9 August 2026
The advertised price is one line in a longer sum. The full arithmetic: six items in the monthly cost, four in the move-in cost, and the clauses that decide your year.
The advertised price of an apartment is one line in a longer sum. People arriving from abroad find this out in month two, when August's electricity bill competes with the maintenance fee nobody mentioned.
Renting for a year in central Playa del Carmen is planned differently from renting for a week. Below is the full arithmetic, in the order worth assembling it. They're specific questions: copy them and ask them on the first call, with us or with anyone else.
Take the advertised price and start adding. Six answers give you the true figure.
1. The maintenance fee. Ask whether it's included or paid separately, and have the answer written into the contract. In some buildings the owner covers it; in others it falls to the tenant. The difference between the two is felt every month.
2. Electricity. Almost always the occupant's responsibility. In this climate, with air conditioning, the bill surprises anyone coming from a temperate one. The useful question is specific: what did the previous tenant pay in August? The annual average hides exactly the month that matters.
3. Water. Depends on the building. Sometimes it's inside the maintenance fee and sometimes it's metered per unit. Confirm it with the building manager, not with the listing.
4. Gas. Ask whether it's a shared stationary tank or an individual one, and who supplies it.
5. Internet. Confirm whether the building already has a service or you need it installed. Installation takes days and is worth booking before the move.
6. Parking. This one deserves separate attention: confirm whether the unit has an assigned space, whether it's first-come-first-served, or whether there is none. In the town centre, an apartment without a space changes the whole equation if you have a car.
Add up all six. That's your monthly cost, and now it can genuinely be compared against another apartment.
The move-in cost is the other half of the sum, and it usually gets less planning time than it needs.
Have the total before you reserve. A holding deposit is handed over quickly and recovered slowly.
A residential tenancy usually runs twelve months. These three decide what that year will be like.
The annual increase. It should be defined against a clear, verifiable reference. A fixed percentage or a published index will do; "as determined by the landlord" leaves the door open.
Early termination. It's worth agreeing what happens if you need to leave in month seven. When the contract is silent, the default interpretation rarely favours the person leaving. A reasonable penalty with prior notice protects both sides.
Who repairs what. The general rule splits it this way: installations and structure to the owner, minor maintenance to the tenant. The borderline case is always the same — the air conditioning that stops cooling. In Playa that stops being a detail in April. Worth putting in writing, explicitly.
The amount matters less than these three conditions, which are rarely agreed properly:
That inventory takes twenty minutes and decides a conversation that will happen a year later, when nobody remembers what the hallway wall looked like.
Ask for the deed alongside an ID. When the person renting is a manager or a relative, also ask for the document authorising them to let the property.
It's a two-minute check that avoids the market's most uncomfortable scenario: handing over a deposit and first month to someone without authority to let, and finding out when the actual owner turns up.
Central Playa del Carmen changes a great deal over a few streets. Four things worth checking yourself, on site:
The distance to Quinta Avenida. Close means walking everywhere, and it also means night-time noise on the stretches with bars. A few blocks of separation change life entirely for anyone working from home. Visit the apartment at night, on a weekend. It's the only way to know.
The real distance to the sea. "Five minutes from the beach" is a phrase without units. Ask for the street and avenue, and measure it on a map.
Where the sun comes in. A west-facing façade heats up all afternoon, and that goes straight onto the electricity bill.
Construction nearby. Look at the whole block. A building site half a block away means several months of living alongside it.
Between December and April there are more people, more traffic and more movement. That's postcard Playa del Carmen, and it's true. The rest of the year the city turns the volume down, you walk differently, and you get to know your neighbours better. That's true too.
Sargassum arrives in certain periods and affects some beaches more than others. It's a seasonal reality of the Mexican Caribbean, with good spells and spells of more work on the sand.
We say it from the outset because whoever arrives knowing both May and January stays happily. Living here well starts with knowing what the whole year is like.
Six questions for the monthly cost, four items for the move-in cost, three clauses and three deposit conditions. It fits on one page and works with any landlord.
Long-term rentals in the town centre are most of what we do: we know the buildings, we know which ones raise their fees every year, and which managers answer the phone. If you'd like us to go through a contract with you before signing — even if the property is someone else's — write to us. The consultation is free.
General information only; it does not constitute legal advice. The terms of each contract vary and must be reviewed individually. Measurements, fees and terms are approximate and subject to document verification. Price and availability subject to change without notice.