Review: Andaz Mayakoba Riviera Maya

Last weekend Ford and I decided we wanted to get out of town. I started looking at options on Friday morning, and a few hours later we were on a flight to Cancun for our three night stay at the Andaz Mayakoba.

This is a Hyatt property I had heard a lot about, so I was curious to check it out firsthand. It’s always nice to have good points hotels not far from home (we also really enjoyed the Park Hyatt St. Kitts, for example).

Booking The Andaz Mayakoba

One of the reasons we booked the Andaz Mayakoba is because on the day of our arrival they still had standard rooms for sale, so we could redeem points or book a reasonable rate.

On top of that, they even had standard suites available, so I could apply one of my Globalist suite upgrades that was expiring at the end of the month towards the reservation.

Redeeming Points At The Andaz Mayakoba

The Andaz Mayakoba is a Category 6 World of Hyatt property, meaning a free night here costs 25,000 World of Hyatt points. I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, so to me that’s the equivalent of paying ~$375.

In a few weeks Hyatt will be implementing peak and off-peak pricing, meaning the cost per night will vary anywhere from 21,000 to 29,000 points, depending on the day.

One huge benefit of booking with points is that you don’t have to pay the outrageous taxes and fees associated with Mexico hotels, since those are a percentage of room rate.

Even if you’re not a Hyatt loyalist, earning points with them can be pretty easy. In addition to being able to earn World of Hyatt points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card, you can also transfer over points from Ultimate Rewards.

See this post for everything you need to know about earning Hyatt points with credit cards.

Book The Andaz Mayakoba Through Hyatt Privé

We ended up paying cash for our stay at the Andaz Mayakoba. The nightly rate was $299. That didn’t include the 35.4% in taxes and fees, including:

• 16% VAT
• 3% occupancy tax
• 5% resort fee
• 10% service charge
• 1.4% environmental tax

Globalist members get waived resort fees, so that 5% resort fee is waived, but I did have to specifically ask for that be removed at check-out.

Ford booked us through Hyatt Privé. It costs no extra than the standard rate, and for booking that way you get the following additional perks:

• Daily full breakfast for two in the hotel’s restaurant
• A $100 property credit per room per stay
• A one category room upgrade confirmed within 24 hours of booking (room-to-room or suite-to-suite) — based on availability at the time of booking
• Early check-in (as early as 9AM) and late check-out (as late as 4PM), subject to availability
• A welcome gift and letter

In reality the only extra benefit for us was the $100 property credit, since I immediately used a suite upgrade to confirm an upgrade to a lagoon view villa, and since my Globalist status already got us free breakfast.

Still, a $100 credit is better than no credit!

What Is Mayakoba?

For those who have no clue what Mayakoba is, it’s essentially a 1,600 acre development south of Cancun. The development has four resorts — the Fairmont (which opened in 2006), the Rosewood (which opened in 2007), the Banyan Tree (which opened in 2008), and the Andaz (which opened in 2017).

What makes Mayakoba unique is the scenery — it’s not just a beachfront resort area, but the whole development was built into a mangrove forest, with some pretty cool lagoons. Just as there are rooms facing the sea, you can also have a lagoon view room with a crocodile a few feet away.

This was my first time in Mayakoba — I’d say the benefit of the development is that the whole thing is well contained, so it feels safe, and generally luxurious. You can easily go between resorts if you want to eat at a different restaurant. On top of that, I loved the varied landscape.

The fact that it’s self contained is also one of the downsides, because there’s not much else in the immediate area. I’d definitely come to Mayakoba with the intent of relaxing, rather than being super active.

Andaz Mayakoba Review

Now let’s get into the actual review of the Andaz. What was our room like, what are the pool and beach like, how is the food, is the service any good, and what’s the overall vibe of this place?

Getting To The Andaz Mayakoba

The Andaz Mayakoba is about a 30 minute drive from Cancun Airport. You’re going to want to pre-arrange transportation — you can either do so directly through the hotel, or through a third party.

Based on online reviews I selected USA Transfers (despite the name), which was seamless. They charged $100 for roundtrip transfers, they confirmed my same day booking within minutes, and the drivers were courteous, drove safely, and were punctual. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again, especially since they charged less than half as much as the hotel does directly.

