Rosewood Mayakoba - Riviera Maya, Mexico

100   Recommended
May 2, 2017 by EXPERT

 Map | 5 Reviews | 80% Recommended
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Rosewood Mayakoba
 Map | 5 Reviews | 80% Recommended

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Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
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We’ve been watching the Rosewood Mayakoba for years, drawn by it’s excellent reputation with children and the idea of a beach/jungle combination. We booked with DavidO under the Virtuoso rate and received breakfast for two daily, a spa credit for $100 and an upgrade at time of check in.
 
The hotel’s lush grounds and public areas were absolutely beautiful. The electric boat that drove us to our suite was a big hit with our five year old son, as were the golf carts. And we loved sharing the resort with the spider monkeys, crocodiles, coatis, iguanas, geckos, agouti, turtles, bats and lots of jungle and water birds.
 
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Deluxe Lagoon Suite

We didn’t inquire about the Virtuoso upgrade because, based on the online floor plan, we knew the Deluxe Lagoon Suite would be just right for us. We had written to the general manager ahead of time asking for a suite with “wonderful natural views, lots of critter sightings, and no other buildings in site”. He assigned us #421 which was the perfect choice. The suite was contemporary but warm feeling with limestone throughout, and with a whopping 1103 feet of interior space and an additional 1057 feet of outdoor space it was ideal for families. The suite could be divided into up to three separate bedrooms using sliding doors and drapes. There were two bathrooms, one with a dramatic solarium enclosed bathtub, as well as an outdoor shower, multiple large closets, a plunge pool, boat dock and a rooftop terrace that we used for star gazing. We were a five minute walk from the lobby and two restaurants, and like most other guests, we required a golf cart or bike to get to the beach.
 
There’s been a lot of discussion on this forum about the beachfront suites…some preferring the view…others concerned about privacy because of all of the foot traffic on the Mayakoba beaches. Note that there were many large erosion-control sandbags in front of these suites that were visible even at high tide (the sandbags were not visible from the beach club). 
 
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Service

The Rosewood Mayakoba had fantastic, personable employees. The property was large enough that some staff members asked for our room number, but everyone knew our son’s name and by the end of the week, many employees knew our names as well.
 
The butler system worked very well with one butler covering the morning shift and another, the evening. They would find us periodically throughout the day to see if we needed anything, confirm activities and make suggestions for new ones. We could text them via the Rosewood app and their response was immediate. At one point, we left our son’s iPad at one of the resort’s restaurants. Our butler had it back to us five minutes after our text.
 
There was no nickel-and-diming at the Rosewood. Our package included the resort’s buffet breakfast for two adults, but the waiters didn’t charge for our son (commenting he didn’t eat much), and when we asked about the possibility of room service, they offered to throw that in as well. There were also many little gifts at the resort…welcome drinks with chips and guacamole, a bottle of tequila and a bottle of wine, French champagne and margaritas by the beach, surprise little snacks and truffles in the suite.
 
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Rosebuds Kids Club & Amenities

Apparently, our son’s Spring break is later than most, because when we got to the Rosewood, there were very few kids there. Our son was the only one in the Rosebuds club so we limited his time to an hour or two. The ladies there spoiled him with lots of ceramic painting, pinata making, and various crafts, ping pong and movies.
 
There were thoughtful touches for him throughout the resort like kids menus, coloring pencils, puzzles, a Rosebud teddy bear, a frisbee, beach toys, and a different hand painted wooden figure each night. The butlers even prepared a surprise “balloon bubble bath” for him on our last day.

 

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Dining

Of the three Rosewood restaurants, only one served truly Mexican dishes, but all of them incorporated Mexican flavors and spices, and they all offered great Mexican wines and cervezas.  The seafood dishes were especially good, and we ordered a side of dulce de leche each morning with breakfast to spread on our croissants, and stir into our coffee and yogurt. On one of our last nights, we attended the La Ceiba dinner, a unique opportunity to mingle with other guests and get to know staff members in a social setting. We loved the local cuisine, lantern lit garden, live music, Mexican wine pairings and the Don Julio 1942 tequila.

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Activities

Visiting Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world, was a priority for us on this trip. We used the Rosewood recommended Four World’s Expeditions and ended up with a very knowledgable and child-friendly guide who made a point to include our son in the conversations. We left the resort at 6:30am and arrived at Chichen Itza at 8:30am, beating both the bus crowds and the heat.
 
Back at the resort, we took a private lagoon eco tour so that we could see the turtles, water birds, and especially the crocodiles. We also had a family portrait session at the Rosewood, and rode the resort’s bikes to the Mayakoba cenote, replica Mexican village and Catholic chapel. Of course, we spent a lot of time at the beach club. The sand was soft and white. It was crowded when we first arrived but there were always plenty of lounge chairs. The cabanas, however were in less than ideal locations with rows of chairs in front of them, blocking the view. The spa consisted of air conditioned bungalows spread over jungle paths. We had the Sensorial Apothecary Experience where we visited the spa’s herb garden to select and mix our own aromatherapy oil. The massage was incredibly relaxing. Unfortunately, the resort cancelled our Mexican barbecue night due to iffy weather, but we suspect it had more to do with lack of participation since there was low occupancy that day. Very sad…our little guy was planning to wear his sombrero!
 
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Opportunities for Improvement

It was clear most of the employees at the Rosewood Mayakoba had been there for a while and knew what they were doing. We only encountered one hiccup during our stay. We had arranged to take a picnic lunch with us to Chichen Itza, and were handed a bag of sandwiches on our way out…not in a cooler. If we would have put the sandwiches in the back of the car, they would have spoiled by lunch time. There were also cookies missing. Our butler was apologetic, saying she had taken the day off and would likely have caught the problem, but there wasn’t any offer of service recovery. We asked her to make sure we weren’t billed for the cookies. An Aman resort probably would have not billed us for the cookies AND had them delivered to our room later that day.
 
There was also some sargassum in the ocean and while the resort did a fantastic job of cleaning it off the beach, it’s a common issue for this area. Anyone looking for a pristine beach and water experience should look at the Turks and Caicos, etc.
 
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Summary

This was our first visit to a Rosewood resort and an overall great experience. We read somewhere that 60% of Rosewood Mayakoba guests are “returning”, and while we would definitely recommend the resort, there are many other Rosewoods and other luxury resorts around the world that are still calling us for a first visit. :-)

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