Award-Winning Hotels in the Riviera Maya: 7 Places for a Luxury Stay

The Riviera Maya is famous for its beaches and its Maya past. It is also home to some of the most decorated hotels in Mexico: Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star resorts, AAA Five Diamond properties and, since 2024, several MICHELIN Key hotels. If you want a luxury stay on this stretch of the Mexican Caribbean, here are seven of the most awarded hotels in the Riviera Maya, with their honors as of 2026.

1. Rosewood Mayakoba: Sustainable Luxury Among the Mangroves

Set inside the Mayakoba development north of Playa del Carmen, Rosewood Mayakoba is one of the most awarded resorts in the Riviera Maya. Its suites and villas have private pools and open onto the beach or the lagoons and mangroves, and the whole property is built around a network of canals.

• Why it’s special: The resort is designed to sit lightly on its surroundings. Sense, A Rosewood Spa, occupies its own island in the lagoon, and the staff arrange things like private dinners on the sand or boat rides along the canals.
• Awards: Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star for both the resort and the spa (2026), two MICHELIN Keys (2025 selection), and a fixture of the readers’ awards at Condé Nast Traveler (No. 2 resort in eastern Mexico in 2024) and Travel + Leisure (World’s Best Awards 2026).

2. Banyan Tree Mayakoba: Asian Style in the Mexican Caribbean

Also inside Mayakoba, Banyan Tree brings the Thai-born hospitality of its brand to the Riviera Maya. Every villa has its own pool and garden, and some sit right on the canals, so you can reach the rest of the resort by boat.

• Why it’s special: Wellness is the point here. Banyan Tree Spa Mayakoba follows the group’s Eastern philosophy, with therapists trained in Thailand, and the villa layout gives you real privacy.
• Awards: AAA Five Diamond, two MICHELIN Keys (2025 selection), Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star for the resort and the spa, and a place among Condé Nast Traveler readers’ top 20 resorts in eastern Mexico (2024).

3. Hotel Esencia: A Boutique Retreat by the Sea

Hotel Esencia began as a private estate on the beach at Xpu-Ha, halfway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and it still feels like one. There are 47 suites and 4 villas on 50 acres, which means a lot of space and very few people.

• Why it’s special: Privacy, above all. This is the place to disappear for a few days.
• Awards: Three MICHELIN Keys, the guide’s highest rating, in both 2024 and 2025; Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star five years running (2022–2026); and a place on The World’s 50 Best Hotels list in 2023 and 2024. The Telegraph has called it “the jewel of the Riviera Maya”.

4. NIZUC Resort & Spa: Elegance at Punta Nizuc

Strictly speaking, NIZUC is in Cancun, at the southern tip of the Hotel Zone, but it sits on its own point surrounded by mangroves and feels a world away from the strip. The architecture, the service and above all the spa have been collecting awards since it opened.

• Why it’s special: NIZUC Spa by ESPA, the first ESPA spa in the Mexican Caribbean, was named Latin America’s Best Resort Spa at the 2025 World Spa Awards. Suites and villas look out to the sea or the mangroves.
• Awards: Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star for both the resort and the spa (2026), AAA Five Diamond, and Latin America’s Best Resort Spa 2025 (World Spa Awards). Condé Nast Traveler readers have also ranked it among the top resorts in eastern Mexico (2023).

5. Grand Velas Riviera Maya: All-Inclusive Luxury

Grand Velas Riviera Maya changed what “all-inclusive” means on this coast, and the food is the reason. Its restaurants cover French, Italian and Asian cooking, and Cocina de Autor has held a MICHELIN star since the guide’s first Mexico edition in 2024.

• Why it’s special: Fine dining, a spa of the same caliber and activities for families and couples, all without a bill at the end. SE Spa holds a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating.
• Awards: AAA Five Diamond for 14 consecutive years and No. 9 on AAA’s 2026 Top 10 hotels list, Forbes Five-Star for SE Spa, a MICHELIN star for Cocina de Autor, and Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice 2026 (No. 2 all-inclusive in Mexico). It also appears in the readers’ awards of Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure.

6. Viceroy Riviera Maya: Villas in the Jungle

Viceroy Riviera Maya hides 41 villas in the jungle behind Playa Xcalacoco, ten minutes north of Playa del Carmen. Each villa has its own plunge pool, and the beach is quiet. It is adults only (guests 16 and over).

• Why it’s special: With so few villas and so much vegetation, it is one of the most private stays on the coast, which is why it works so well for couples.
• Awards: One MICHELIN Key (in the guide’s first Mexico selection in 2024, and again in 2025), Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 (top 20 resorts in eastern Mexico) and Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2024 (favorite resorts in Mexico).

7. UNICO 20°87° Hotel Riviera Maya: Modern and Mexican

UNICO 20°87° (the name is the resort’s coordinates) is an adults-only all-inclusive near Akumal, between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, with a contemporary design drawn from Mexican craft and culture. Ground-floor rooms have swim-up pools; the rest have terraces with outdoor hydro tubs, most of them with sea views.

• Why it’s special: The all-inclusive extends beyond the property. Its Local Host concierge arranges excursions to cenotes and Maya sites, and restaurants such as Cueva Siete cook Yucatecan food rather than generic resort fare.
• Awards: AAA Five Diamond, Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best 2026 (No. 14 luxury hotel in Mexico), and Forbes Vetted’s pick for best adults-only all-inclusive in the Riviera Maya.

Between them, these seven hotels cover the full range of luxury on this coast: a 41-villa hideaway, MICHELIN hotels with two and three Keys, and all-inclusive resorts with Five Diamond service. Awards are renewed every year, so check the latest ratings before you book, and then get ready for a stay that lives up to them.