The drive from the airport to Mayakoba is easy, as the roads are well paved and have several lanes.

Andaz Mayakoba Arrival, Check-In, And Lobby

The Andaz Mayakoba has a beautiful open-air lobby with a cute water feature in the middle, which even has a fire at night. Otherwise there’s not much going on in the lobby, so you’ll only really come here on arrival or departure.

Our check-in experience was quick (we were even offered an alcoholic welcome drink), though I’d note this place doesn’t have the usual Andaz check-in experience. At all other Andaz properties I’ve been to there’s no formal front desk, while here there is one.

Andaz Mayakoba open air lobby

Andaz Mayakoba open air lobby

Once checked in, we were given a golf cart tour of part of the property, and then driven to our room.

Andaz Mayakoba Layout

The Andaz Mayakoba has 214 rooms spread out across over two dozen buildings. The hotel’s property is huge, and there are two general areas:

• There’s the lagoon side of the property, where we were staying, and that’s also where the gym, spa, one of the pools, and two of the restaurants were located
• Then there’s the beach side of the property, where there were more rooms, one pool, and two restaurants

Andaz Mayakoba property layout

It’s about a mile between the two sides of the resort, and you can get around either by bike or by golf cart. Bikes aren’t assigned to specific rooms, but rather are on a first come first served basis, and are readily available. We loved biking around the property, and just about everywhere was reachable within 5-10 minutes.

Andaz Mayakoba bikes

Path between both sides of the property

View from path between both sides of the property

Andaz Mayakoba Lagoon View Suite

We were assigned room 2231, a lagoon view suite located pretty close to reception.

Andaz Mayakoba walkways

Most of the hotel’s buildings have three floors, and our suite was on the top floor.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite exterior

The suite was huge, especially when you consider that this is a standard suite. There was a large living area with a couch and a chair, and then a desk and chair in the corner.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite living room

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite living room

Next to the wall-mounted TV was the minibar. At Andaz properties all non-alcoholic minibar drinks and snacks are free, and that was the case here as well.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite minibar

Andaz Mayakoba in-room minibar

Andaz Mayakoba in-room minibar

There was also an in-room Nespresso machine.

Andaz Mayakoba in-room coffee

Down the hallway was the bedroom, which featured a comfortable king size bed, along with two chairs and a table by the window.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite bedroom

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite bedroom

In the hallway between the living room and bathroom was the toilet and a sink on one side.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite toilet

On the other side was the bathroom, which had double sinks and a walk-in shower.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite bathroom

The shower had both a rainforest shower head and a handheld one.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite shower

Toiletries were in reusable containers, and were good quality.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite toiletries

In addition to the indoor space, the suite had lots of outdoor space. There was one balcony off the bedroom, with two chairs and a small couch.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite balcony

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite balcony

Then off the living room was another balcony with a couch, a table with two chairs, two lounger chairs, and a small plunge pool.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite balcony

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite balcony

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite balcony

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite plunge pool

I loved the lagoon view, even if it’s not a view you’d traditionally expect from a beach resort in Mexico.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon view suite view

I wanted to mention one other thing I noticed and appreciated, but didn’t use. If you want laundry done in the hotel, they charge just $20 for an entire bag of laundry. Contrast that to most hotels, which charge that much for laundering three pairs of socks.

Andaz Mayakoba reasonably priced laundry

All around we loved the room — it was huge, quiet, immaculately maintained, and had a nice view. I will say it perhaps didn’t feel especially luxurious and even a bit cookie cutter, but that’s also what I was expecting from an Andaz.

Andaz Mayakoba Pools

The Andaz Mayakoba has two major sets of pools. The most popular pool was right off the beach. Even though the hotel seemed to be mostly full, I didn’t find that the pool was ever that busy.

Andaz Mayakoba beach pool

Andaz Mayakoba beach pool

There were also a few pools on the lagoon side of the resort, which were consistently quieter.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon pool

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon pool

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon pool

Andaz Mayakoba Beach

The Andaz has a serviced beach area, so there are quite a few lounge chairs, and then you can order drinks and food there. As you might expect, many of the prime seats fill up very early in the morning.

Has there been a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where someone “reserves” beach chairs? If not, I think Larry needs to take on this topic!

