Garza Blanca Resort & Spa Cancun ★★★★★

Playa Mujeres Sand, North of the City Lights

Cancun does not end at the Hotel Zone. Follow the Punta Sam road north out of the city and the coast opens into Playa Mujeres, a flatter, emptier shoreline where the newest generation of resorts has been built with room to breathe. Garza Blanca sits on a private stretch of it, a low, contemporary composition in earth tones and mangrove greens that keeps the jungle on one side and the Caribbean on the other. The house style belongs to Tafer, a Mexican group better known on the Pacific coast, and the Caribbean version keeps the same habit of building suites rather than rooms.

Why It Works

We chose it because the all inclusive plan is worth using. Hiroshi runs a robata grill, Blanca Blue handles the regional cooking, and Bocados, DAO and the Gourmet Hall fill in around them, all of it included and served at a table. The accommodation is the other argument: the smallest category is a junior suite of around fifty five square metres and the largest are four bedroom penthouse lofts, so a family does not have to split across two rooms. Spa Imagine, with hydrotherapy circuits and a proper treatment list, is a wellness floor rather than an afterthought.

Why This Location

Playa Mujeres is the quiet alternative to the strip. The beach is wide and calm, the resort clears sargassum from its own stretch every morning, and there is no boulevard traffic outside the gate. What you trade is walkable nightlife: this is a stay built around the property, with a private aqua park, kayaks and paddle boards on the sand, and a marina district a short drive away. Downtown Cancun and its markets lie south along the same road, the Punta Sam ferry crosses to Isla Mujeres from just up the coast, and the Hotel Zone is reachable by taxi when the evening calls for it.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxe

• Vibe: contemporary, calm, all inclusive done properly, family friendly

• Rooms: suites only, in garden, ocean view and swim up categories from junior to two bedroom, plus three and four bedroom penthouse lofts and oceanfront residences

• Best For: families needing two or three bedrooms, couples who want the plan to include good restaurants, long stays

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the swim up suites, where the terrace step leads into water rather than towards a pool deck

• Dining: Blanca Blue for regional cooking, Hiroshi for Japanese and robata, Bocados, DAO, the Gourmet Hall and beach service, with mixology across the bars

• Amenities: Spa Imagine with hydrotherapy and high technology treatments, several pools including one on the roof, private beach with daily cleaning, private aqua park, Kids Club, gym, kayaks, snorkelling and paddle boards

• Attractions: the Playa Mujeres beach on the doorstep, the Punta Sam crossing to Isla Mujeres up the coast, downtown Cancun south along the same road, the Hotel Zone a taxi ride away

Suites, Swim Ups and Penthouse Lofts

There are no standard rooms. The inventory is organised first by outlook, garden, ocean view or swim up, and then by size, junior, one bedroom or two bedroom, which makes booking unusually legible. The junior suites start at around fifty five square metres, the two bedrooms run to roughly a hundred and seventy, and above them sit three bedroom oceanfront residences and three and four bedroom penthouse lofts for a group travelling together. Swim up categories are the ones to ask for: the terrace opens onto water, which changes the shape of a day with small children. Every suite has a terrace, and the design holds to earthy colours and clean lines rather than resort pastiche.

Hiroshi, Blanca Blue and Spa Imagine

Blanca Blue is the signature dining room, built on Mexican produce and a coastal repertoire, and it is the room to book on a first night. Hiroshi is the Japanese kitchen, robata grill included, and it is the reason the plan here is not a compromise. Bocados, DAO, the Gourmet Hall, the snack counter and a food truck cover the rest of the day, and the bars take mixology seriously enough to list their own cocktails. Spa Imagine occupies its own level, with treatment cabins, hydrotherapy and a technology driven menu that runs to HydraFacial. The pools include one on the roof, the gym is properly equipped, and the Kids Club keeps water games on the programme, which is what allows the adults an afternoon at the spa.