In May we visited the Viceroy Hotel in the Riviera Maya for a long 4 day, 3 night weekend. Needless to say, we fell in love with this hotel. We prearranged for private airport transfers from the Cancun airport and were picked up in a large SUV with the A/C going full blast, which was wonderful because it was hot, muggy and humid there in late May. After a 40 minute drive south of Cancun (about 5-10 minutes from Playa Del Carmen), we arrived at our hotel.

The property is designed in a traditional Mayan style. All rooms are thatched palapa villas, each with its own private patio with hammock and plunge pool, indoor bathroom and outdoor shower and large interior room. We had booked a “jungle villa” which was actually a lower price point than an ocean view villa but we ended up being thrilled with our choice thanks to the privacy and peacefulness that our room offered.  Ocean view villas are at the front of the property by the pool and the restaurant, which means everyone at the hotel has a full view of you, your patio and your room day and night. The jungle villas were set further back and offered complete privacy – the only sounds we heard were bird chirping in the trees.

We ended up never leaving the property! We enjoyed the spa one morning which also offered a whirlpool and eucalyptus steam room.  Unfortunately, I found the steam room to be far too hot and the eucalyptus was overpowering. I apparently wasn’t the only one because I noticed the steam room was turned off and was airing out when I left after my massage.

Service and food at the restaurant was fantastic – especially the pool and beach services during the day. We enjoyed sampling the various margaritas (mango, tamarind, prickly pear, etc…) to wash down the fresh ceviches, fish tacos and shrimp quesadillas we had. We also tried their Mayan open grill beach barbecue our first night and tried grilled octopus, squid, lobster, vegetables and sides.  A local spider monkey even joined us for dinner our first night and for breakfast the next day – he would take bananas straight from your hand.

The beach was lovely though there were some rocks to navigate to get out to soft sand so I actually preferred their incredible pool.

However, our favorite part was the room. It was a 5 minute walk down a winding jungle path – the property has several waterfalls and other water features so you always hear the sound of water or nature. Once you reach the room, you have to walk even further back before you’re finally there so you have ultimate privacy. The best part was our amazing plunge pool – which was surprisingly deep and cool. We would swim, nap in the hammock or on the oversized day bed and just generally relax until it was time to clean up for dinner.

I couldn’t believe how fast the time went especially since we were doing nothing. Were there any negatives? Mosquitoes were bad in the evening but the property was fogging every night and provided us with bug repellent, lotion and coils to burn so they were doing all they could. I know many worry about Zika and I will say that I was bit at least 10x but seem to be just fine so far. Overall, I would highly recommend the Viceroy for a Mexico getaway.