Rosewood Mayakoba

The first thing a guest sees at Rosewood Mayakoba, after the gates of the Mayakoba estate north of Playa del Carmen, is water: a freshwater lagoon cut through mangrove, with a wooden boat waiting to carry luggage and people to their suite. The resort opened in March 2008 and was built around that lagoon rather than around a lobby.

History

Mayakoba is a 240-hectare development on the Riviera Maya, between Playa del Carmen and Cancún, planned in the early 2000s by the Spanish group OHL. The masterplan kept the mangroves and dunes and dug a network of canals through the jungle, with a handful of hotels along the water. Fairmont was the first to open, in 2006. Rosewood followed in 2008, Banyan Tree in 2009 and Andaz in 2016. The estate's golf course, El Camaleón, designed by Greg Norman, staged the first PGA Tour event ever held in Mexico in 2007 and kept the tournament for more than a decade. Rosewood Mayakoba has been the group's best-known resort in Latin America since the day it opened and did much to shape the idea of a Rosewood resort, with its emphasis on private space and water.

Architecture and design

The plan is linear. Suites sit in low pavilions of limestone, hardwood and thatch along the lagoon, on the far side of the dune and along the beach itself. Each has a terrace with a plunge pool, an outdoor shower and, on the lagoon, a dock. Boardwalks and electric boats link the parts of the resort; the spa stands on its own island in the lagoon, reached by a bridge. Bicycles are left outside the suites for the journey to the beach. The buildings keep below the tree line, so from the water the resort reads as a line of roofs among mangroves.

Rooms and suites

Every key is a suite. Lagoon suites look onto the still water and the mangrove, with a garden on the land side; beachfront suites open directly onto the sand facing the Caribbean. The larger suites have a second bedroom, a rooftop sun deck or both. The resort has added suites since 2008 and the exact count has moved over the years.

Dining

Casa del Lago, on the lagoon, is the main restaurant, serving breakfast and an Italian-leaning dinner menu. Punta Bonita, on the beach, cooks the coastal food of the Mexican Pacific and the Yucatán. Agave Azul is a tequila and mezcal bar with a sushi counter. La Ceiba Garden & Kitchen, in the resort's vegetable garden, hosts open-air dinners and cooking classes around a wood-fired kitchen, and Zapote Bar serves cocktails at the lagoon's edge. The estate's shared facilities, including El Pueblito, a small village of shops and restaurants, are open to guests of all the Mayakoba hotels.

Wellness

Sense, A Rosewood Spa, occupies its own island in the lagoon, with treatment rooms, a lap pool, steam and sauna, and a cenote-fed pool used for cold plunges. The resort has several pools, including a main pool near the beach and an adults-only pool. Rosewood Explorers is the children's club, and the water sports centre on the beach runs snorkelling trips to the reef.

Weddings and events

Weddings are held on the beach, on the lawns and on the lagoon docks, with receptions in the restaurants or in tented spaces. The resort hosts small corporate meetings and incentive groups and has indoor function rooms for those; it does not have a conventional ballroom. Buyouts of the whole property are used for large celebrations.

Location

Mayakoba lies on the coast road about ten kilometres north of Playa del Carmen. Cancún International Airport is roughly 45 minutes by car along the Highway 307. Playa del Carmen's Fifth Avenue is a 15-minute drive, Tulum about an hour, and the ferry to Cozumel leaves from Playa del Carmen. Among luxury resorts near Playa del Carmen it is the one most often chosen by guests who want the Caribbean beach without the beach-club noise, because the lagoon suites sit well back from the sand.