Ben and I took a much needed vacation together to Mexico. We stayed at a place called the Rosewood Mayakoba. We found out about the resort from the Leavelle's who have visited a few times and they love it. We both researched the resort along with the other 2 resorts on the same property (Fairmont Mayakoba and Banyan Tree Mayakoba). The Rosewood had absolutely not one bad review which was intriguing to us as we always believe there has to at least be one negative comment/review...but nothing. So we booked our trip and off we went.
Upon arrival we were picked up by one of their Cadillac Escalades. This is a service you pay for but we felt it to be safer than taking a cab. When they picked us up they greeted us with two cold wash cloths on a silver tray to wipe our hands and just refresh ourselves after our plane ride over. They had bottled water in the car for us and the ride to the resort was about 35 minutes. Obviously driving over there is not the prettiest drive ever but once we arrived that changed completely.
After we arrived one of the hotel staff was waiting for us, greeted us by name and took us through to the outdoor lobby to get checked in. We were given a refreshing drink, something similar to a mojito while we went over our stay. It was extremely guest/customer service oriented from the moment we arrived which is always a pleasant surprise.
After check in we were taken by boat to our "lagoon suite". There are ocean view and ocean front suites. They are considerably more expensive but I think it may be worth it to experience that view on our next visit. Yes, that is the hint we will be back. As we got on the boat they gave us cold wash cloths again along with fresh pineapple and papaya. It was so good and I don't typically eat either.
We arrived at our suite, which all rooms at the resort are suites and have butler service. We were shown the suite and then our butler arrived to make sure we had all we needed. Our luggage was already in our room when we arrived.
The butler service means you have someone providing you fresh fruit, and water daily. They will unpack your luggage and pack your luggage if you want them to. They replace any items used such as coffee pods so you never run out of anything. Each evening they provide turn down service to include laying cloths on the floor on each side of the bed to wipe your feet on before getting in. They fold your clothes when they clean the room...which you can guess there was only one of us they had to do that for. During the day your butler will find you at the resort no matter where you are, for us that was on the beach, and they just check in to make sure you are taken care of. There are waiters on the beach that will bring you lunch and drinks. There was even a guy walking around offering a head massage along with a sunglass cleaning. Ben opted out for that but not me!
The suite was beautiful. Very spacious and I read the lagoon suites were more spacious than the ocean view or ocean front. I can't remember which. Definitely something I will look at when booking our next trip here. There was an indoor shower as well as an outdoor shower. We never used the indoor shower. There was something about showering outside there that was so free feeling! We also had a private sun terrace. It wasn't anything really special as there was no view but I guess it was just a nice to have. The bed was very comfortable and all the amenities were great!
The first evening of our stay we had dinner at the resorts sushi restaurant. Overall I will say the food was not especially to our liking but as shared there were no bad reviews so it may just be us. Ben and I are more easy going with food with respect to not being crazy about the "foo-foo" food. I had a great glass of wine though which always makes up for a so-so meal. One recommendation given to us after our trip was to just order what you want and they will make it for you. Meaning..if you don't see it on the menu tell them what you are looking for.
The next morning Ben got up fairly early and took a bike ride. He could not wait to get back to me, while I was enjoying my coffee in bed, and tell me about what he saw. So I got dressed, we jumped on our bikes and I followed him to the "view". He had ridden his bike right to the ocean. It was beautiful, empty and just breathtaking. We then headed to the gym, had a great workout and then had some breakfast before our two hour massages. Yes, two hours....
We arrived at the spa early so we could just relax. I have to say it was so nice to just sit and read or think without a single interruption. Again, we were the only two people at the spa. I laugh because I started to feel a little 'Hostel'ish. Anyone that may read this will know what that means if they have seen the movie Hostel. The spa attendant came to get me when it was time for our massages and we walked to what we both considered to be not a short walk to complete relaxation. Although when we arrived we knew it was going to be a wonderful two hours. It was outdoors overlooking the lagoon. We sat in chairs first as the therapists wiped our feet down and gave us foot massages. Then we began our massages. It was all just perfect and so peaceful. We took our time afterward just relaxing/showering..to head to the beach.
