Rosewood Mayakoba - Riviera Maya

The Mayakoba complex in the Riviera Maya is so much more than just another beach resort. In the making for over a decade, it is arguably the most ambitious and luxurious realisation of a trend towards masterplanned communities in Mexico. This started in the mid-1970s, when Mexico’s National Trust fund for Tourism Development (FONATUR)  began developing resort destinations in Cancun, Ixtapa and Los Cabos.
Over three decades, FONATUR’s basic mission was to provide the infrastructure and legal certainties critical to a successful resort community, plus resources to assist investors to develop. Typically, these masterplanned communities are anchored by one or two luxury brands, complemented by a mix of branded and non-branded residences including villas and condominiums, with additional facilities such as golf courses and beach clubs, marinas and private landing strips – all within a highly manicured and secure environment.

The collection of luxury hotel and residential brands that comprise Mayakoba – namely Fairmont, Rosewood, Banyan Tree and Viceroy – is nearing completion, with Rosewood the latest to open. Both the Banyan Tree and Viceroy are in the final stages of construction and due to open this year. The four hotels fan out along the beach, on land rich with crystal clear lagoons, with the Rosewood Mayakoba unfolding across 20 acres joined by waterways. The hotel has a mile of beachfront and a 17,000ft2 spa located on its own private island.

Mayakoba signals a new generation of masterplanned developments that seek to take on board issues of sustainability. The need to protect Mexico’s coastal wetlands and mangroves – which provide an all important buffer between the ocean and the land – was reinforced by Hurricane Wilma, which devastated much of this coastline in 2005, and enshrined by legislation subsequently introduced by President Felipe Calderon.

Dallas-based architect firm, Three, the designers of Rosewood, certainly make much of the inspiration they drew from the ecological system surrounding the Rosewood Mayakoba. This was a response to the design brief issued by Spanish development company OHL based on, “six years of reseach into the biology and waters of the challenging Yucatan landscape”. According to Three, OHL employed a team of “biologists, ecological engineers, architects and land planners (which) found networks of freshwater canals and lagoons underneath limestone that had been hidden for a thousand years.”

This watery landscape, and a protected swath of mangroves, dictates the layout of Rosewood Mayakoba. The resort has two very different sections. Far back from the sea, in low scrub jungle alongside crystal-clear lagoons, are the majority of the 128 suites. Units range from 800 to 3,700ft2, and each lagoon suite has a private dock which guests can reach by one of the resort’s electric boats as well as a plunge pool, garden and terrace or rooftop sundeck. Guestroom interiors are created from materials such as limestone and driftwood found in the jungle and reflect the resort’s distinct environment.

Other guest features include a restaurant, cigar bar, tequila library, tennis facilities and an 18-hole Greg Norman golf course and clubhouse. Past the dense buffer of greenery, the beach – with a casual restaurant, a mid-size infinity pool and a small cluster of suites – is accessible either by electric boat or golf cart.

The Sense spa is physically and psychologically separated from the resort. Reached via a bridge, it is on its own small island and designed around the jungle and an existing cenote – a water well formed when limestone collapsed into the subterranean fresh water springs of the Yucatan. The spa has eleven treatment rooms and eight spa suites and also features an outdoor meditation platform, lap pool and relaxation deck.

ROSEWOOD MAYAKOBA
Ctra Federal Cancun–Playa Del Carmen KM 298, Solidaridad, Quintana Roo, CP 77710, Mexico
www.rosewoodmayakoba.com
Tel: +52 984 875 8000

Rooms    128 suites
Dining    Casa Del Lago, Punta Bonita,
Drinking    Agave Azul Raw, Tequila Library
Leisure    Sense, A Rosewood Spa
Facilities    2,615ft2  meeting space