Andaz Mayakoba beach

Anyway, the Mayakoba beach is simply gorgeous — the sand is among the softest I’ve seen anywhere, so it was lovely to walk all along the beach, as you can go from one end to the other along all the resorts. Not only was the beach quiet, but there was no one trying to sell you drugs and/or selfie sticks, so that was nice.

Andaz Mayakoba beach

Andaz Mayakoba beach

Andaz Mayakoba Gym

The Andaz Mayakoba has a pretty well equipped gym on the lagoon side of the resort, which is open 24/7 and accessible with a key card.

Andaz Mayakoba gym

Andaz Mayakoba gym

Andaz Mayakoba gym

Andaz Mayakoba gym

Andaz Mayakoba Spa

We didn’t end up getting any spa treatments at the Andaz, but for anyone who is interested, here’s the pricing:

As you can see, pricing is rather steep — a 60 minute massage starts at $167 including taxes, but not including the recommended 18-22% service charge.

It’s my understanding that the spa also has a hydrotherapy area that’s complimentary for Globalist members, but not for other guests.

Andaz Mayakoba Lagoon Boat Tour

Every day at 11AM and 3PM the hotel offers a complimentary 45 minute lagoon tour. You can reserve this, so book early, because in our case it wasn’t available until two days later. This was so awesome. They have boats with a guide that seat about a dozen guests.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon boat

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon boat

I loved seeing all the connected waterways in the area.

Andaz Mayakoba lagoon

The amount of wildlife was also impressive, ranging from crocodiles to all kinds of birds.

Mayakoba lagoon crocodiles

Mayakoba lagoon crocodiles

Mayakoba lagoon wildlife

There are also all kinds of lagoon view villas at the various hotels, so it’s cool to compare the different hotels from the outside.

In addition to the boat tour, there’s a shuttle boat between resorts that you can also take for free. Here’s the schedule for that:

Mayakoba lagoon boat schedule

In addition to the boat tours, there are all kinds of nature trails through Mayakoba, which you can either explore by foot or bike.

Mayakoba nature trail

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro (Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner)

Cocina Milagro is the hotel’s all day dining restaurant with “international” cuisine, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is on the lagoon side of the hotel, by the lagoon pool.

As far as the hours go:

• Breakfast is served from 6:30AM until 11AM (see the breakfast menu here)
• Lunch is served from 12PM until 6PM (see the lunch menu here)
• Dinner is served from 6PM until 10:30PM (see the dinner menu here)

The restaurant was quite large, with both indoor and outdoor seating, and even a bar. However, if you come to breakfast around 9AM, expect it to be a complete zoo.

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro restaurant

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro restaurant

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro bar

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro restaurant outdoor seating

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro restaurant outdoor seating

As a Globalist member (and on account of our rate) breakfast was included (ordinarily ~36USD per person), which got us access to the buffet. The breakfast selection was large, with both Mexican and international options.

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

Andaz Mayakoba breakfast buffet

In addition to the buffet you can have eggs made to order, which I of course had with a side of guac.

Andaz Mayakoba omelet

My one major issue with breakfast was the service. It was friendly and well intentioned, and when I had breakfast at 6:30AM it was perfectly attentive. However, it was quite literally impossible to get a coffee refill around 9AM.

It took me 25 minutes, as I had asked several people, and no one followed through. I eventually just went up to the area for servers and poured us cups.

On our last afternoon we also had a quick lunch here, since we had Mexican food the other two days, and were looking for a change of pace. This was definitely our least favorite food at the hotel. I had a margarita pizza (~16USD), and Ford had a chicken wrap (~16USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro lunch

Andaz Mayakoba Cocina Milagro lunch

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta Del Pulpo (Lunch & Dinner)

The hotel’s other casual restaurant is Tinta del Pulpo, which is located right by the beach pool. This was open daily from 12PM until 11PM. This restaurant serves Mexican food, ranging from tacos to ceviche. You can find the lunch menu here, and dinner menu here.

There’s both indoor and outdoor seating, all overlooking the pool.

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo restaurant

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo restaurant

There’s also an adjacent bar here.

