Hotels & accommodation

Rosewood Mayakoba

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts · Lagoon-and-beachfront resort inside the Mayakoba development, Playa del Carmen

Rosewood Mayakoba sits inside Mayakoba, a low-rise gated development of freshwater lagoons, mangrove and jungle on the Caribbean coast north of Playa del Carmen. Rather than a single tower, the resort is spread along the beach and a network of lagoon canals, and guests move around it by boat, bicycle or golf cart — a layout that feels closer to a residential enclave than to a hotel-zone resort.

Accommodation runs from lagoon suites and loft suites to signature suites, lagoon villas and multi-bedroom beachfront villas with private plunge pools. At the top end, the Founder's Villa is a 16,300 sq ft beachfront estate — the kind of property that shows what full-time Riviera Maya living looks like at its most polished.

Dining is a strength: Casa del Lago serves over the main lagoon, Punta Bonita sits on the beach, Agave Azul mixes Asian and Latin flavours, and La Ceiba Garden & Kitchen cooks under a towering ceiba tree. Sense, A Rosewood Spa, occupies its own island in the lagoons, and the El Camaleón golf course, a Greg Norman design, runs through the wider Mayakoba development.

As a scouting base it works because of the contrast: inside the gates it is quiet, green and service-heavy, while Playa del Carmen's Fifth Avenue, supermarkets and co-working spaces are a short drive south for a realistic taste of everyday expat life. It is the splurge end of a Riviera Maya research trip — the stay that shows the ceiling before you look at the condos most people actually buy.

• Rosewood Hotels & Resorts property inside the Mayakoba development, Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
• Suites, signature suites, lagoon villas and beachfront villas, including the Founder's Villa beachfront estate
• Sense, A Rosewood Spa, set on its own island in the lagoons
• Dining includes Casa del Lago, Punta Bonita, Agave Azul and La Ceiba Garden & Kitchen
• Reached by boat or golf cart along Mayakoba's lagoon canals; El Camaleón golf course inside the development

Visit the property — Rosewood rosewoodhotels.com

This featured showcase is an editorial selection by our editors. We have not stayed at this property and it is not a paid placement; no rating is implied. Paid placements never influence the Mexico liveability score, safety rating or warnings.