Best places to stay:
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.
The beach is one of the best on the Riviera Maya and the Rosewood shares the Mayakoba village complex – with its mock-Mexican village, boutiques, shops and PGA golf course with the neighbouring tree luxury resorts.
Playa del Carmen’s nightlife and restaurants are a 20-minute cab ride away or a half-hour cycle along the beach.
Want more recommendations in this destination?
Destination Guide >Please note - we hope to one day have live prices for you, but for now, here are some useful links for you to compare prices...
Bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[8 miles]
An adrenaline-pumping close encounter with this top of the food chain predator, in glassy-clear water.
Best for ages: 16+ | £150 | 6-8 hours
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
A stunning cenote with spectacular cave formations and glassy water, passing through caverns encrusted with stalactites. Mind-bogglingly beautiful for both snorkellers and PADI divers.
Best for ages: 8+ | £12
Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Lily-covered, glassy-clear and filled with terrapins and tropical fish, this cenote near Tulum is easy to reach and fabulous to swim in. Big caverns make for spectacular cave diving.
Best for ages: 6+ | £7
Quintana Roo, Mexico
An authentic, atmospheric and less-visited Mayan site, set in lush, wildlife-rich forest. Climb to the summit of the 126ft-high Nohoc Mul pyramid – the tallest on the Mayan Riviera.
Best for ages: 13+ | £5
Other worthwhile experiences in this destination if you have the time or the interest, closest first
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico[1.1 miles]
Designed by Greg Norman, the course weaves its way through dense jungle, beautiful stretches of white sand and mangrove forests, with cenotes – natural sink holes – providing natural hazards.
Best for ages: 13+ | £125
Playa del Carmen, Mexico[15.8 miles]
With glassy pools and shallow lagoons offering dolphin, nurse-shark and manatee swimming, tame jungles, and spectacular Mayan dance shows, this huge eco-theme park is a Maya World, and a snorkel-friendly Disneyland.
Best for ages: 4+ | £80
Akumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico
A simple nature-based theme park with a safari-park zoo, a cenote for swimming, a spectacular cave and a rainforest canopy zip-line adventure.
Best for ages: 4+ | £30
Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
British artist Jason Decaires Taylor’s underwater art gallery feels like a latter-day Atlantis – with statues covered with wispy sea weeds and baby coral, fish swimming all around sitting on the sand in vodka-clear water off Isla Mujeres.
Best for ages: 18+ | Free
Destination guides including or relevant to this place to stay
Mexico
Talc-white beaches, reefs teeming with life, ruined temples in misty rainforests – the Riviera Maya offers a family or romantic beach holiday with a dash of Indian Jones adventure.
![Cenote Dos Ojos [swimming, snorkelling & scuba diving]](https://familyhotelfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/Yucatan-Cancun-and-Tulum-Cenotes-Dos-Ojos3-SH.jpg)
