27 Best places to stay in Mayan Riviera

Twenty years ago Playa del Carmen hotels had the same hammock-swinging, barefeet-in-the-sand, back-to-nature beach feel Tulum has today. Mahekal is one of the few Playa beach hotels that preserve it: with thatch-roof cabañas dotted around one of the town’s last remaining stretches of coconut grove and clustered over a long, sinuous aquamarine pool.

Most rooms sit in two-storey palapas and all come in lovely minimalist whitewash with warm Mexican-coloured textiles and organic wood art. They have a nest-like, intimate feel.

For that real Tulum feel skip the double-storeys and a casita with ocean views from beds and balconies; or a single-storey jungle bungalow – secluded behind foliage, with a towering, thatched roof and a balcony slung with a hammock.

The Rosewood is the smallest and most private of the four luxury resorts in the gated Mayakoba complex just north of the Playa del Carmen. It sits apart, at the far northern end of the long white sand beach next to a mangrove-lined lagoon (with resident infant crocodiles).

The emphasis here is on living spaces, rather than rooms. Suites are huge – with ample glass, neutral tones and light wood. They open onto private sundecks with plunge pools set over the lagoon or facing the beach.

But it’s the lagoon or beach villas that really set the Rosewood apart. Beautiful modernist cubes fronted with wall-high glass and secluded by trees, each feels like a private holiday home rather than a hotel villa; with suites of bedrooms, living areas, swimming pools and vast patios.

Like the other Mayakoba resorts, the hotel has a suite of upmarket eateries, a spa and access to the Greg Norman 18-hole PGA golf course.

This intimate Isla Mujeres boutique, with beautiful pools and views, cascades down a steep hill towards the ocean, perfectly positioned for sunset over the ocean – which you only get on the Mayan Riviera islands (mainland hotels face east). The view is dreamy – over the infinity pool which melds with the turquoise sea and sun as it drops gold over the water.

Rooms come in Greek Island-white with colourful Mexican textiles and balconies and are linked by corridors, stairs and patios – brightly-painted in Mexican blues and egg-yolk yellows. Alfresco lounge areas are dotted with designer furnishings.

And while there’s no beach – just a rocky shore with good snorkelling out from the long wooden jetty, guests have full use of the Kin Ha waterpark next door – with cascades of pools and slides, and complimentary access to the beach club on Playa Norte a few kilometres away.

Location, location… There is no better in Tulum. The broadest, whitest beach, the ruins perched on the cliff right outside your door.

Each cabin is glass-fronted and comes with a large deck. Interiors are dominated by queen sizes and decked out in polished rustic local woods and palm-thatch and fashionably furnished with distressed wood wardrobes. Walls are painted ochre and warm yellow.

And while the palm-thatch cabins are very simple, they open onto the ocean. The most luxurious resorts in Tulum don’t have this view or this quality of beach; let alone at such a great-value price. There is, however, no pool.

A tranquil, boutiquey beachside hotel in Cancun? Book the Beloved: a couples-only retreat on Playa Mujeres – just north of Cancun’s hectic hotel zone. The resort’s white buildings are scattered through a romantic palm tree-shaded garden like sugar cubes.

There are myriad villa and room options but the Ocean View Junior Suites are the best-value – costing only a fraction more than standards. They come with modish, minimalist interiors – flooded with light from wall-high glass, walk-in showers and Bulgari cosmetics, and expansive private sea-view balconies with Jacuzzis for two.

Once the home of a style-conscious Italian aristocrat, Esencia combines immersion in nature with high-end luxury. The hotel sits secluded under the palms on the edge tropical forest overlooking the long, talc-white Xpu-Ha beach. The reef is within swimming distance of the shore.

The main villa sits over the pool with sweeping views of the sea; low-lit paths wind from here into the surrounding forest to luxuriously appointed private thatch-roofed cottages, each with its own plunge pool. Sugar cube casitas are sprinkled in a forest garden, over the sand and around a large pool and opulent main villa.

If you are too. Unless you crave an ocean view, book a garden villa. They’re far more intimate – with secluded plunge pools for two and large wood terraces with hammocks and breakfast tables, shielded from prying eyes by abundant foliage.

The hotel has two restaurants, and a huge menu of activities and tours for guests. And lots of mosquitoes – bring a net for the bed.

There are two Marriotts in Cancun, situated right next to each other in the plushest part of the hotel zone, and sharing amenities. The JW is the smarter of the two with a superior spa, larger rooms and a long, sinuous infinity pool right behind the beach.

