KristyW

My husband and I are considering three hotels for a trip to Riviera Maya. We will not have kids with us. Mayakoba Resort, Maroma Resort and The Mandarin Oriental. They all look spectacular and the rates are similar. I'd love your impression of any you have stayed in or heard about. We like to have people around and a great pool and beach to use. We stayed at La Casa Que Canta in Zijua and found it a little too quiet and secluded for our taste. On the other hand we stayed at Las Ventanas in Cabo and LOVED it. That is a Rosewood as is the Mayakoba and the reason I am leaning toward that one. Thanks for any advice!

tcinct

Hi Kristy,
Mayakoba was exceptional-here's a review I wrote after a stay in July

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...Peninsula.html

katiekate

Hi Kristy,
We have stayed at the Mayakoba and Maroma (and, Las Ventanas), and walked the grounds of the Mandarin. (We've also stayed at Esencia and The Tides (when is was called Ikal del Mar.)
The Maroma and Mayakoba and Maroma are as different as day and night. Maroma is truly a charming authentic Mexican resort. The staff is so friendly and can you feel their appreciation for being their guest. It is absolutely beautiful and laid back. At night they line all the sidewalks with literally 1000's of tiny votive candles.... so romantic. It's located on one of the prettiest, white sandy beaches of the area which makes their "beach beds" even more inviting. When we were there we had the pleasure of staying in on the new Sian Niah (upstairs) suites with it's own plunge pool which provided more privacy. Although, we decided after looking at the ground floor suite we would prefer it so we could run back in forth from the beach to the plunge pool to cool off and give up the privacy. We even had a couples massage on our rooftop! Maroma, in my opinion, feels more intimate than Mayakoba. Let me explain. Mayakoba is located on a huge piece of narrow property with the Mayakoba river running through it (please correct me if I'm wrong) which requires you have to have use their golf carts to get you were you want to go. It has a very new, hip jive to it which we absolutely loved, but if you are looking for more of a boutique feel, you might want to consider Maroma. (I believe Maroma had just recently renovated some of their rooms since we were there.) We found the pool at Mayakoba to be lacking in size and appeal considering how large the property is and there were just too many little kids running around and screaming. Maybe it was just the time of the year, but it was rather distracting. Please don't think I'm a grouch, I love kids, in fact have 2, but while we're on vacation, I appreciate the adult only scene. (Maroma does not allow children under the age of 16.) BTW, they do have 2 pools but we only went to the beachside pool. Didn't think the beach was anything special either, in fact, we never even got in the ocean.
We stayed in one of the Beach villas and is possibly one of the coolest rooms we've every stayed in. The bathroom is amazing! It also had it's own plunge pool which was wonderful. FYI no privacy though. While we were at Mayakoba it just so happened the PGA tournament going on so the boats were not allowed to run at that time due to the noise might bother the golfers, so I can not comment on the boats. As for the spa, well, it too was one of the nicest I've been to. Absolutely stunning.
Gosh, I am rambling. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.
If I had to pick between the two, I'd return to Maroma.
Hope this helps.

katiekate

tcinct- I read your outstanding review of the Mayakoba Banyan Tree. Thank you! Where is the beach i regard from the villas? I have always wanted to stay at a BT. Their properties in the Maldives look spectacular, but, unfortunately, too far for us. So, going to the one in Mexico would be the perfect distance.

tcinct

Hi Katie,
Thank you for the compliment on the review of Banyan Tree Mayakoba. I read your post above and see you have stayed at the Mayakoba. They are the same place, I believe. The beach was a boat ride or bike ride away from the villas. The beach was beautiful but we found the water to be rocky, in fact boulder sized rocks were hard to avoid. Knowing how the resort aims to provide an ideal setting, maybe that's been improved since we were last there.

katiekate

tcinct,
No, in fact, they are separate resorts. This will probably sound confusing, but the Mayakoba is a very large area and it's namesake, Mayakoba, lagoon/river winds throughout the Rosewood, Banyan Tree, Mandarin, and one other? Please correct me if I'm wrong on this. The Mayakoba we stayed at was a Rosewood property while the one you stayed at was Banyan Tree..... top notch, 5 star. I remember they were building the BT when we were there. Although, the Rosewood would certainly be considered a 5 star, the Banyan Tree would be considered on top of that. I'm pretty sure BT is in a class of it's own! You are very lucky to have stayed there. It's on my list.

tcinct

Hi Katie,
Now I am following you! The Rosewood Myakoba is a sister property to Banyan Tree Mayakoba. The other property in the group is the Fairmont Mayakoba.