Rosewood Mayakoba

It's been nearly a month now since we got back from our 10 day stay at the RW Mayakoba, and I have been waiting to post my review to see if on reflection my feelings had changed about the experience. They have not. My husband and I have traveled all over the world, including to many luxury resorts in Asia, the Maldives, Bali, the Seychelles, Bora Bora, etc. and have yet to have a lukewarm or negative experience. I have had RW Mayakoba on my list for about a decade, but never made the time to go to Mexico because we had so many other places to check off our list. However, we recently had a baby and it was close by enough that it made sense to try out traveling with an infant, and we decided to splurge a bit more than usual as it was our 40th birthdays. I will say that the car service, while exceedingly expensive at $240 each way, did include some nice snacks, music, water/Corona, and most important an appropriately installed infant car seat. (For parents out there, it was a Mexican version of the Chicco KeyFit 30 attached with the base. I am sort of militant about car seat safety as a physician and was happy that it was super safe). They seem to install the seat regularly enough that it was easy peasy. Check-in was lovely in an open-air building by the start of the lagoons, and while a bit gimmicky like a Disney ride, the boat ride through the Mangroves to our room was beautiful. They did upgrade our room for us, which was a nice touch. We didn't meet our butler and were shown around our room by a colleague who was very much in a hurry. The room, however, was nicely babyproofed and the crib, play pen, and personalized toys for our child were an unexpected detail that we loved. This is perhaps where the compliments end. Getting in touch with our butler via WhatsApp to plan for and confirm reservations was touch and go. They didn't provide suggestions for us about where to eat or plan an itinerary for meals. The butler routinely did not confirm reservations. We decided to go on a nature walk/bird watching tour through Mayakoba for all the hotels that started at 7 AM, and despite eventually confirming our booking, the butler didn't offer to figure out transportation to the actual tour even though it was pitch black outside at that time of the morning. Restaurants were routinely closed on a regular basis at the last minute even though the hotel was not at capacity. On one of the evenings, the hotel was hosting a wedding welcome party at the garden restaurant, but used all the staff from the Casa del Lago to cover that event, plus a private dining party in the conference room attached to the restaurant. We didn't get our food for over an hour and a half, with a wailing infant who went home exhausted and hungry despite a 6 PM reservation. I tried to speak with the Casa del Lago manager about it, but he said "he didn't have time." Housekeeping routinely showed up around the time our infant napped, between 9-10:30 AM and again at 2-3:30 PM despite the do not disturb sign on our door. One would think that a luxury resort with 2 butlers per room would have the foresight to let the cleaning staff know that family X has left room ABC for breakfast and its time to clean their room. In the Maldives our butler routinely met us at breakfast to help plan the day and sort through activities while also notifying housekeeping we were out of the suite. At the beach and pool, there were very few staff members around to help set up the lounge chairs with towels or umbrellas (this was especially true at the beach), and you'd have to track them down just to get a bottle of water or order lunch. We actually didn't know that we could have ordered food for free for our little one as children under age 5 eat free, and had been ordering food for us to all share with her. In the end, we complained to the management team and while the manager did listen to our concerns, it was clear that the chaos surrounding meals/restaurants, the preference for wedding guests and the decision to close down restaurants last minute to accommodate those patrons, and the under-staffing present throughout the hotel were all just glaring issues. The manager conceded that the management team had changed in the last month due to issues, and that staffing shortages were present all along the Riviera Maya. In the end, it kind of felt like because we weren't "rich" enough, were were just another plebe that didn't matter. The manager did offer us two free massages, one for myself and one for my husband, and I will say they were lovely and the Spa/Sauna services were perhaps the highlight of the trip. The breakfast was the only Mexican option, which made us sad as we would have preferred more local, authentic, elevated food aside from the Mexican Grill Night (which, we barely got into AND was not full despite a 6 PM reservation). The remaining 3 restaurants (Zapote Bar, Agave Azul) were fine, nothing great. Service at the beachside restaurant was abysmal and we were rejected from breakfast one morning due to bringing our infant, despite a blasted text message from the butlers that families and children were welcome for breakfast at that location. Management also offered us a free-3 nights stay to come back and see how they had improved their service and promised it would be in our checkout paperwork. We left the resort at checkout empty handed, not that we would have wanted to come back to RW Mayakoba for another 3 day stay at a mediocre hotel resting on the laurels of the Rosewood brand. Especially one that also needs significant physical upgrades to the property, not just the service. Save yourself the time and skip this - we are now skipping all RW resorts after this experience. No need to feel nickel and dimed when you're paying this month for "luxury" with a complete lack of attention to detail and service. Also - Sakura at the Banyan Tree was a superior meal despite it being just "fine" in general, but was better than anything else on the RW property.

We expected a 5 star experience but it’s missing the elements that you expect from a highly rated hotel. First, it has no option for Mexican cuisine for dinner and the food options are all very similar. Second, the service is good but not great, not special. And lastly, the property is large but missing care and attention you expect from a property at this price.