Rooms sit in a single, large hotel block sitting over the plushest section of Cancun’s 24 mile-long Zona Hotelera beach. Decor feels a little chain-hotel anonymous – contemporary light palettes – off-whites and taupes, functional fitted wardrobes and workstations, but it’s really all about the view – all rooms have balconies overlooking the ocean.

The hotel has a suite of excellent restaurants including the award-winning Italian-Mexican Gustino, an additional adults-only pool with swim-up bar and one of Cancun’s best spas.

The longest-established hotel in the ultra-luxurious, gated Mayakoba beach complex a few kilometres north of Playa del Carmen, the Fairmont is super-sized, beachside and offers back-to-nature stays with full urban comfort.

Stays are all about secluded setting and upmarket amenities. Rooms and villas are dotted around 45 acres of jungle, lagoon and beach.

Villas come in all shapes and one size – huge; from the super-luxurious (with butlers and a rooftop pool) to jungle villas nestled in the trees. All are well-appointed, decorated in modern creams, offset with blocks of warm Mexican colour and have en-suites with vast mirrors and his-and-hers granite basins.

There’s a PGA Greg Norman-designed 18-hole golf course, kayak lagoons, a plush spa and a suite of restaurants. It’s nearly two kilometres from the main reception building to the shore, but complimentary golf carts whisk guests everywhere in a wink.

Should you wish to leave, Playa del Carmen’s bars are a ten-minute cab ride.

The Ma’Xanab takes the hammock-slung, thatched hut, toes-in-the-sand formula that made Tulum a backpacker beach legend in the 1990s and turned it chic beach-boutique.

Rooms in polished concrete and lush hardwoods sit in two-story cabanas. The best are on the upper floor – brighter and airier, they sit under towering palm-weave roofs and are adorned with carefully-placed wall mirrors and Mexican ceramic objets d’art. Wall-high windows with drapey linen curtains open onto plunge-pool balconies with jungle or palm-tree-and-ocean views.

The hotel has a modest pool and a good restaurant serving Mexican comfort cooking. There are many more options within a 15-minute walk. Adults only.

Most Riviera Maya beaches are long and ruler-straight. But Soliman Bay, twenty minutes north of Tulum where Jashita sits is a beautiful half-moon cove, overlooking a glass-flat sandy lagoon.

Jashita is one of a cluster of small hotels sitting right on the sand. It has a New Age-chic feel: scattered with Buddha effigies and with a huge yoga deck and a spa with wellness treatments and Mayan ceremonies; and with rooms comfortable enough for a Goop subscriber.

Rooms feel like a Malibu beach house – rectilinear spaces with ample glass that frame beautiful interiors (decked out with whicker and hard-wood furnishings) and ocean views.

While the resort is made for intimacy this is a busy beach and not all rooms feel private during the day. Opt for those on the upper floors (away from wandering eyes) or book the honeymooner Nerfertiti suite which has its own plunge pool.

Coco’s accommodation is split between rooms on the beach in Tulum and the village. Book the beach – whose cabana villas are quintessentially Tulum – big and airy inside with polished concrete and pretty conch shell taps, lovely wattle walls (painted in whitewash) and traditional Maya thatched roofs.

Hammocks swing on the terraces, shaded by coconut palms and the hotel is right on the sand.

But it’s not a place for serene stays. Coco’s attracts partiers: sitting in the heart of Tulum’s hotel zone, with a lively bar, DJ shows and nightlife alternatives on the doorstep. Children over 16 only.

This beachfront resort is one of the best options for families close to Cancun. And it’s in a convenient location for flight-tired toddlers – less than twenty minutes from the airport (which is closer than Cancun’s hotel zone).

Rooms decorated in modern creams and warm Mexican egg-yolk-yellows and blues come in seemingly infinite variety – from swim-up suites to upper floor ocean view rooms overlooking the sea and complex of swimming pools.

But what sets Azul apart are what’s on offer for families – cribs and babysitting services are on offer chefs make organic baby food and there are all manner of family activities from fitness classes to cooking with the kids and baby and mum spa sessions.

This plush beachfront resort sits on the best stretch of beach in Cancun.

All rooms come with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, separate lounges and a large ocean-view balcony. Interiors come in cool, contemporary, creams and light greys offsetting those turquoise ocean views, with soft fitted carpets and thick glazed French Windows that allow the ocean breeze in yet keep all noise and wind out. Beds are draped with high tread count Egyptian cotton, bathrooms have walk-in rain showers, tubs and Asprey soaps.

Facilities are first class – with Mediterranean dining under chandeliers, steaks with piano jazz or food by candlelight under palm-thatch in a private pavilion right on the beach.

Sitting on a broad stretch of palm-forest-shaded, white sand beach backed by lagoons and an 18-hole golf course, the Andaz is in an idyllic location.

