputation; not only are the daybeds, pool, locker rooms, etc. kept spotless, but they handle the biggest issue in Tulum with aplomb.
Yes, the sargassum season when the noxious seaweed washes up all over the beaches, and if it’s not moved quickly enough, it starts to really stink. Fortunately, you will not be troubled by any odours here; it’s fair to say that their beach clean-up team are world class.
Comfort of Seating and Lounging Areas
The daybeds are kept very clean, and we enjoyed the large, comfortable cushions provided on these daybeds to relax on throughout the day.
Overall, while not quite the very best seating we’ve ever encountered, they were more than good enough for a day out without becoming uncomfortable.
Music and Entertainment
The music policy at this beach club is very varied, and we think one of its strengths; they opt for chill-out stuff during the days.
Then at night, they may opt for EDM or live jazz or live Latin performances. It’s important to note that the party vibe here is very much social and relaxed, and it’s not the sort of place where people dance all night long while drinking huge amounts of alcohol.
Seasonality
Tulum is tropical, and while that means both seasons can be hot and pleasant and the beach clubs don’t close down, there are two things to be wary of, all the same.
The first is a brief hurricane season where the weather may he perfect or it may be more dangerous than you’d like it to be; the second is the sargassum season when seaweed piles up on the shore, and if it’s not cleared quickly, it starts to stink.
La Zebra does a brilliant job of keeping its stretch of the shoreline clean, but this cannot be said for every business within the reach of your nose.
Pricing and Value for Money
We felt that La Zebra was good value for money, but it’s hard to describe a place as “excellent value for money” when it’s hugely more expensive than the background costs in town and more expensive than many other similar businesses.
That doesn’t mean that this place is a rip-off by any standard. We think that they’ve done a good job at providing more for your money than most other places do too.
Beach Access and Quality
The beach in Tulum looks great, and it’s nice underfoot. As we’ve already mentioned, La Zebra takes really good care of its stretch of this beach, and getting beach access as part of your trip is great, as it costs $22 per person to access the beach elsewhere in Tulum!
However, the seaweed season does mean that neighbouring stretches of beach may be fairly unpleasant at times.
Sustainability Practices
They take sustainability seriously in Tulum, and it’s one of the reasons that it’s a big draw for American tourists of a liberal bent.
La Zebra is something of a leader in this category, having either eliminated plastic use or learned to recycle and repurpose any they do use. They treat sewage water on-site for water conservation purposes and use solar panels for eco-friendly power generation.
They also donate to children’s cancer charities and work with the local community on welfare programs. La Zebra organises regular clean-up activities too, with beach, street and protected natural areas all benefiting from their efforts.
Exclusive Perks for Guests
It’s the usual towel and daybed if you opt for the more expensive minimum spend; otherwise you have to rent a towel, which may be understandable but also feels pretty cheap given the high pricing of everything you buy.
La Zebra has also missed out on the opportunity to create better tiers with better perks for their customers.
Safety and Security
La Zebra is very popular, and that comes with its own problems in Tulum. While the club itself is very secure with a round-the-clock security presence, CCTV and gated access, the area around it is not so safe.
This part of Tulum sees a lot of petty crime and occasional violent crime; while this doesn’t tend to enter the beach club grounds, there is always potential for it, and we’d suggest keeping a very close eye on your belongings and surroundings here.
Event Hosting Capabilities
They can host private events from 120 to 200 guests for fairly reasonable prices, and they do have an events team that can help to support these activities.
The beachfront shala is particularly popular for wellness activities and weddings alike.
Consistency of Experience
We felt that La Zebra was consistently very good in the experience, and our conversations with other guests, as well as a review of online commentary, make us sure that this is the case.#
However, in keeping with most beach clubs around the world, there doesn’t seem to be much effort put into evolving the experience to be “the best” either.
Additional Amenities and Facilities
The beach club has a decent range of facilities, and you get access to the hotel facilities (sometimes at an extra cost) too.
However, if you need something else, the local area is not the safest place to walk and you might need to drive a long way to get what you need.
Summary
La Zebra is something of a Tulum legend, and we can certainly see why. It’s got a great vibe, and it does almost everything very well.
We’d be happy to come back here again in the future. We particularly like the balance they create between family-friendly and gentle partying.
FAQs
Can You Go Swimming At La Zebra?
Yes, there’s a pool at La Zebra Beach Club. However, we need to stress that this is one of the busiest beach clubs in Tulum, and while you can swim if you get to the club early in the day, by the middle of the afternoon, there are usually too many people in the pool to make swimming feasible.
Beach club pools are really to help people cool off in the heat of the day, and you shouldn’t rely on them for your daily exercise; it’s best to use a sports club pool for that.
What Is There To Do At La Zebra?
You can eat, drink, relax and swim at La Zebra. Kids can make use of the high-quality child-friendly facilities such as the playground and pool.
Guests are also permitted to access other resort facilities, but we should note that these may be chargeable. So, for example, you can attend a wellness class for free, but if you want a beach massage, that will be a service you have to pay for.
We don’t think this is unreasonable; there’s no charge to enter this beach club, though you do have to agree to a small minimum spend to use the daybeds.
Is La Zebra A Child-Friendly Venue?
Yes, La Zebra beach club is family-friendly, and there are children’s facilities available at this beach club. However, as the day draws to a close, the beach club becomes more of a party spot and less of a family-friendly chillout spot.
What’s The Minimum Spend At La Zebra Tulum Beach Club?
$595 MX is the minimum spend at the standard beach club, but if you want access to the Mediterranean beach club, that rises to $1,400 MX. This minimum spend covers 2 people and any children under the age of 12 that you may have.
Is La Zebra Adult-Only?
No, La Zebra, both the resort as a whole and the beach club in particular, allows children of all ages in the door. However, after the sun goes down, it has more of a gentle party vibe (it’s not a full-on rave like at places like Taboo), and you might want to take younger children elsewhere.
Does La Zebra Have A Dress Code?
Yes, but it’s just casual wear. Beachwear is fine at the pool and at the beach bar, and everywhere else you are expected to dress just a little (but not a lot) more.
Can You Smoke At La Zebra?
Yes, but you can only smoke in designated outdoor spaces. This is in keeping with Mexican law on smoking.
Is Tulum Expensive For Tourists?
While to some extent “expensive” is a contrast to home, Tulum is expensive for Mexico, and it’s considered to be a very high-end place to spend a holiday. Tulum’s beach clubs are also considered expensive by the standards of Tulum in general.
Who Is The Owner Of La Zebra?
La Zebra is part of the Colibri Boutique Hotel Group, and their CEO is Paul Cohen. La Zebra was originally founded by the Australian John Kendall.
Final Thoughts On La Zebra
La Zebra is definitely one of the best beach clubs in Tulum, and while not everything’s perfect and like all Tulum beach clubs this place is expensive, we loved the vibe.
We’re also impressed with the efforts to keep the place clean and for this beach club’s crew to get involved with other environmentally friendly efforts in the region.
