The Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai: A Benchmark of Modern Luxury
The Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai opened in February 2024 as the first hotel of Ian Schrager’s EDITION brand in Mexico and the Caribbean. It sits inside Kanai, a 620-acre private reserve in Playa del Carmen, in the municipality of Solidaridad, with about two miles of white sand in front of it and mangrove forest behind. There are 182 rooms and suites, a lagoon-sized pool and five places to eat and drink. The concept and interiors come from the Ian Schrager Company with Rockwell Group, over architecture by Edmonds International.
The hotel arrived with a great deal of noise about prizes, and that is where a post like this one has to be careful. Some of those distinctions are real and checkable; others are only marketing. So here is what modern luxury looks like at Kanai, and which recognitions the property can actually point to.
Design that answers to the reserve
The buildings stay low against the tree line, and the landscape was treated as the main material rather than the backdrop: mangrove, dune and jungle first, architecture second. That approach won the project two categories at the AHEAD Americas 2024 awards, the hospitality industry’s design prize for the region, one for its lobby and one for its landscaping and outdoor spaces. Many rooms open onto private terraces with plunge pools, and on the roof sits the Sky Villa, a penthouse the hotel bills as the largest in North America.
The recognitions on record
AAA has rated the hotel Four Diamond since 2025, and it still appears under Playa del Carmen in the association’s current Four Diamond list. Forbes Travel Guide includes it in its selection with a Recommended rating, the tier below its Four-Star and Five-Star awards. The MICHELIN Guide includes it in its hotel selection for Quintana Roo, although the property has not been given a MICHELIN Key in the selections published so far.
A spa organized around water
The spa is the quietest corner of the property: six treatment rooms, hydrotherapy pools, a hammam and an infrared cabin, in a space the hotel describes as cenote-inspired. Treatments are personalized and draw on local healing traditions rather than on an imported wellness script.
KI’IS, SO’OL and the rest of the table
Two chefs from Guadalajara set the tone here. Francisco “Paco” Ruano runs KI’IS, a tasting-menu restaurant built on Mexican produce; his Guadalajara restaurant, Alcalde, earned a MICHELIN star when Jalisco entered the guide’s 2026 Mexico selection, and KI’IS itself appears in the guide’s Quintana Roo listings. Tomás Bermúdez, chef and co-owner of La Docena, is behind SO’OL Beach Club, which reads more like a Mediterranean beach kitchen with Mexican habits. Kitchen at EDITION covers the all-day menu, and the Pool Bar and the Lobby Bar take care of everything in between, cocktails included.
Sustainability, minus the slogans
The environmental argument here starts with the land. Most of Kanai stays undeveloped, and EDITION says the hotel was designed to keep its footprint small inside that ecosystem, from the way the buildings sit among the mangroves to how water and energy are handled. Those are the hotel’s own commitments rather than a third-party certification, which is worth knowing when you compare properties along this coast.
Who it suits
Kanai is for travelers who want design, space and quiet more than a full program of activities. The beach is long and calm, Playa del Carmen and Fifth Avenue are close enough for an evening out, and the reserve absorbs the rest. If your idea of a good holiday is a plunge pool, a long lunch and nowhere to be, it works.
Planning a stay
Rates and availability move with the season, and restaurant schedules change through the year, so confirm dining days and spa hours directly with the property when you book. Cancún International Airport is the arrival point for almost everyone.
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