Renting out a place in Quintana Roo, Mexico: RETUR-Q, the 6% lodging tax and sargassum

What the SAT withholds through Airbnb and the other platforms is the same everywhere in the country, so we cover it once, on the page for all of Mexico.

This is not legal or tax advice, and Upbridge does not file anything for you: no registrations and no tax returns.

Sargassum isn't a two-month problem anymore. In July 2026 the Heraldo de Quintana Roo expected around 119,000 tonnes to land this year, up from 96,000 the year before, and said heavy arrivals can now last eight or nine months. The piece names Cancún, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cozumel and Isla Mujeres. So for a place near the beach, the sand, the towels and the outdoor shower need a look at almost every checkout of the year.

Because the 2024 reform wants a fire extinguisher and a first-aid kit in every property, we'd treat both as something the cleaner checks each time. An expired extinguisher or an empty kit tends to go unnoticed right up until the day someone needs it.

From Cancún airport to the Hotel Zone is 25 to 40 minutes by taxi or private transfer, and the ADO bus goes downtown but doesn't serve the Hotel Zone at all, according to GoCancún's April 2026 transport guide. So your guest needs to know how they're getting to you before they walk out of arrivals.

For the extinguisher, the first-aid kit and the sargassum sand, we set up a photo checklist with you that your cleaner follows room by room on their phone. You can make those items required, and when they finish you get a report with a timestamp on every photo.

For guests flying into Cancún, we build a guest guide that opens on their phone in English or Spanish, with the ride from the airport and how to get into the house.

If you look after vacation rentals or clean them for a living in Quintana Roo, Upbridge can help make sure every checkout gets inspected and every arrival already has its directions.

With sargassum around most of the year, a beach-house turnover takes more work than a downtown condo, and it helps to have that written down for your crew. The account for cleaning companies puts every client's checkouts on one calendar, whether each owner is on iCal or on a different PMS.

Puerto Morelos

It gets its own page, because the gap between what the state tourism office counts there and what the platforms advertise has real numbers behind it.

Cancún

The Hotel Zone is 25 to 40 minutes from the airport by taxi, and the ADO bus doesn't go there (GoCancún, April 2026).

Playa del Carmen and Cozumel

There are more than 3.6 million ferry crossings a year between Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, and the island was projecting over 9 million visitors for 2026 (REPORTUR, February 2026). In November 2025 the state tourism office said it would start on Cozumel's vacation rentals, and it put the whole state at about 60,000 vacation-rental units (Heraldo de Quintana Roo).

Tulum

It has its own page, with Sedetur's weekly rental figures and what happened to flights at Tulum's airport in 2026.

Isla Mujeres

Its page covers the nightly rate Sedetur records on the island and the water rationing of December 2025.

Holbox

There are no paved roads and no cars on the island, only sand paths, bikes and golf carts, and you get there by ferry from Chiquilá (Isla Holbox Info). Linens and supplies travel by cart, so an extra trip is a real cost.

Bacalar

Bacalar sits inland on its lagoon, and it isn't among the towns the Heraldo listed for sargassum in July 2026. So its houses don't need the sand and sargassum check a beach house does.

Mahahual

It has its own page, covering the cruise ships that dock at the Costa Maya pier and the power cuts local businesses report.

Other states

Yucatán · Chiapas