South of the border is welcoming new hotels, restaurants and other honeymoon-perfect experiences.
By: Karen Tina HarrisonNew Hotels
The Secrets family of hotels, a brand of all-inclusive resorts with a focus on cuisine and service, has recently opened a host of properties at Mexico’s most popular beach destinations. Secrets Vallarta Bay is an adults-only, all-inclusive hotel with 271 suites, all with beach views and spa-like bathrooms. Cool factor: the resort is strolling distance to Vallarta’s vintage town center, where Richard Burton wooed Elizabeth Taylor on the art-studded Malecon promenade (room rates start at $295 per person, per night and are all-inclusive; secretsresorts.com).
Photo Credit: Secrets Resorts & Spas
Secret’s sister property Now Amber Puerto Vallarta offers 327 modern, oceanfront suites. Book into the Preferred Club level for a private, full-service lounge and a dedicated concierge service. Now Amber’s unlimited luxury concept includes perks like Euro-bungee (an interactive trampoline activity that involves getting vertical), yoga and 24-hour in-room dining (room rates start at $195 per person, per night and are all-inclusive; nowresorts.com).
Secrets The Vine Cancun is an adults-only, 495-room retreat on a white-powder beach that’s a mere 10 minutes from Cancun’s airport. The Vine focuses on the good life: romance, wine (with an Enoteca wine bar and a vast wine cellar), and a spa that’s decorated in stone that recalls the area’s underwater cenote caves (room rates start at $155 per person, per night and are all-inclusive; secretsresorts.com).
Revamped Properties
Hard Rock Hotel, the brand internationally known for rockin’ the house has gone south, with three hotels hitting Mexico. Each is all-inclusive and beachfront. Hard Rock Hotel Cancun (the former Cancun Palace) is in the heart of the glittering hotel zone with a balcony on every one of its 601 rooms. Bonus: Guests receive two free tickets to headliner (think: Shakira) concerts during their stay (room rates start at $171 per person, per night and are all-inclusive; hrhallinclusive.com).
At the west coast Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta, guests kick back at two pools, four restaurants and just as many bars. All rooms boast Jacuzzis (room rates start at $171 per person, per night and are all-inclusive; hrhallinclusive.com).
And the sprawling Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (the former Aventura Spa and Aventura Cove Palace) offers an adults-only wing, yoga classes, a Zen labyrinth, an enormous spa and 10 dining options including a martini bar (room rates start at $171 per person, per night and are all-inclusive; hrhallinclusive.com). All three also offer wedding packages exclusively designed by party planner to the stars, Colin Cowie.
Riviera Maya
BlueBay Blue Diamond Riviera Maya (the former Mandarin Oriental Mayakoba) is a super-luxe, 128-suite, adults-only all-inclusive retreat set in Mayakoba, an exclusive oceanfront enclave of high-end resorts, golf courses and mangrove-lined canals on the Riviera Maya. Guests indulge in varied à la carte dining, yoga, a pristine beach and beautiful nature trails (room rates start at $606 per person, per night; bluebayresorts.com).
Photo Credit: BlueBay Blue Diamond Riviera Maya
Photo Credit: BlueBay Blue Diamond Riviera Maya
Viceroy Riviera Maya (the former Tides Riviera Maya) feels like a private club, with only 41 secluded designer villas tucked into the jungle, all with plunge pools. Guests savor a magnificent beach, fine dining and stellar service—there’s a soap concierge, among other dedicated staff members, and a shaman, who blesses arriving couples with a plume of incense (room rates start at $605 a night; viceroyhotelsandresorts.com).
Photo Credit: Viceroy Riviera Maya
Los Cabos
Secrets Marquis Los Cabos refreshes Marquis Los Cabos with an all-inclusive luxury philosophy. On offer are 235 art-filled suites, gourmet restaurants, a lemongrass-scented spa, sleek gym and pools overlooking the Sea of Cortez (room rates start at $307 per person, per night and are all-inclusive; secretsresorts.com).
Photo Credit: Secrets Resorts & Spas
Wyndham Cabo San Lucas Resort has been redone in hacienda elegance. Its location smack-dab in downtown Cabo San Lucas, beside the marina and steps from Cabo’s popular nightclubs, gorgeous golf courses and favorite area excursions, is a draw. Among 286 sunny rooms are 22 suites (room rates start at $100 per night; wyndham.com).
Photo Credit: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts
