Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya Hotel & Spa

Arrival here means stepping onto roughly two miles of beach, an hour's drive south of Cancun airport and short of Playa del Carmen. The resort is built around Mayan architectural themes, low-rise blocks set among open lawns and planted grounds that lead down to the shore. Guests can walk from the rooms to a genuine Mayan ruin on the property, a rare thing to find inside an all-inclusive footprint. Rooms range from the 52 m² Junior Suite Deluxe to Club Platinum Presidential Suites that sleep up to six; several categories add a private terrace, a whirlpool tub or direct sea views. Restaurants run through a themed circuit under the Beyond Flavors programme, covering everything from American comfort food to international menus, with bars scattered poolside and along the sand. A theatre stages nightly live music and shows. Weddings take place on the beach, in a garden, under a palapa or in a seaside chapel, with Mayan ceremony options offered alongside more conventional ones. The pace is sociable rather than hushed. It is a large resort, built for groups, couples and families in the same stretch of coast. The Caribbean here runs shallow and pale near shore, deepening to blue further out, and the sand stays soft underfoot at low tide.