The St. Regis Kanai Resort, Riviera Maya

If you love personalized service, top facilities, and a low density property, St. Regis is for you. Period. Nestled in the Kanai mangroves, it shares the same area with Marriott’s Edition Riviera Maya. It’s important to recognize the emphasize on being integrated with the mangrove and be relatively far from the beach line, avoiding eroding the area and creating a sanctuary where you don’t feel bad about the impact on the environment. Key points: Unlike Edition, it's aimed at a wealthier and more demanding audience. Families will be there, but it's feels like an hotel for an adult crowd. - Speaking of families, they have a very well-equipped kids' club. And it's quite isolated from the adult area (i.e., within walking distance, but cleverly located). - Large spaces and fewer than 150 rooms; you'll never feel overwhelmed. - Spacious rooms. Even the standard rooms are quite comfortable. - Lovely pools. NO fights about the beach loungers! Plenty of areas to be solo, with your friends, or your family. No broken loungers. All in mint condition. - The resort is about 3 years old, so the rooms are in perfect condition. The food and drinks are consistently of better quality than at similar resorts. In my experience, better than at Edition. The only thing I found subpar was the french toast: Waldorf Astoria is still the winner! Breakfast is buffet-style, impeccably presented. You won't be disappointed. - The Bar is a must, and you have to try the Kanai Bloddy Mary; arrive before 6:30 pm so you can see a nice ceremony around champagne. They are proud of the quality of their cocktails and service, and they deliver! I came back for that reason! - Toro is the signature restaurant. Mexican fusion. Very well executed, delicious food and impecable service. - As I said before, a key distinction here is the attention. From everyone. From your arrival, the kindness of the bellhops who help you with everything with your luggage, the prompt and warm service at the front desk (kudos to Thalia, who is not only efficient but also charming and passionate about St. Regis and its history), to the lovely attention to detail from everyone in the Chaya restaurant (Guadalupe, Aaron, thank you for your excellent service). I'm sorry I can't remember the names of everyone who served me. But everyone, from the room attendants to ALL the guys at the Riviera restaurant, always had a smile and a genuine spirit to make you feel comfortable. THANK YOU. - One of the hallmarks of the St. Regis is its butler service. Dali and Carlos made our day. Absolutely necessary for a hotel stay? Hmm... not really. But once you try it, you're spoiled forever: morning coffee in the room, ironing service, activities, dinner reservations and recommendations, nice touches for the celebration we were planning. Carlos went above and beyond and solved my requests with kindness and enthusiasm. THANK YOU. - Great gym; looks new and has state-of-the-art equipment! - I didn't try the spa, but it looked amazing. Go to the St. Regis if: - You value service, tranquility, and attention to detail. - You don't mind being isolated in the middle of a mangrove. - You're willing to pay high prices. Kanai has three hotels (St. Regis, Edition, and Etéreo). St. Regis is the most expensive. - You're not looking for a wide variety of dining options. Depending on the number of days you stay, you might repeat at restaurants. Remember that you can visit options at Edition and Etéreo. At Edition, you can charge your bill to your room at St. Regis. Avoid this hotel if: - You're on a tight budget. It's Marriott's top-of-the-range hotel, and the price is accordingly. You'll pay around $50 per person for breakfast, for example. If that's unacceptable, look elsewhere. - You're looking for a party and/or socializing with a lot of people. Are you a party animal? Bumble/Tinder/Grindr? It's not here, of course. This hotel is designed to be low-crowded, even during peak season. If you need the social excitment, remember it's quite close to Playa del Carmen; go there. - You want to be on tours most of the time. Despite the fact your butler can arrange excursion outside the complex, if you don't plan to spend most of your time in and around the hotel, look for another option closer to Playa del Carmen. - You don't like personalized service. It's valid! I'm beyond excited to return to the St. Regis!

HORRIFIC CUSTOMER SERVICe. 2 months before my reservation of my intended stay and the hotel refuses to formally acknowledge that there is a buyout and will be cancelling my reservation. I have been trying to contact the hotel for 6 weeks and they do not respond to any of my emails with a plan on what they plan to do with their displaced guests. How on earth is this a 5 star hotel.

It’s incredible than even a brand like St Regis never enforces basic decency, honesty and rules of business on the properties anymore. Over $800 per night and they tried to scam us $75 per person extra just to use the sauna. The steam room was broken. Major hotel chains are now reaching airline levels of criminality. Dispute your scam charges every time. Report them to Marriott HQ.

My wife and I enjoyed a super vacation recently at this spectacular property. Low occupancy in September is good for us - we enjoy the quiet. Everyone at the property was very kind and friendly. The meals were uniformly excellent - Chaya and Toro for dinner; Chaya for breakfast amazing; Riviera for lunches quite nice; St Regis bar a super menu! Pools were awesome; the room was very nice. We enjoyed The Edition as well - two superb resorts in a lovely location.

First, do not use your Marriott points here. I booked a corner suite and was ‘upgraded’ to a lesser room. Completely bummed, but the room was still nice so we let it be. Some lame excuse on their end as to why we didn’t get the room we actually used over 400k points on. The resort and staff are amazing though. It’s almost empty and we have been spoiled rotten. Staff and suite exceeded all of our expectations. Beach club and pool for adults is perfection. Food and restaurants are all relaxing and gorgeous. The water flows peacefully throughout the resort. We both highly recommend, just make sure you confirm the room you are going to have before you arrive (if you do use points). The wildlife is also incredible.