SLS Cancun Hotel & Spa ★★★★★

Forty Five Suites at the Mouth of the Marina

Kilometre 1 of Boulevard Kukulcan belongs to Puerto Cancun, the marina quarter built at the point where the city hands over to the strip, and SLS occupies the beachfront corner of it. The proportions are the first thing to register: forty five suites, not several hundred rooms, arranged so that the Caribbean is in front of you and the boats are behind. The brand arrived from Beverly Hills and Miami with its own restaurants and its own spa, and it has adapted them to a beach rather than diluted them. What results is a boutique house operating at full luxury service.

Why It Works

We chose it for the ratio of staff and space to guests. Forty five suites means the infinity pool has daybeds free at midday and the beach club is not a scrum, while the kitchens of Cleo and Leynia are the same kitchens the brand runs in its city hotels. Ciel Spa is the other argument, a wellness floor rather than two treatment rooms behind the gym. Add a private marina and access to an eighteen hole island course a few minutes away, and the hotel covers a luxury Cancun stay without ever needing the boulevard.

Why This Location

Puerto Cancun is the quiet end. It is a planned marina community with its own golf course, shopping centre and boat slips, and it sits between downtown Cancun and the first hotels of the strip, which means a guest can eat in the city one night and never leave the sand the next. The beach here faces north across the channel towards Isla Mujeres, so the water is calmer than on the long eastern stretch of Kukulcan. The ferry docks are close. Downtown, with its markets and its Avenida Nader restaurants, is a short drive inland rather than a half hour along the boulevard, and the airport is around twenty five kilometres south.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxe

• Vibe: polished, ultra stylish, low volume, grown up

• Rooms: 45 suites, from premier and deluxe ocean front one bedrooms to a presidential suite, all facing the Caribbean

• Best For: couples, small groups taking several suites, travellers who want a spa and a serious restaurant on site

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the Bungalow Beach Club, which works as a day destination in its own right rather than as a row of hotel loungers

• Dining: Cleo for Mediterranean cooking, Leynia as the second restaurant, and Bungalow Beach Bar and Grill on the sand for cocktails and lunch

• Amenities: Ciel Spa, infinity pool with daybeds, private beach club, private marina, access to an eighteen hole island golf course, mixology and cooking classes, event buy outs, dogs accepted

• Attractions: the Puerto Cancun marina and shopping centre on the doorstep, the Isla Mujeres ferry docks nearby, downtown Cancun a short drive inland

Suites Sized for a Week, Not a Weekend

There are no standard rooms here, only suites, and the categories are sorted by aspect and size rather than by decor: premier and deluxe ocean front one bedrooms for most stays, larger configurations above them, and a presidential suite at the top. Each has a separate living area, which is what makes a seven night stay comfortable in a way a bedroom with a balcony never is. The suites also work for a group taking several at once, and the hotel is small enough that a family or a party of friends can effectively take over a floor.

Cleo, Leynia and the Bungalow on the Sand

Cleo is the Mediterranean room, the brand signature, built on mezze, wood fire and a long table format that suits a group. Leynia is the second restaurant, and having two proper kitchens on a property of forty five suites is unusual anywhere in Cancun. Down on the beach, Bungalow Beach Bar and Grill handles lunch and the cocktail hour with its feet in the sand. Ciel Spa runs the wellness side with a treatment list and technology the brand is known for, and the hotel also puts on mixology and cooking classes, which are among the few organised activities worth the hour. The property appears in the Michelin Guide hotel selection.