Belmond Maroma is best on Mexico's Caribbean Riviera
Jan 27, 2017, 10:28 pm
Belmond Maroma Resort & Spa
Carretera Cancun Tulum Km 51 Playa del Carmen, MX 77710
Belmond Maroma is best on Mexico's Caribbean Riviera (0 Photo)
Belmond Maroma Resort & Spa
Flour-soft, white sand beach, turquoise water, great service ... this is best on Mexico's Caribbean coast. Great rooms/suites, kindly professional attention and service. We'll be back in a couple of months. Three pools, one heated and somewhat shaded. Spa. Gardens, jungle walks, bikes, parrots, coatis, iguanas, swimming with turtles.
Check In
In on 17 Jan, our 45th anniversary for five nights. 10-minute Check-in, gracious, good info plus excellent margarita, followed by an 5-minute walk to our suite which was accessed by a flight and a half of stairs.
Room
We were in the highest-level room and we liked it very well, $1500/night plus hefty 33% tax and service added. Next time, we'll opt for a ground level suite so as to avoid the stairs. Spacious one-bedroom suite with two terraces. The front terrace with ocean and beach view, opening from the living room via a sliding glass-door. Mesmerizing view, two comfy chairs and a table. This small terrace is open to the sun/stars.
Livingroom furnished with sofa, two comfy chairs, coffee table with small platter of fruit, desk and chair, round mosaic table, and wet bar with nespresso, mini-fridge, glasses, wine glasses, coffee mugs, champagne in fridge together with juices, sofas, Perrier, etc. One corner sports a floor candelabra, we loved it.
The bedroom is a spacious treat. Four-poster king bed with lovely linens, comfy and luxurious. Nightstands with lamps PLUS reading lights. Another tall floor candelabra in one corner; a mosaic round table in another. Cushioned deck chair in yet another corner. The bed is situated beneath a spectacular bricked dome featuring an iron chandelier. Stunning, truly.
Bedroom amenities include a beach bag, two caftans, shawl for cool nights, other goodies. Electrical outlets easily accessed bedside for CPAP and charger.
Entirely marble bathroom is sybaritic heaven. All marble. Enormous, deep bathing, not a tub, more mini-plunge pool. Pillar candles on shelves in each corner. Lotions, soaps, salts, etc. plenty of room for two, tres romantic. Two separate sink areas, one on either side of the half-oval shaped bath area. Large walk-in shower with two rain-shower heads, glass-walled on two sides. Connecting via another glass door to an outside shower terrrace.
Toilet and bidet in speparate not tiny cubicle. Luggage area with bench. Closet space, drawers. Two bathrobes hanging in the closet. Lots of very hot water, excellent pressure. Six bottles of water, replaced as needed. Linens are luscious including bath sheets. Lotions, soap, shampoo, conditioner, aloe gel for sunburn. Large vanity space with chair.
Off the bath and accessible also from the bedroom is the workout room, a first for us. Fancy, not to say intimidating, treadmill with electronics out the wazoo. Weight bench and weights. Big exercise ball associated with Pilates, more water, fruit, shelves, towels and a yoga mat. Large fan (a/c, too).
The second terrace is shaded and delightful although no view. Small dining table and two cushioned dining chairs with arms. Plus the heated plunge pool and a hammock. Next time I will ask to have the plunge pool set slightly cooler.
Service
Staff here are kindly, helpful and sweet. Not obsequious but open and wanting to please. We dined almost exclusively via beach or room service. Never waited longer than 20 minutes and all orders correct and accounted for. Housekeeping was very good; we declined turndown service.
Dining
We dined only via room or beach service. Food was fine, not exemplary. But the beef in Mexico! It has actual flavor. I've a penchant for Mexican hot chocolate and indulged at breakfast, tea and dessert. Yummy, so delicious. Many special dining opportunities offered: Mayan, Mexican, seafood, BBQ, around $125/ea plus beverages. Food and drinks are expensive. Breakfast included but full freight if you want room service (we did).
