We spent three weeks in Mexico on a trip organised for us by Rutopia. Mexico was astonishing, beautiful, interesting, fun and we cannot wait to return. But we will not be doing so with Rutopia. We were put in contact with Rutopia via the site Kim Kim, which is an independent travel website putting users in touch with country experts… ostensibly. I’d used Kim Kim before and had been happy with the resulting trip. Not this time.
Rutopia seemed great before setting out. They were friendly and efficient in their communication and their detailed itinerary also seemed fine. Their local contact – via WhatsApp was helpful, friendly and responded quickly. But the sheer number of providers they subcontract to and the subcontractors in-turn subcontracting to others make for a supply chain of chaos. And we start to see things change a day or two before we depart.
First, Rutopia was unable to book us tickets to the Frieda Khalo museum (this was part of the detailed itinerary we paid for). They blamed the large visiting New Year’s Eve crowds buying up all the tickets. I thought it was odd because we had planned the trip with them months before, so if Rutopia – as local experts – would expect crowds, they’d be able to jump on the tickets right away. Or Rutopia would have alerted me to this possibility so I could’ve made sure to be on the alert as soon as the tickets went on sale. Rutopia proposed a virtual reality Khalo experience instead, but we weren’t interested. I opted instead for a free day in CDMX. Did Rutopia offer a refund for that day? No. And I thought it was odd, but I didn’t ask for one. The reason: at our request, Rutopia got us an upgraded room in the hotel they had booked for us. We requested the upgrade because our original room had a paper-thin connecting door to the next room and we could hear our next-door neighbours clearly as if they were in the room with us. Five days of that was a non-starter. So, considering the upgrade, I didn’t ask for a refund for that day. We had a lovely time on our own and visiting Teotihuacan as per our itinerary.
Second, we depart CDMX and our flight arrival time was not listed properly on our itinerary. That didn’t affect us, but the transfer driver had been told an even earlier time and had been waiting for us for something like three hours. We thought it was odd, but again, didn’t suspect what was about to happen.
Third, our departure from San Cristobal was scheduled for 3am via a private transfer. This was clearly stated in our detailed trip itinerary Rutopia drafted for us and which we agreed before paying them a five-figure sum for our trip. We would then stop en-route to visit two waterfall areas.
At 3am on the designated day, a large, multi-person van pulls up. The driver is cross seeing our luggage and says he would’ve sent a different vehicle if he knew we had luggage. We thought this was odd. It wasn’t a lot of luggage for two people travelling for three weeks: a weekend-sized rollaboard, a large duffel bag (these were the two largest pieces), two small rucksacks/daypacks, a small camera bag and a small handbag. This attitude and the type of vehicle prompted me to ask if we would be the only persons. The driver said no. He needed to pick up more people between 3am and 5am. We were merely the first stop.
We were stunned. I explained, in my basic Spanish, we had paid for a private transfer. The driver calls his boss (not Rutopia – each driver we’ve had so far and would have for the trip is from a different company – supply chain hell as I previously mentioned) and the boss tells him he doesn’t know what’s going on. The driver asks us for a confirmation voucher. We never received any vouchers from Rutopia and no one until then had asked us for any. It’s the digital age after all, and we had our detailed itinerary, which I showed the driver. The driver is now visibly annoyed with us and asks us what we want to do. It’s after 3am, we’ve checked out of our hotel and we are trapped. So of course we say we will stay on the bus and make the several hour journey like this. But this wasn’t satisfactory to the driver! He drives us back to the hotel and dumps us there. In Spanish he says to the passenger in the seat next to him that he’s washing his hands of us. My spoken Spanish isn’t good, but my understanding of it is excellent. I hear this clearly.
We’re now back at the hotel. I’ve messaged Rutopia, called them and nothing – obviously, it’s almost 4am. I next call the transfer company and I speak to who I believe is the driver’s boss. That person tells me there’s no private transfer for that day and if I want the same driver to return. Of course I say yes to have him return. That’s what we had said to the driver originally. We had no choice!
