i'm planning a family vacation and i can get ff tickets to cancun. I'm not familiar with mexico and i'm wondering about cancun. It might be a little too active for my husband. He prefers quiet vacations. Is there another area within driving distance with a luxury type resort? Maybe a few days in cancun and then a drive to another place? Any help would be appreciated.

There are quite a few quiet luxury places within 1 - 1 1/2 hrs from Cancun. How much luxury do you want?

alot. my husband believes in splurging on vacations.

There is a Ritz Carlton in Cancun-also Westin, Hilton, etc. When are you planning to travel? If March or April I would definitely go south of Cancun to what is now being called the Riviera Maya as Cancun proper is overrun by college spring breakers. In the Riviera, run a google search on the Maroma Resort - been highly featured in many travel mags and travel programs.

go to locogringo.com for lots of ideas. If you want quiet, you don't want Cancun. Maybe Akumal, which is 45 minutes suoth of Cancun.

Maroma
Ikal del Mar
Paraiso de la Bonita
Al Cielo - kids ok
Escencia (spelled wrong, I'm sure)
Ana y Jose - suites are nice - kids ok

In Cancun -
JW Marriot
Ritz-Carlton

Four Seasons and a Rosewood property opening soon.

Start w/ this...if you need more, let us know...

If your husband likes luxury and quiet vacations, get away from Cancun as quickly as possible. (you can find luxury hotels in Cancun but you still contend with the heavy traffic and tens of thousands of tourists)
I highly recommend the Maroma. A beautiful place--Tony Blair (British PM)
recently vacationed here with his family.

Pepper gave you great recs.

I personally love the JW Marriott...beautiful views, excellent service, very relaxed. If you enjoy the beach, Cancun is wonderful, and you don't have to worry about too much activity.
Le Meridien is also a beautiful, quiet hotel in a great spot.

By the way, Cancun is like two different places depending on the time of year. In summer, its quiet, no throngs of tourists.

But it's not the place to go during spring break.

One last idea -- Secrets also looks like a very nice resort just south of Cancun.

We spent a quiet relaxing week in Cancun in February; it is possible. The dining is wonderful at Laguna Grill, La Habuchiera (spelling?), and the restaurants at the Ritz, JW Marriott, and the Meridien. We go to Cancun to relax, read, enjoy the beach and pools. And we manage to do it quite nicely.

LaHabichuela, in the garden!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we won't be going until the beginning of november. Will it be relatively quiet then? Is that the rainy season?

Maroma sounds like what you might like.Fly into Cancun and they will pick you up and take you to the resort which is lovely, has a great beach, good food and a wonderful new spa. You could rent a car if you want to explore a bit, but we are mostly content to read, relax, and use the fabulous spa. They have a website. Have a look. Happy travels.

Go to locogringo.com. You can get a good look at the location of all of the Mayan Riviera resorts. Research Playa del Carmen and south of there. Only 1-2 hrs from Cancun. We're staying at Playacar-right next to Playa del Carmen, lots of nice AI's. Staying at the Riu Palace, which is one of the better ones. Royal Hideaway is the best for luxury in Playacar. Secrets is also rated highly. I also like Palladium Grand (Colonial and Kantenah).

Just got back from a week in Cancun staying at the Ritz Carlton. We stayed on the "Club Level" which gave us breakfast, lunch, tea at 3, and cocktails and lite fare at night. I cannot say enough wonderful things about our stay. It was perfect. The hotel is just beautiful. The heated pool was great! Whenever you needed anything the response to our "Thank you" was "My Pleasure" If you need more activity than the Ritz offers head to downtown. We were not sure about going to Cancun but thanks to comments received on this site - we had one of our best vacations. Thanks!

Hope you will give Maroma a try--from all reports, really superb. If you decide on Cancun, the Ritz-Carlton is great. Either of these places offer superb dining--something you will miss at an all-inclusive.

We are doing a similar itinerary starting on Tuesday: 2 days at the Meridien and 5 days at Ikal del Mar. Will report back...

November should be quiet. Check the website weatherunderground.com for average temps/rainfall.

And check out trip advisor if you haven't already, jobeydog!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip, beantown!

We're back and the trip worked out quite well. Without taking the time for a more detailed report, which might come later - Ikal del Mar was incredible. Everything we hoped for - serene, beautiful, private... especially after 2 days in Cancun. I know we went during Spring Break, but that wasn't really it. Staying at the Meridien, it wasn't "crazy," but it was not particulalry relaxing either. Beach is beautiful (though surf is strong) and the pools are lovely, but the whole Cancun scene was just too American, too crowded for us. If you want the comfort of KFC's and other American chain restaurants, than that might work better for you. Le Meridien was lovely, but the sevice was spotty (TERRIBLE drinks at the beach, frequent problems ordering room service, wife had two clothing items go missing from the room, ordering drinks from the bar took longer than clearing customs and immigration in Cancun). If I HAD to go back to Cancun, I'd stay at the Meridien again for a decent rate, but really, if we want an urban beach experience we'd save on flights and head to South Beach.

If you really want relaxation, head South. Ikal was everything we look for in a vacation and we would go back in a heartbeat. And from what we saw of Playa del Carmen, we liked the town there and would be open to other places, too.

Thanks for telling us how it went! Ikal sounds delightful! When we're not traveling with kids, I'd love to stay there.