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“This past Christmas I went with my family to the Hotel Esencia in the Rivieria Maya. My sister and her family stayed nearby at the newly opened Rosewood Mayakoba so we had the opportunity to spend time at both properties. I was with my husband and our two children ages 7 and 9. We were worried that Esencia wouldn’t have enough going on for children but actually it was fabulous for children (though it would be equally fabulous for couples without children as well.) Although it didn’t have the de rigueur kids club, so common these days, it was extremely kid friendly in its own simple way. It actually had two pools, which were side by side, with one large and shallow one devoted to children. The pools are right next to the beach, so it is very easy to go from pool to beach and as the hotel is small (only 30 rooms), I felt very comfortable allowing my children to go off by themselves without any worry. The hotel is entirely done in simple white stucco cottages with thatched or Mediterranean tiled roofs. The lunch and breakfast is served open air just beside the pool, and the dinner is in its own thatched roof pavilion as is the spa, which is also phenomenal. The hotel has an authenticity and a simplicity (without sacrificing luxury), which you don’t see that often anymore. The rooms were very well appointed with large bathrooms, flat screen TVs and private terraces, some of which had private pools. The staff is very kid-friendly, and they have children’s menus at every meal but will also make you or children anything that you would like. The small main house has a few rooms which face the ocean. Though those rooms do NOT have private pools, I think they would be my first choice next time. The landscaping is beautiful with lots of cactus and other pretty Mexican flora and fauna everywhere. Indicative of the spirit of the hotel is the outdoor morning yoga class that anyone can join, which takes place under a thatched roof by the sea every morning at 9am. I found the crowd to be a very good mix of Americans and Europeans, families and couples. My children connected immediately with others. The level of service was excellent. There is no signing of checks at the end of meals as the staff knows who everyone is, you don’t need a room key and the only number to call if you need anything is just the concierge and they handle everything for you. This makes the whole experience extremely relaxing.

We mostly stayed put but we did do the swimming with the dolphins at Xcaret, which was a terrific experience for all.

We only went to dinner one night in Playa del Carmen, as it is about a half an hour from the hotel; and although it was fun to do it once, the town was touristier than I anticipated.

The Rosewood hotel is probably more traditionally luxurious in that the rooms are all huge with large private terraces and private rooftop outdoor areas as well. They are magnificent. The hotel has three restaurants two separate beautiful pool areas (one up top near the fancier restaurant and main building) and another right by the beach where the kids club, and best lunch restaurant is. The hotel is extremely big and spread out (in my opinion somewhat of a negative but many people might like this) so one needs to take golf carts or boats (the hotel is built around lagoons) to get from main house or hotel room to the beach area and back again. In my opinion, the best rooms are those near to the beach/lower pool area, as you can treat those rooms as your entire hotel and really not have to be dependant on the golf cart of boats unless you need to go up to the main house (the boats are slow and the golf carts are not quite frequent enough but I am sure that will improve.) The hotel physically is very pretty but it is very modern and futuristic and doesn’t feel particularly Mexican in any way. It could almost be anywhere, including Las Vegas. That said, the service was first-rate, the people who worked there could not have been nicer and the food was amazing. They have many special nights where they do parties down at the pool restaurant for dinner which are fabulous. The spa and the gym were not yet open this Christmas but clearly like all the facilities at this hotel they will be state of the art. The hotel is right next door to the new Mandarin Oriental, The Fairmont and the soon to be opened Viceroy, which is kind of nice as it gives you easily accessible other restaurant options should you want them. On the flip side it makes the area feel less remote and Mexican. The crowd this Christmas was mostly families many of them from Dallas where Rosewood is headquartered. My sister and her family loved this hotel so much that they have already booked for next Christmas.”