Playa del Carmen Editor Picks

Maroma’s sparkling white-sand beach is renowned for its beauty, and this resort is perfectly located mere steps from the shore. Service is excellent here, and the resort has grown over the years to offer ever-more-pampering accommodations. Maroma was the Riviera Maya’s original luxury resort, built by a Mexican architect on a former coconut grove. Though it belongs to Orient Express now, it retains its Mexican heart. At night, the resort’s pathways are lit with nearly 1,000 candles, while cicadas sing in the jungle. The dramatic Kinan Spa offers a wide range of treatments using organic products. One word of caution: the ground-floor, garden-view rooms in the oldest buildings are a tad disappointing and not worth the high fare.

2008 SMART LUXURY WINNER
Lovingly Crafted Seaside Escape

From the unmarked dirt road leading to its doorstep to the astrologically determined alignment of its spa structure, Maroma has never been afraid to stand out from the crowd. And the crowd on the Riviera Maya has never been bigger, as new megaresorts blossom each season.

Owner José Luis Moreno fell in love with the 500-acre seaside property on a 1976 trip to the Yucatán. Four years later he fell in love with another visitor, Sally Shaw. They both stuck around, got married, and built this 65-room resort in part so their friends could visit, employing local artisans to create a one-of-a-kind environment (and using bamboo from the premises and marble from quarries nearby). The hotel took some 20 years to finish, evident in the custom oversize tubs, handmade tiles, and hand-carved lighting niches.

On arrival, guests are handed a margarita infused with a traditional Mayan honey liqueur known as xtabentún, just one of a host of Mayan-influenced elements. The resort’s Kinan spa (Mayan for “source of life”) offers traditional treatments, such as a volcanic healing steam bath called temazcal. Just off the white-sand beaches, the world’s second-longest barrier reef beckons diving enthusiasts. Best season for value: winter/spring.

Great Value Alternative: Rustic-chic Amansala, a yoga resort near Tulum, is known for its Bikini Bootcamp rejuvenation programs. From $125/night; www.amansala.com

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This 29-room hotel, which occupies a nearly empty two-mile stretch of perfect white sand at Playa Xpu-Ha, is located in a white stucco mansion that once served as a summer retreat for Italian duchess Rosa de’ Serrari. The property features two chic pools fronting the ocean, a day spa, a thatched hut with funky daybeds on the beach, and the Sal y Fuego gourmet restaurant, which serves Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine. The seven lavish, oceanview rooms are equipped with iPods and 600-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets; the ten two-level villas feature private plunge pools. Clearly, the Duchess had taste.

Snorkeling and diving on the beautiful barrier reef just off Playa’s shore is one of the top choices for tourists. The more adventurous divers can swim through the cenote underwater caverns, swim with whale sharks, or even get PADI certified (courses last between 1-4 days). Cyan-Ha Dive Center offers a variety of packages; their two-tank dive ($70) allows you to be under water for 50 minutes – twice the time of a one-tank dive.

This charming, two-level, thatched restaurant is also an art gallery filled with paintings,...more

This sleek, Swedish-owned, Euro-Thai fusion eatery has been one of Playa’s most popular...more

La Tarraya is one of the last remnants of Playa del Carmen pre-jetset days. It’s as basic...more

The beachside bar that Newsweek called one of the ten best in the world in 1998 is still a Playa must. The 10:30pm fire show is a highlight for many, though the crowd doesn’t die down until the sun comes up. It's pretty casual, with a sandy floor and lounge chairs under the open sky surrounded by palms.

This international Cuban-cigar-selling chain is one of the most respected tobacco shops in Playa. They have the widest selection, best quality, and even serve Cognac to shoppers. While you can’t take a Cuban back to the U.S., you can smoke one here under the shade of a palm tree in the sand.