Rooms and private villas are huge and bright – decked out in fresh, minimalist tones (with splashes of colour from folky art), offsetting the turquoise ocean views seen through wall-high windows, and from sundecks and private plunge pools.

Hotel facilities are luxurious. The award-winning Casa Amate restaurant serves classy Mexican food; bars (with great margaritas) and the four other restaurants serve snacks, Asian and western food. The Naum spa has a sauna, steam rooms and a huge range of treatments.

There are also tennis courts, kayaks, and myriad tours organised by the hotel. The superb El Camaleon Golf Course – the first PGA Tour Golf Course in Latin America and arguably its best, designed by Greg Norman, is right outside the door.

The emphasis at Andaz is tranquillity with all luxury comforts and amenities. Playa del Carmen is a short cycle ride (bikes provided) along the sand, and the coral reef is right offshore.

With nearly thirty acres of beach, mangrove and lagoons, and a location at the far end of the hotel zone in Punta Nizuc, this is as close as it gets to seclusion in Cancun. The busy hotel zone with its skyscraper resorts feels a world away, even though it’s easy to get to the nightlife (and the airport) in under twenty minutes.

Rooms and villas are dotted around the grounds and include lovely Ocean View Junior Suites which open onto infinity plunge pools, and more secluded villas with high walls for privacy, the plushest of which – the Villa Nizuc – comes with its own garden and rooftop sundeck.

The spa is sumptuous and the large infinity pool, surrounded by lush woodland feels intimate and back-to-nature for Cancun.

This tranquil boutique hotel sits in a prime location on one of the most beautiful stretches of beach on the Mayan Riviera, nestled between forest and ocean.

With open-sided walls (with closeable glass doors and screens), raw wood or polished concrete walls, basins whittled from giant hunks of tree, and a lush jungle and beach setting, this boutique is quintessential Tulum back-to-nature, barefoot chic.

There are private decks with plunge pools or jacuzzis, and the air sings with cicada and tree frog calls and plenty of public spaces for mooching and reading when you’re bored of lazing on the beach.

There’s a decent spa and a small swimming pool and the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is literally on the doorstep. Children over 13 only.

With over 500 rooms housed in towering, mock-Mayan multi-storey skyscraper pyramids (including one with hanging gardens) Paradisus is far from understated. But no hotel in Cancun has better facilities or a choicer beach location (on a vast stretch of sand right in the centre of the hotel zone).

The hotel boasts four lagoon-style pools, a gym, tennis courts, a magnificent spa (with a hydrotherapy area and children’s beauty salon) a vast Kids and Baby’s Club with cinema and slide area, and a nine-hole, par three golf course.

There’s an adults-only club with its own private pool and lounge area and the restaurant menu was created by 12 Michelin-star Spanish chef Martin Berasategui Olazabal.

Sunset over the ocean? It’s hard to find on the Mayan Riviera. All the rooms on the mainland face East. But not on Isla Mujeres.

The Izla sits over one of the island’s semi-private white-sand beaches, poised for sunset: sinking orange over the turquoise sea and distant Cancún from the balcony-jacuzzi-baths, the al fresco restaurant or the adults-only rooftop infinity pool.

Rooms sit in a blocky horseshoe of concrete that looks very Miami Beach. Interiors are clean and sparse – in wood laminate, white palettes and wall-high glass. And as it’s all about the views consider splashing out the 25% extra for an upgrade from the tiny standard deluxes to a spacious Superior Ocean front – with that Jacuzzi on the balcony.

Small for Cancun resort, with contemporary but cut-price rooms (there are 3-night minimum stay deals through their website only), the Sandos nonetheless sits on the best stretch of beach in Cancún’s coveted hotel zone.

Rooms are plain – with white walls and polished stone floor tiles, but they have spacious marble bathrooms with huge vanity mirrors. All have ocean or lagoon views. Some have both. Consider and upgrade to a balcony room for a balcony with space to sit and sip a cocktail, with the ocean at your feet.

Facilities are five-star, with three swimming pools – linked with cascades – a Nausicaa spa and a rooftop tennis court.

It’s all about location at this great-value toes-in-the-sand Tulum beach hotel.

Unlike most of the plusher, far more expensive hotels further south, Kai sits on Tulum’s widest, whitest stretch of sand, in full view of Tulum’s ruins – perched on a craggy cliff above the turquoise Caribbean Sea. The reef is within swimming distance of the shore.

