Rosewood Mayakoba

We stayed at Rosewood for 5 nights and had an absolutely amazing experience! I’m shocked at the recent negative reviews because we felt the accommodations, property and especially service equaled the price point. The service was top notch and everyone was so friendly and accommodating. I recommend downloading the app ahead of arrival. The app has all of the restaurant menus, the weekly activities, you order room service through the app and it connects you to your butlers via WhatsApp (you also need to have this app to connect). Speaking of butlers, ours were Victoria and Frank and they were both fabulous. Frank was so thoughtful, surprising our daughter with fun birthday balloons one night during turndown service. Definitely do the nightly turndown service for the take-home mementos! All of the restaurants were great, we especially loved the sushi restaurant. The restaurants all have extensive kids menus so it’s easy to find something your kids will like. We also did the Mexican Grill night but this was not our favorite thing, although it was fun to have dinner on the beach, but we would have probably preferred the sushi restaurant again instead. Transportation around the resort is so easy. They bring you to your room via boat, which is so fun, but it’s not the main method of transportation - maybe you can request it again but we never did. Golf carts come very quickly if you order them via phone in your room or at whatever restaurant/pool you are at. They also bring bikes to your room upon check in. Some people complain about the seaweed on the beach. It’s clear Rosewood does whatever they can to clean it up, there are literally people cleaning it constantly, but I also think the weather impacts it as it was very clear our last morning. The beach is still wonderful and beautiful, seaweed or not. The spa is not to be missed, even just for an exercise and amenity session. It’s huge and beautiful with lots of soaking tubs, steam rooms, sauna etc. I did a yoga class, which ended up being a private class as no one else signed up, and it was amazing. The gym is also very nice and new. Lastly, I recommend this hotel for families rather than couples. There is an adults only area, but it’s a very family friendly hotel so if you’re not interested in being around kids, this may not be the place for you. But if you do have kids, know they will have the time of their lives here. Lots of people used the nanny service and kids club, I wish we did more of this for some adults only time!

I spent six days at this resort w my spouse. I had always heard how special this hotel is. I agree w the last two reviews that this hotel needs an update, especially the pools. I liked our lagoon suite and enjoyed staying on the lagoon. However, the swimming pools were too hot to swim in and the adult pool was quite small (and hot). The beach had a lot of seaweed and the chairs were packed close together. With nowhere on property for me to enjoy swimming, I decided to try the spa pool. The spa pool was an improvement but we had to make a reservation to use it and when I went inside to use the spa facilities (locker room etc), the staff followed me around rather closely (why?). We enjoyed the restaurants but there were a lot of babies at the hotel /restaurants which also surprised me. We liked our butler/concierge but on two occasions we had knocks on our door to pick up dishes at about 10 pm. We had no dishes and they later apologized and said that they had mistakenly knocked at our door. If it were my hotel, I would have at least sent a bottle of wine or something to apologize for waking up the guests. In sum, we enjoyed our lagoon suite and the restaurants but we would not return. I preferred Jumby Bay in Antigua, Four seasons and Mallouhana in Anguilla, Ritz reserve in Puerto Rico and other resorts we have been to over the years.

After hearing about this place as top hotel in Playa our family was somewhat disappointed. First the pros: While the rooms are somewhat dated, they are super specious, practical and private. Private decks for the boat transfers from hotel to hotel for different restaurants in Mayakoba family are pretty cool. The boat ride is quite beautiful. Free access to the spa amenities was a very nice touch. They have a sauna, steam room, gym, cold plunge and a jacuzzi that is available unlimited for the guests. Cons: The Beach!!! I heard it’s small from other reviews, however, it’s just super depressing. It’s full of seaweed, black patches, limited by a rope, dirty and tiny. The area by the beach is super windy constantly. The adult pool is by the ocean, so that area is also super windy. The pools are very dated. Every pool has some kind of an unnecessary design like a tree in the middle or extra steps, fountains that makes the swimming challenging. Entire property needs a makeover in order to even charge half of the prices they charge per night! The restaurants, while they are not horrible, they are absolutely nothing remotely good enough to ask for such Michelin star restaurants prices! One of the restaurants was $250 per person plus tax and tips. By the way their tips start from 18% (minimum) and up. After that they add 15% service fee! The drinks cost an arm and a leg. For one shot of grey goose for a cocktail they added $40 to the cocktail price extra! Every restaurant that they offer has the same type of price range. There are no options. For lunch tacos like $40 plus tax/tip/service fee. We felt that this place was really unreasonably overpriced for what it is. Consider tipping in cash. The servers really appreciate cash tips. Sadly this place didn’t leave any unforgettable impression on us.

Everyone told us that this is the best place in Cancun. And in some ways, it is. We stayed in a villa very close to the pool club and the ocean. We paid over $5000 a night for a 2 bedroom villa, so our expectations were pretty high. Food review -The Mediterranean restaurant was excellent. -Asian restaurant was average at best. -The community arranged dinner was excellent and very much worth the experience. -Free poolside tacos and snacks were a great touch, as was the passed Champagne. -Daily breakfast was excellent. -Nice biking trails. Must check out the cave! A bunch of issues though: The place is tired and needs a renovation. Broken floorboards on decks, cracking marble, the list goes on. Provided bikes were in poor repair. Service was good but not great. Like many resorts, there is no good system for beach chairs. A bunch of selfish folks will put a flip flop or book on a beachside chair then leave for breakfast and a workout. This is a silly method and needs to be stopped. Beach chairs are very close together. Feels like I'm flying coach with an ocean in front of me. Seaweed and rocks are a pretty big issue on the beach. They have an (ugly) system to contain it but it's far from perfect. Cabanas are tiny and a fortune - what a joke. They have a coffee cart - this should be free. It was annoying to be presented with a bill every time. We were charged 15% a night for tips. What a racket. Then at every turn we're presented with bills asking for more tips. It's super-uncomfortable. You have to get a golf cart ride everywhere, which is kind of annoying. In the end, the place is solid. But not for $5000+/night. We've stayed at the Nizuc before and it felt like similar quality with a better beach at half the price.

The resort is truly magical and the staff are phenomenal. We have stayed at the best of the best resorts and hotels globally and this beautiful, luxurious, and well-thought out destination does not compare. No details are ignored and the staff are amazingly thoughtful. Our jaws were in shock by all the sweetness from the staff and their incredible servixe. Let me give you just a few examples of many. Our fist night that we arrived we passingly asked our server if the resort has a Tres Leches cake because it is one of our favorites and the very kind server said he doesn't believe any of the restaurants have that dessert in the Rosewood but he will have the resort's pastry chef make it for us. The next say that very dessert was in our room waiting for us. I'm not sure the Four Seasons has ever done such a thoughtful gesture for us. In addition, we told them we don't like liquor except one kind and sure enough that very liquor was in our room upon our arrival. We went on an excursion and one of the wait staff offered to make us a food package to go. Haven't had that St Regis service before! Resort guests get bokes and after you park your bike in the bike holder wherever you go, there is someone in the Rosewood who turns the bikes around so that it is more convenient for you when you take the bike out of the holder slot. What!? I mean come on - service! I'm honestly not sure how anyone could write anything negative about this resort or it's staff. Everyone knows your names within a day or so and greet you everywhere we went. We had a spa day and our new butler greeted us at the spa after our treatment just to say hello and that he would be cating for us from the previous sweet butler. We have a plethora of examples of how this resort shines among the top. Run here - don't walk.