Location
Most fly into Cancun as we did, nonstop from SFO. Transfer arranged via the resort. It was easily found, comfortable and expert. Very easy and that is not always the case in Mexico. Belmond Maroma is a long-standing resort dating from the '70s, thus has a much much wider beach/ocean footprint than other establishments. The white, flour-soft beach and turquoise ocean just goes on and on. Whilst it's not private, there are few walkers and utterly zero vendors.
the beach is groomed several times a day. There is no seaweed and no jellyfish. The beach slopes VERY gently. Waves during our sojourn were
Overall
Fabulous
Jan 28, 2017, 5:57 am
Jan 30, 2017, 11:13 am
Jan 30, 2017, 12:20 pm
The two luxe resorts often cited in this area are the Rosewood and Banyan offerings which I investigated thoroughly and rejected for a slew of reasons, most notably, lack of, or diminished, Mexican look and feel.
Jan 30, 2017, 1:38 pm
Jan 31, 2017, 10:24 am
The two luxe resorts often cited in this area are the Rosewood and Banyan offerings which I investigated thoroughly and rejected for a slew of reasons, most notably, lack of, or diminished, Mexican look and feel.
May 7, 2018, 5:03 pm
The great
- Spectacular beach, with soft sand and calm water. Most of the days here have been breezy, which has been pleasant and keeps the bugs away. The beach service is great - they will constantly give new bottles of water, move umbrellas to preserve shade, bring you towels and cocktails, etc.
- F&B program is really really good. Breakfast and lunch are great (they have a quesadilla program at breakfast (!)), and dinner is solid. In general, the less fancy/fussy and the more Mexican you do, the better the food is, but we haven't had anything really bad the whole trip. We partook in their Saturday night barbecue and found that to be delicious.
- We enjoy good cocktails and they have an excellent, unfussy program here, with a decent cocktail list (the Maroma Margarita with Xtabentun is drink worthy of being named after your property), a well-stocked bar (especially in agave spirits - no surprise), and an excellent ability to make and tweak the standards. We've been enjoying Raicilla negronis before dinner as an off-menu creation.
- Service is warm and on point. You don't have to sign your bill, our names and room numbers are remembered most of the time, and everything we've asked for has been done quickly.
- The resort grounds feel very comfortable and appropriate to Mexico while not feeling cheesy or overdone.
- The room (ocean view master suite) is comfortable and well appointed. The bed is comfortable and the air conditioning is quiet yet very effective.
- F&B pricing is on the high side---not crazy for a luxury hotel, but it still feels like everything is a bit more than it should be.
- One the one night that wasn't breezy, the mosquitos were out in full force. Given that most of the hotel is kept open to the elements (except when it's raining), we turned around and had room service that night. There's probably not a ton they can do here (repellant is provided and I'm sure they spray), but it's something to note. (Room service was done well, by the way...)
- The pool area is unspectacular, but we spent almost our whole time at the beach, so this wasn't a huge factor for us.
- There were some mechanical/maintenance issues in our room (the a/c was a little noisy, one of the ceiling fans were a little finicky, etc.), that can make things feel somewhat tired. None of these were real problems, and we didn't even feel the need to complain about any of them, but this isn't one of those properties where everything feels impeccably maintained or perfectly new.
- The outdoor space seems to vary significantly even within room categories - it's probably worth a conversation when booking if you care about this. I would personally stick with the higher room categories (ocean view suites and above) given that the garden side is a bit jungly and the layout really favors rooms closer to the beach.
- Occupancy seems relatively low right now---it's off season and kind of a random time to go---so I can't say if the service would be negatively impacted if more people were here. We prefer things quiet and sparse, so this has been great for us.
- The decor here won't be for everyone; if you're looking for a clean, minimalist, modern (or "Asian-style" for lack of a better way of putting it) look, you'll probably be better served elsewhere.