We are now past the 12 stay mark and it is always a delight to return! This place truly has a soul and succeeds in making you feel part of the family. First off the location is unparalleled: you are completely immersed in the mangrove while having direct access to the private beach. The hotel goes to great lengths to be eco conscious which means we always see the most spectacular birds on the boat tours in the mangrove. More than the location, the Rosewood stands out from other hotels in Mayakoba thanks to the attentive and personalized service (there are 2 butlers at your disposal) and also by the design of the villas and restaurants. We also appreciate the diversified restaurant offering and particularly recommend the family-style Ceiba dinner hosted by management. There are also a lot of activities for all ages such as paddle boarding, boat tours, yoga classes. We celebrated our daughter birthday here and are looking forward to return for her father birthday later in the year

I recently booked a Beach Front 6 bedroom villa at the Rosewood Mayakoba. There are only a handful of these villas and they are located at the Southern end of Mayakoba adjacent to the Banyan Tree Resort and directly on the sand. There is nothing like this product anywhere else within Mayakoba. They have their own entrance and security and are the top of the top product within Rosewood and Mayakoba. I wanted to share my experience below to help other people trying to evaluate the right product to select. Travel-Very easy to get to by flying into Cancun and driving 45 minutes South (7-10 minutes North of Playa del Carmen which is a great amenity to have near by when you want to leave the Mayakoba complex. Arrival-When you go through the main gates you feel as though you are literally in the jungle until you enter through a private guard gated exclusive enclave with 5 Rosewood branded homes that are all pretty much identical (don't get skewed that the "Founder's Villa" is the better of the villas here). Actually Villa 902 is the newest completed and is technically upgraded from what is list as the Founder's Villa on the Rosewood website. Upon arrival, the entire staff is waiting to introduce themselves. Accommodation-When you arrive to the home, it doesn't feel like a villa but rather a resort lobby as you walk into the courtyard which is surrounded by ponds and a waterfall making you feel instantly relaxed. There are 6 bedrooms in this villa with the master and junior master being upstairs, 3 additional bedrooms with 2 queen beds each in the back upstairs and 1 bedroom downstairs with a king bed. It allows for a lot of different configurations and up to about 12 people comfortably. The master and junior master bedroom are really very large suites with bathrooms that are spa like including an extensive outdoor ocean view shower and soak tubs. IMPORTANT-We were almost going to book the Founders Villa because we thought it was different than Villa 902 which is literally 100 feet South and in the same enclave. It is listed at a slightly higher price for the dates we had but in the end after digging in, we found that Villa 902 was a newer and more improved version of the same exact floor plan so when we come back, we will stay in Villa 902 again if available. Food and Beverage-There are probably more than 20 restaurants within Mayakoba and at least 5 within Rosewood. We selected Sands, which doubles as the Banyan Tree Beach Club, our first night which is located about a 5 minute walk from the villa. It is nice to have this so close and a place to escape to IF you happen to want to see other guests. The better option is to hire a private chef for lunch and dinner (continental breakfast is included with your stay). You can essentially order anything that you would want and they have some base suggested menus available to start with. Both of our chefs that alternated were absolutely incredible!!!! They were anticipatory and quality and variety was out of this world even with our kids asking for some pretty specific things (BBQ brisket, whole fish, ect) Schedule/Flexibility-This was a strong point. You have a butler (more below) that is there from 7am to 11pm. All you have to do is tell him what you want (personally or on Whatsapp) and we had no issues getting any reservation for any activity with little to no notice. That is what we look for when we are on vacation. We don't want to have to plan a bunch of things in advance. Experiences-There are so many different things to do within this ~2,000 acre master planned community. Obviously the beach activities are given but the golf course is a top PGA quality course with a couple holes coming out to the water. There is also a tennis and padel/pickelball facility that is in top shape. There are cooking classes and more daily activities than you could even keep track of. Spa-You can access the Rosewood spa and use all of their services without charge OR you can have the spa come to you at your residence. We ended up doing both and they were both great experiences. Staff-Obviously, when you are going to a five star resort in Mexico you expect a high level of service but this is where the Rosewood staff went above and beyond. Our butlers were some of the best I have ever had. Gabriel even borrowed some of our son's clothes and came and played volleyball with us. He sincerely made us feel like family and no request too large, complicated or small. NOTE-Ask for Gabriel as your butler because they do take requests! Weather-The weather during January in the Riviera Maya is perfect. We got some rain for 2-3 hours out of 5 days which was fine. The bugs were minimal which is a nice bonus. Overall-This is a top tier resort destination that I would not hesitate to recommend to anyone. We stay in similar top destinations (Cabo, Punta Mita, Caribbean) and this was definitely one of the better vacations we have ever had and we look forward to returning soon. Rating-10 our of 10

The staff made us feel special from the moment we arrived until we departed. The property and accommodations were outstanding. All staff members were awesome. Jaime and David at the Zapote restaurant made my husband feel so special on his birthday. Our butlers Samantha, Valeria and Monsy took such good care of all our needs. We will definitely return and it won’t be soon enough.