When the van arrives back at our hotel, it’s full of passengers and there’s no room for our luggage. We spend the next six hours jammed with most of our luggage on our laps, in seats not next to each other, on the tortuous roads of Chiapas. Because we had believed we had a private transfer, we had left our bathing suits (for the waterfall stops) in our luggage as we believed we would have easy access to them. The reality was our luggage was piled with others’ and things had to be moved just for all the passengers to be able to get out of the van. We were utterly unprepared for the hell trip this was and were extremely disappointed we couldn’t go swimming. Of course the sights were beautiful, but they were marred by the utter discomfort of the trip. Had we paid for this type of transfer and had a backpacker trip in mind, then fine. But that’s not what we paid five figures for.
Our itinerary also detailed a sunset visit to the ruins of Palenque as the final activity for that day. Did that happen? Nope. We were dropped off at our hotel around 12.30 or so. Check-in wasn’t until 3pm, but were able to get into our rooms a little earlier.
When the Rutopia in-country representative came back on line I requested a refund. The in-country representative said the transfer was meant to be shared and didn’t know why her colleagues had written private. We were shocked by this. I pointed to the detailed itinerary showing clearly the transfer was private. The itinerary is the contract we agreed to with Rutopia and they couldn’t change significant things and just say oops. I asked about the sunset tour of the ruins and nothing. That didn’t exist either. So we had had a hell trip from 3am for nothing.
I asked for a refund of that day. Reluctantly, Rutopia agreed and said it would be in my account a few days later. It’s now weeks later and it’s not there.
After this incident, there were others. For example, one driver was told to pick us up at 8am, but our itinerary says 9am and that’s confirmed the day before by the in-country representative. During the day, we discover he had been waiting for us from 7.30am. And no wonder he was sullen when we stroll up at 9am with no apology. Both of us had been under different instructions.
Another example, I had mentioned several times in the discussions with Rutopia we are vegan. And where do we go for one of our activities – a crocodile farm. The activity listed was for a boat trip, but it didn’t list we would be going to a crocodile farm, which we would have refused. The boat trip itself was nice, but the nature of it was totally different on the detailed itinerary. And that happened a lot. Things would be described in one way on the itinerary, but would be quite different in reality. It was as if Rutopia hadn’t updated themselves on what was actually happening on the ground.
Our breakfasts were included, but only one hotel during the entire three weeks seemed to have gotten the message we are vegan. And kudos to them. The irony was there were even vegan hotels in many of the places we stayed, but Rutopia didn’t suggest them to us. And as this was not a trip I planned, I didn’t do all the research. After all, I believed I was paying for someone to do that.
This disconnect between paper and relity was reflected in some of the hotels. In particular, the hotel in Punta Morelos. Ostensibly a three-star hotel given the three stars on its façade. In reality, a mouldy, 1980s nylon curtained, tired two stars at best. Again, if that’s the trip we had paid for, then ok. But at the five figures we spent, then no. Not acceptable.
Rutopia is disorganised. They have to make their margins wherever they can and so do their subcontractors. At the end of this stick is the driver and the traveller. And the poor in-country representative who has to hear the traveller’s complaints. So, never again Rutopia.
Hotel Reviews
Hotel El Moro
Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
This is a two star hotel at best. Mouldy, badly in need of an update, motel style nylon curtains and a common area which could be the site of a crime show. Avoid
Cleanliness & Comfort
everything
Guayaba Inn
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
Lovely place, spacious room, beautiful gardens.
No vegan food available.
Hotel Punto Mx
Mexico City
Do not get a room with a connecting door. The connecting doors are paper thin and you'll be able to hear next door as if they were right in the room with you. However, the location is great. And the upgraded room we eventually got was terrific.
No vegan food.
Hotel La Aldea del Halach Huinic
Palenque
The rooms are bleak and need an update. But they're clean and the bed is comfortable. The location is great though with lots of wildlife and trees. The restaurant was pretty good too. They had vegan food.
Casa Don Gustavo
Campeche
This was the best hotel of our trip. They were the only ones who actually had gotten the message of our dietary requirements and prepared accordingly. The location is perfect. The rooms and the entire property are gorgeous.
Casa Lucia Hotel Boutique
Mérida, Yucatán
Location was good. But the rooms were tired and noisy. Clean though.
