6 Best Playa del Carmen Resorts with Private Pools

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A swim-up suite isn’t a private pool. Its terrace steps into a channel your neighbours share, and several resorts around Playa del Carmen sell exactly that as a pool suite. For water that’s yours alone, book the room by its exact name, because at several resorts here only a few categories have it. Here’s where I’d book, from a plunge pool in town to villas on the Mayakoba lagoons.

Playa del Carmen Resorts with Private Pools

Swim-Up vs Private Pool Suites in Playa del Carmen

Pool suites here come in three kinds, and only one of them is private. The room name tells you which you’re buying.

• Swim-up and swim-out: These terraces step straight into a pool or channel that runs past other rooms. Hyatt Vivid Playa del Carmen sells swim-up suites, Hyatt Zilara Riviera Maya sells swim-out suites, and the Reserve at Paradisus La Perla has swim-up rooms. The water is shared with the rooms beside yours.
• A hot tub on the terrace: Some suites put a Jacuzzi outside instead of a pool. At Ocean Maya Royale, the Privilege Junior Suite with Jacuzzi has one, and a different category carries the private pool.
• What to look for: Book a room whose name says private pool, plunge pool or pool villa. Pool view only looks onto water, and swim-up or swim-out means water you share. At Grand Velas Riviera Maya, ask whether an Ambassador Pool Suite’s pool opens onto shared water.

Are the Private Plunge Pools Heated, and How Big?

Heating varies by resort and by room, so check before you book.

• Heated by the resort: Viceroy Riviera Maya heats the private plunge pools in its Luxury Villas and Ocean View Two-Level Villas. At Banyan Tree Mayakoba, the Bliss Pool Villa’s pool is heated, and the Lagoon & Sunset villas have a heated rooftop infinity pool.
• Not published: Devossion by Live Aqua Playa del Carmen, Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Fairmont Mayakoba and Ocean Maya Royale don’t state whether their room pools are heated. Ask the resort before you book if a warm pool matters.
• How deep: Banyan Tree Mayakoba builds every room pool 1.2 metres deep and publishes each one’s volume, from 13 cubic metres in an Oceanfront Veranda suite to 96 in a three-bedroom villa. The other resorts don’t publish sizes.

Mayakoba: The Resort Complex North of Playa del Carmen

Mayakoba is a gated complex at Km 298 of the Cancun highway, where four resorts share 595 acres of mangroves, lagoons and beach.

• A lagoon in the middle: A lagoon links the four hotels, and its waterways run through the mangroves between them. The whole complex sits behind one gated entrance off the highway.
• The golf course: El Camaleón, designed by Greg Norman, runs through the complex’s jungle and mangroves. It has hosted PGA Tour events.
• One mile of beach: The complex fronts one mile of Caribbean beach. All four resorts share that stretch of sand.

How Far Each Resort Sits From the Beach

A private pool doesn’t mean a beachfront room. At the big resorts, the sea sits a ride away from most villas.

• On the sand: Devossion by Live Aqua Playa del Carmen sits on a long white-sand stretch by Mamitas beach, and staff rake the sand in front of the hotel. At Grand Velas Riviera Maya, the Ambassador section sits closest to the beach and Grand Class suites face the sea.
• Beachfront villas: Viceroy Riviera Maya sits on the beach at Xcalacoco, with its villas set in the jungle behind the sand. Book a Beachfront Villa to step straight onto it.
• A ride away: At Fairmont Mayakoba, the beach is a 20-minute walk or a 10-minute bike ride from the lobby. Book a Beach Front suite to skip the trip.

Adults-Only Resorts with a Private Pool

Age rules run from adults only to full kids’ clubs. Check the minimum age before you book, or start with the adults-only hotels in Playa del Carmen.

• Adults only: Devossion by Live Aqua Playa del Carmen and Ocean Maya Royale both take adults only. The rule covers the whole resort, not a section.
• Older children allowed: Viceroy Riviera Maya takes older children as well as adults. The main pool isn’t adults-only.
• Families welcome: Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Fairmont Mayakoba both run kids’ clubs. Expect families around the shared pools and the beach.
• An adults-only pool: Grand Velas Riviera Maya keeps an adults-only infinity pool in its Grand Class section. Its kids’ and teens’ clubs serve the families staying across the resort.

Sargassum and the Best Months for a Pool Trip

Seaweed season and hurricane season overlap on this coast, and both push guests from the sea to their own pool.

• Sargassum months: Brown sargassum seaweed lands from April to October, heaviest in June, July and August. In a bad year it starts in January, and the beach crews never clear all of it.
• Hurricane season: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. Buy travel insurance that covers storms for those weeks.
• On the resort beaches: Grand Velas Riviera Maya uses offshore barriers to hold sargassum back from its beach. At Ocean Maya Royale, the smell reaches the Privilege end of the beach in heavy weeks.
• Low season: September and October are the quietest months, when rates drop. They also fall at the end of the seaweed season and the height of the storm season.

FAQs

1. Do any all-inclusive resorts in Playa del Carmen have private pools?

Yes: Devossion by Live Aqua Playa del Carmen, Ocean Maya Royale and Grand Velas Riviera Maya are all-inclusive and sell rooms with their own pool. At each one, only certain room categories have it, so book by the exact room name. With meals and drinks in the rate, a pool room and the bar tab come in one price.

2. Can you walk from Mayakoba to 5th Avenue?

No: Mayakoba’s resorts sit 11 kilometres from 5th Avenue along the Cancun highway, so every trip into town is a taxi ride. Plan on a taxi each way, and fit shopping and dinner on 5th Avenue into one trip. For walking to dinner every night, book a resort in town instead.

3. Which hotels are in Mayakoba?

Four resorts share the Mayakoba complex: Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Fairmont Mayakoba, Rosewood Mayakoba and Alila Mayakoba, the former Andaz. All four sit behind one gated entrance off the Cancun highway, around a lagoon that links them. A table at a neighbour’s restaurant needs no taxi, since all four share the complex.

4. How far is Mayakoba from Cancun airport?

Mayakoba sits 48 kilometres south of Cancun airport, 45 to 50 minutes by car. Book a private transfer before you land, and give the driver your resort’s name, since four hotels share the one entrance. ADO buses run into downtown Playa del Carmen, not to the complex, so the bus only suits a stay in town.

5. Is Kanai part of Playa del Carmen?

Not really: Kanai and Maroma sit 14 to 17 kilometres up the coast from 5th Avenue, past Mayakoba and Xcalacoco. Resorts there, such as The Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai and Chablé Maroma, sell themselves under Riviera names. They have private pools too. Plan on a longer taxi ride for any evening in Playa del Carmen.

6. Where is the Tren Maya station in Playa del Carmen?

The station sits on the edge of town off Avenida Colosio, about 6 kilometres from the centre. Take a taxi between the station and your resort; from Mayakoba, that means a drive down the Cancun highway. Check the train’s route and stops before you plan a day trip around it.

7. Do all rooms at Fairmont Mayakoba have a private pool?

Only some of the butler-service suites at Fairmont Mayakoba have a pool of their own, so check the name. Pools come with the Beach Front, Bambu, Coral, Tortuga and Camaleón suites. Suites sold with a Rooftop Pool sit in the beach-area casitas; ask the resort in writing whether that pool is yours alone. Standard rooms come with balconies or terraces instead.