Villas are simple palm-thatch affairs, packed close together (but that’s inevitable with this location), but they are decked out in modish distressed woods, beach-shack whites and light ocean blues and scattered with traditional Mayan textiles. In the best rooms, beds with wispy drapes look through huge floor-to-ceiling windows to wonderful views of the ocean and the breeze-blown palms.

The alfresco restaurant and bar serve superior Mexican comfort seafood.

It’s confusing. Cancun has two Marriotts. This one is cheaper than the nearby JW Marriot and only a little less plush.

The hotel sits in the best part of Cancun’s beachside hotel zone. It watches over the most sumptuous sand in the hotel zone (shared with the upscale Ritz Carlton) and has one of the best restaurants in the city.

The rooms to book are the one-bed suites in clean modern muted greys and creams – which come at a similar price to deluxe ocean view rooms in most Cancun beachfronts, but with acres of space, separate living areas and wonderful ocean views through wall-high glass and from balconies.

The onsite Japanese restaurant is one of the best in Cancun’s Hotel Zone.

Secluded in low jungle and set behind a gorgeous stretch of palm-shaded white sand, this opulent, eccentric retreat was once drug baron Pablo Escobar’s Yucatan beach house.

Rooms are housed in sugar-cube villas dotted hidden by trees and they stand in arty contrast to Tulum’s standard sandals-and-yoga chic architecture: with glass walls, polished concrete and comfortable furnishings (woven carpets, velvet bed boards, neo-rococo chairs and sofas you can sink into…).

Public areas are crammed with startling abstract and figurative modernist art (collected by art empresario owner Lio Malca). And there’s a sumptuous pool and spa.

What’s so great about the Playa Grand Hyatt? This big, blocky hotel offers high-end beachside luxury and five-star amenities at a mid-range price tag. And it’s right in the heart of Playa del Carmen.

The beach is two minutes away, Playa’s pulsing clubs five, yet the Hyatt’s big, Scandi-minimalist rooms (glass walls, warm woods, light polished stone and sea or jungle views) feel ocean-breeze tranquil. They are set in a large open complex of peaceful patios, paddling and swimming pools and al fresco restaurants.

The low-lit, lambent, cenote-inspired spa is Playa’s plushest and there’s a kids club and child-friendly pools.

The Banyan Tree offers high-end Asian-style luxury on a Mayan Riviera white sand beach: with a superb Thai restaurant and a multi-award-winning spa offering some of the best pampering in Mexico.

The huge range of bright, contemporary villas (with warm woods, polished concretes and neutral tones) are walled entirely with glass allowing light to flood in.

Some sit secluded for honeymoon intimacy in their own little gardens; those by the beach have gorgeous ocean views from the foot of the bed. Bathrooms have al fresco baths (walled for privacy) and his and hers basins. All have their own plunge pools and decks.

Split between a downtown party hotel and a more intimate beach house, the Thompson feels very Miami.

In the downtown hotel catering to a singles scene, rooms sit behind a sinuous rooftop sundeck and infinity pool looking out over the skyline to the ocean, with a sultry bar. In the couplesy beach house, the best have private balconies and Jacuzzis.

In both locations interiors are clean, modern showcases for ocean views – seen through wall-high glass. And both areas are poised to catch the sunset and serve hangover-cure-large breakfasts.

Frida Kahlo art and Panama hats are sprinkled across the walls in the public areas and the bar – which offers tequila tastings and great margaritas – to get guests in the mood.

Cancun and the international airport are less than 20-minutes’ drive away, yet this opulent hotel on a quiet, secluded white-sand beach feels a world away.

Most Riviera Maya hotels are big blocky resorts or toes-in-the-sand casitas. But with its stately terracotta Paraiso feels like a millionaire’s hacienda. Long open-sided corridors are decked out with antiques collected from Asia and the Americas, including a panoply of Balinese stone lions and temple carvings from India.

Suites are plush and vast and divided into a bedroom, sitting area, a terrace with a beautiful ocean view and a bathroom with a plunge pool-sized square stone tub, filled by a tap in the shape of a lion’s head, carved from a single rock. The pool is huge, the Thalasso spa is superb and the hotel has a choice of great restaurants.

Feeling like a little piece of South Beach Miami transported to Playa del Carmen, the adults-only Reef 28 mixes urban comfort and ocean views and sits right in Playa’s party central.

Bright modern rooms with wall-high windows come in a contemporary neutral palette, with soft creams offset with olive, cinnamon, polished stone and worked wood.

The rooftop sundeck has expansive ocean views – seen from a busy bar or a big, group-share Jacuzzi plunge-pools and the fountain-tingling spa has an indoor pool fed by artificial waterfalls.

There are two good restaurants, a big buffet breakfast and heaps of eateries, bars and shops right outside the front door.