Le Muuch
Valladolid, Yucatán
Small room with nowhere to put luggage other than in a corner on the floor. But nice property. Impossibly slow breakfast service. Thirty minutes just for a cup of coffee, which was all we ordered. Good location.
Activity Reviews
Private Transfer from San Cristobal to Palenque - visit Agua Azul and Misol Ha en Route
Mexico
This was hell and it wasn't a private transfer at all. I've set this all out in my detailed feedback letter. But here's an excerpt:
Third, our departure from San Cristobal was scheduled for 3am via a private transfer. This was clearly stated in our detailed trip itinerary Rutopia drafted for us and which we agreed before paying them a five-figure sum for our trip. We would then stop en-route to visit two waterfall areas.
At 3am on the designated day, a large, multi-person van pulls up. The driver is cross seeing our luggage and says he would’ve sent a different vehicle if he knew we had luggage. We thought this was odd. It wasn’t a lot of luggage for two people travelling for three weeks: a weekend-sized rollaboard, a large duffel bag (these were the two largest pieces), two small rucksacks/daypacks, a small camera bag and a small handbag. This attitude and the type of vehicle prompted me to ask if we would be the only persons. The driver said no. He needed to pick up more people between 3am and 5am. We were merely the first stop.
We were stunned. I explained, in my basic Spanish, we had paid for a private transfer. The driver calls his boss (not Rutopia – each driver we’ve had so far and would have for the trip is from a different company – supply chain hell as I previously mentioned) and the boss tells him he doesn’t know what’s going on. The driver asks us for a confirmation voucher. We never received any vouchers from Rutopia and no one until then had asked us for any. It’s the digital age after all, and we had our detailed itinerary, which I showed the driver. The driver is now visibly annoyed with us and asks us what we want to do. It’s after 3am, we’ve checked out of our hotel and we are trapped. So of course we say we will stay on the bus and make the several hour journey like this. But this wasn’t satisfactory to the driver! He drives us back to the hotel and dumps us there. In Spanish he says to the passenger in the seat next to him that he’s washing his hands of us. My spoken Spanish isn’t good, but my understanding of it is excellent. I hear this clearly.
We’re now back at the hotel. I’ve messaged Rutopia, called them and nothing – obviously, it’s almost 4am. I next call the transfer company and I speak to who I believe is the driver’s boss. That person tells me there’s no private transfer for that day and if I want the same driver to return. Of course I say yes to have him return. That’s what we had said to the driver originally. We had no choice!
When the van arrives back at our hotel, it’s full of passengers and there’s no room for our luggage. We spend the next six hours jammed with most of our luggage on our laps, in seats not next to each other, on the tortuous roads of Chiapas. Because we had believed we had a private transfer, we had left our bathing suits (for the waterfall stops) in our luggage as we believed we would have easy access to them. The reality was our luggage was piled with others’ and things had to be moved just for all the passengers to be able to get out of the van. We were utterly unprepared for the hell trip this was and were extremely disappointed we couldn’t go swimming. Of course the sights were beautiful, but they were marred by the utter discomfort of the trip. Had we paid for this type of transfer and had a backpacker trip in mind, then fine. But that’s not what we paid five figures for.
Our itinerary also detailed a sunset visit to the ruins of Palenque as the final activity for that day. Did that happen? Nope. We were dropped off at our hotel around 12.30 or so. Check-in wasn’t until 3pm, but were able to get into our rooms a little earlier.
When the Rutopia in-country representative came back on line I requested a refund. The in-country representative said the transfer was meant to be shared and didn’t know why her colleagues had written private. We were shocked by this. I pointed to the detailed itinerary showing clearly the transfer was private. The itinerary is the contract we agreed to with Rutopia and they couldn’t change significant things and just say oops. I asked about the sunset tour of the ruins and nothing. That didn’t exist either. So we had had a hell trip from 3am for nothing.
I asked for a refund of that day. Reluctantly, Rutopia agreed and said it would be in my account a few days later. It’s now weeks later and it’s not there.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Lucha Libre Experience & Mezcal Tasting
Mexico City
Fantastic night and great guide.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Shared biking experience through Teotihuacan "The City of the Gods"
Mexico City
Brilliant day. Terrific guide.
Food
restaurant had clearly marked vegan options!
Guides, Drivers and Staff
