Where to Stay in Riviera Maya: The Best Luxury Resorts

Secrets Akumal sits on one of the Riviera Maya’s best-kept stretches of beach, south of Playa del Carmen in a village that predates the resort boom. The property has the scale of a proper resort without the sprawl, roughly 270 rooms arranged in low-rise structures that don’t dominate the landscape.

Akumal Bay has a reef immediately offshore, which means snorkeling is good without requiring a boat. The water is clear enough that you can see substantial fish from the shallows. The all-inclusive covers diving excursions to better reefs, which distinguishes it from properties where diving is an add-on.

The main infinity pool is one of the best in Mexico, and there’s a second pool that’s quieter if the main scene feels too lively.

Food is above average for all-inclusive, with a proper Italian restaurant, a seafood-focused spot, and a main dining room that rotates themes. The Unlimited-Luxury includes everything, from gourmet meals to drinks and room service, and you won’t need a dreaded wristband.

The village of Akumal itself is worth a 20-minute walk. It’s got real shops, real restaurants, and the kind of casual atmosphere that comes from existing before tourism entirely reorganized the coast. The cenotes near the property offer something different from beach time: limestone pools of incredible clarity, usually with fewer people than the public cenotes further north.

The Viceroy sits between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, positioned as something more design-conscious than the typical resort while remaining fundamentally a resort. The 40 suites are serious pieces of architecture, all sliding glass and clean lines, with outdoor showers and the kind of minimalism that costs considerable money to execute properly.

The dive operation is serious, with a dive master who knows the local sites and can guide you toward specific things: coral formations, particular fish behavior, the cenotes you can dive from the property. The snorkeling is excellent off the house reef.

This is the property if you want design-led luxury, if you find the scale of larger resorts overwhelming.

Banyan Tree Mayakoba exists in its own category: it’s simultaneously a resort and something more deliberately constructed. The property sits on a lagoon system between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, with individual villas arranged across the landscape. The 125 suites and villas include some of the Riviera Maya’s most sophisticated accommodations.

The lagoons are the distinguishing feature. They’re stocked with fish and you can paddle kayaks directly from your villa, which creates a sense of exploration that beach resorts don’t quite offer. The snorkeling in the protected lagoons is limited compared to reef diving, but the cenote dives accessible from the property are exceptional. They include underground rivers and formations that feel genuinely remote despite being minutes from your suite.

Signature restaurant Saffron offers an exquisite Thai dining experience on floating decks within the mangrove ecosystem, while other options like Cello provide gourmet Italian fare. You can also enjoy fresh seafood and Mexican specialties right on the Caribbean Sea at the Sands Beach Club, or immerse yourself in an ancient Mayan feast in the jungle at HAAB’. From Latin American steaks at the Tomahawk Den to in-villa barbecues, the resort provides memorable dining experiences for every palate.

This works if you want a 5-star, AAA Five Diamond resort with the most up-to-date luxury amenities.

Casa Malca is conceptually different from the other properties on this list: it’s a boutique hotel with only 27 rooms, positioned as luxury minimalism. It sits in Tulum proper, which means you’re in the town itself rather than sequestered on a private beach, though the property does have beach access.

At Casa Malca, every suite is spacious, air-conditioned, and individually decorated with a mix of classic and contemporary furnishings. The owner, Lio Malca, has curated the interiors with unique artworks, Persian rugs, and vintage pieces from his personal collection. Each room is designed to provide privacy and immerse guests in the surrounding natural beauty.

It’s philosophically opposed to the all-inclusive model in that you’re encouraged to explore Tulum beyond the property, to eat at other restaurants, to understand the town as your landscape rather than the resort as your entire world.

The beach is smaller and rockier than northern sections of the Riviera Maya, but Tulum’s ruin-backed coastline is visually distinct. The town itself is where the actual culture happens: restaurants where locals eat, galleries, and actual nightlife rather than all-resort experiences.

Azulik is the destination if you want to understand why the Riviera Maya matters culturally. It’s positioned as an art and culture resort, with only 23 rooms distributed across a lagoon system at the edge of Tulum. The design is explicitly ecological and cultural, with spaces dedicated to art installations, a cinema, and a restaurant that takes Mesoamerican food seriously.

The main structure is built partially over water, with walkways and platforms that create a sense of exploration. The rooms are minimalist and focused, with outdoor showers overlooking the lagoon. The aesthetic is design-forward, though it’s definitely positioned for people who value visual and intellectual experience over conventional amenities.

Azulik in Tulum is a unique adults-only eco-resort that prioritizes disconnection from the modern world and a reconnection with nature and art. Its core philosophy makes it vastly different from typical luxury resorts.

No Electricity in Rooms: Villas are lit by candlelight at night, creating a tranquil and romantic atmosphere and avoiding light pollution that can affect local wildlife like sea turtles.

Focus on Wellness and Ancestrality: The resort is rooted in “Art, Nature, and Ancestrality”. It offers an extensive Maya Spa with treatments like shaman massages, sound healing, and traditional ceremonies, focusing on holistic well-being rather than just conventional spa treatments.

The region’s dominance in luxury hospitality isn’t accidental. The beaches are excellent, the weather is reliable, and the proximity to Mayan ruins gives cultural texture that Cancun lacks. But the real advantage is the all-inclusive model, which the Riviera Maya has evolved beyond the buffet-and-wristband template that defines so many all-inclusive offerings.

The best properties here use all-inclusive as a luxury offering, not a penny-pinching constraint. Your meals are included, your drinks are included, your activities are included, which means you’re not constantly calculating whether to eat at the beachfront restaurant or the Italian place or the taco stand.

The good resorts interpret this as freedom rather than limitation. You can spend the day diving, grab lunch without negotiation, have drinks at sunset, and then decide on dinner without consulting your bank account.

For couples or families, this eliminates an entire category of decision-making, which is actually more luxurious than people realize. The resorts that excel at this understand that all-inclusive doesn’t mean undifferentiated. It means thoughtful curation.

The Riviera Maya also avoids the boutique hotel trap of being too small to function properly.

Choosing the right property matters more than the destination itself. We work with each of these resorts directly and understand which one matches your actual priorities, not the one that photographs best. Let us handle the details: the room positioning, the timing, the specifics that transform a vacation into something you actually want to remember.

Get in touch, and we’ll find you exactly where you should be.