We had lunch on the beach and before dinner at the resorts Mexican restaurant we were able to rest in our room. Again the food was...ok. Nothing special. Sort of our overall consensus.
The resort has bicycles and you can have them for your entire stay. Now the caveat to that is you really should know how to ride a bike. While I know how to ride a bike I am not good at it and I fell off twice. Yes, I did. I swore Ben to secrecy which wasn't hard as I don't think he wanted to run off and tell anyone that his wife didn't know how to ride a bike well...so much so she fell off and really didn't know why other than sheer panic. That said having the bikes was fun and I was a trooper on our 4 mile ride to the other resorts even after I fell off shortly after we left our resort.
The second day we were there we decided to take that 4 mile bike ride to the other resorts and have breakfast at one of them. It was quite the beautiful adventure. We passed a gorgeous golf course, saw huge iguanas, a snake and these cute little animals called Coati. They are in the racoon family but have hogged noses and reddish fur. We had breakfast at Banyan Tree which we actually found to be better than breakfast at our hotel. A little better selection. Not a ton better..just a little better. On our way back we stopped at the Cenotes which is basically an underground bat cave. It was really beautiful once you walk down and look back up the steep stairs. The sunlight was shining through just so.
We were at the beach both full days we were there but on the third day we tried out the pool closest to the lobby. We were literally the only two people at the pool. We found shortly after we arrived that there were not a lot of guests because 1) summer is not their busy season as Dec, Jan and Feb are and 2) even though we saw so many at the airport both coming and going which we assumed were mainly for Cancun/other resorts there is just a different demographic at the Mayakoba properties....and even more so at the Rosewood. We saw what we anticipated to be honeymooners and older couples. Outside of the honeymooners, our age seemed to be the exception.
The third day we worked out again and spent time at both the beach and the pool. We had lunch again at the beach. We decided in the early afternoon to take a taxi into Playa. I was not completely comfortable with this but Ben assured me we were safe and of course he wouldn't let anything happen to me. I know that he would do anything he could to prevent something but you just never know there. There are police, if that is what you want to call them, walking around with M16's. Before we left the hotel one of the guys told us to only take a taxi lined up with other taxi's and not to take a taxi that just pulls up by itself....that was comforting. We walked around what they call 5th Ave which has your typical Mexico shops but also some pretty Americanized shops. Super expensive Americanized shops. I was ready to go back to the resort pretty quickly.
Before we left for our trip I had made our dinner reservations and purposely made a dinner reservation at another resort so we could try one of their restaurants. I made the reservation at the Fairmont's El Puerto which was their steak and seafood restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised and completely enjoyed our meal. It was more our style and it was nice to have a meal we liked before we left. That resort was beautiful as well so that was one thing we found to be true..all resorts are beautiful and I think any of them would be good choices. The Fairmont is the least expensive of the three but just as beautiful.
Our last morning at the resort was bittersweet. We were happy to be going home as we missed the kids but were sad to leave as it was so relaxing and just beautiful! We rode our bikes to breakfast and just relaxed in our room until we had to depart to the airport.
As we were about to board the plane the guy taking our boarding passes asked us for our immigration papers or whatever they are called that allow you back in to the US. Well I happened to keep mine but Ben threw his in the trash as some lady told him to as we went through the security/immigration lines. It clearly states on the back that you must have the piece of paper to get out of the country. I almost threw mine away as well...which didn't matter because I wasn't leaving Ben. Yes, they made him get out of line and go all the way back to security/immigration to get a new paper. When he got down there the "locals" told him it would be 24 hours before he could get the document cleared. It is unreal how crooked that country is as it was amazing what $200 did. That's right...24 hours turned in to right now. Ben hauled it back to the gate so we were able to board the plane..about 5 minutes before departure. I was in a complete panic and very relieved when I saw him walking toward me.
We were delayed in Dallas and happened to run in to our sweet friend Jill as she had missed her first flight and made it on our flight. We got home later than expected and our sweet girl wasn't awake but our sweet boy was and it was so good to see him.
It was a great vacation and much needed. We will definitely go again but with the way we left the country I think I can wait awhile.