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo bar

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo bar outdoor seating

At lunch we started with the Peruvian ceviche (~17USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo lunch

Then I had the shrimp taco gobernador (~14USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo lunch

Ford had the barbacoa and yaca tacos (~11USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo lunch

Separately we came here for dinner, and had the guacamole to start (~13USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo dinner

Then I had the chicken gringas (~11USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo dinner

Ford had the chicken fajitas (~16USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Tinta del Pulpo dinner

The food in this restaurant was good — it wasn’t that memorable, but was good, simple-enough Mexican food.

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate (Dinner)

The hotel’s best restaurant is Casa Amate, located on the lagoon side of the hotel. It’s only open for dinner (from 6PM until 11PM, except Sundays, when it’s only open for brunch), and it serves Latin American cuisine. You can find the dinner menu here.

You’ll want to make a reservation here as far in advance as possible, as the restaurant is small and tends to book out. We didn’t think it would be that popular, and the only reservation we could get the morning of was for 9:30PM.

Even though it was a late dinner, it was well worth it. This restaurant is spectacular, in terms of decor, service, and food quality. I highly recommend it.

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate bar

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate bar

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate dining area

Frankly the restaurant feels completely different than the rest of the resort. The rest of the hotel is nice but feels pretty “mass market,” while this feels like a restaurant you’d expect at a luxury hotel.

Upon sitting down we were offered two complimentary cocktails on account of my World of Hyatt status, which was generous.

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate cocktails

We were then offered an amuse bouche, and then a selection of bread with spreads.

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate dinner

I had the Latin hummus to start (~15USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate dinner — appetizer

Ford had the firewood grilled paguas salad (~19USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate dinner — appetizer

Then for the main course I had the totoaba from ensenada (~34USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate dinner — main course

Ford had the turkey breast (~31USD).

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate dinner — main course

For dessert we shared the “chocolate spinning top toy,” as it was described (~14USD)…

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Amate dinner — dessert

The entire experience was flawless, and I’m just sad we only ate here one night.

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Sotavento (Lunch & Dinner)

Right by the beach there’s also a restaurant, open daily from 12PM until 11PM. This is a seafood restaurant, and you can find the menu here. While we had some cocktails, we never had a meal here.

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Sotavento bar

Andaz Mayakoba Casa Sotavento restaurant

Tipping At Andaz Mayakoba

I figured I’d briefly talk about tipping at the Andaz. All prices displayed for food and drinks on property include all taxes, though they don’t include any service. Instead every check has a line for a tip, and they “recommend” either:

• 18% for good service
• 20% for great service
• 22% for wow service

That seems like an oddly small range, and it does indeed seem like they expect US tipping amounts here.

One other thing worth noting. You’re given a check at breakfast, and then the breakfast amount will be taken off at check-out if your rate includes it. However, you’ll be charged for any tips you leave.

Technically Globalist breakfast is supposed to include any tips (per the policy), but if you choose to leave anything they don’t take it off, as is the case at virtually any other Hyatt property. So that’s a bit odd…

It’s not a big deal, but it does seem to me like the hotel is violating the terms of the program.

Andaz Mayakoba tipping expectations

Andaz Mayakoba Service

I’d describe service at the Andaz Mayakoba as being friendly across the board. Just about everyone seemed well intentioned.

However, in terms of service this definitely felt more like a resort “factory” than a luxury hotel. That’s what I expected, since I know this isn’t the Rosewood next door, which is triple the price.

But often times it sure felt like a chore to get service, especially at the pool, at the beach, and at breakfast. In these places we were never proactively asked if we wanted anything, but rather had to work hard to flag people down.

Otherwise I found service in the restaurants to usually be pretty good.

Andaz Mayakoba Bottom Line

The Andaz Mayakoba proved to be an awesome weekend getaway. Cancun is so close to Miami, and then it’s just a short drive to Mayakoba from there.

Personally I thought the Andaz represented a great value, especially as a Globalist using a suite upgrade. I loved our huge suite, and I loved how varied the hotel’s property was, as you almost felt like you were at the beach and in a jungle at the same time.

Overall the food at the hotel was quite good, with Casa Amate really standing out as the best (by far).

I’d recommend the Andaz without hesitation and would absolutely return, though I’d also be curious to see just how much better the Rosewood next door is. It’s significantly more expensive, but is it also significantly better?

If you’ve stayed at the Andaz (or anywhere else in Mayakoba), what was your experience like?