All Inclusive Cancun

Where is the best place to stay in Cancun and Riveria Maya?

Mexico is a bucket list destination for most, and it’s easy to see why. The glistening coast lines, beach towns, nightlife and culture are some of the best in the world. I’ve been lucky enough to visit twice, once in Tulum (Catalonia Royal Tulum hotel) and we have just got back from an amazing trip to Azul Beach Resort in Riveria Maya. When I say this resort has it all, it really does. We visited for our best friend’s wedding here and this hotel is sentimental to them as they had visited four years prior and fell in love with the place. We could see why!

We approached the hotel through the stringent security gates, which is actually very reassuring. Cancun and Riveria Maya are amazing destinations, but security should be taken very seriously here too. It was a 10 hour flight so we were super excited to get into the hotel and see our best friends to start off what was going to be the trip of a lifetime!

As soon as you walk through the doors it is clear to see it has a luxury vibe, overlooking the reception is a giant fish tank filled with tropical and goldfish. Across from the reception is a gift shop, the Mojito bar and the Tapas restaurant. We got the key to our room and did not expect the size of it with the fact that we booked a standard room! I feel like I was that blown away by it I didn’t get a proper picture so I’ve included both my balcony view and the website’s room view too.

On arrival we got a map of the hotel, which boasts SIX lagoon-style pools, six restaurants, an on-site Starbucks, beach, and activities such as beach yoga and kayaking. You could easily spend your entire trip here if you wanted to. You even get to see some wildlife, as iguanas like to call this hotel’s grounds home! They are very placid (plus they have no teeth…) and they generally just sit relaxing in the sun but will run away if you try to get to close. There are also smaller lizards and sometimes even the odd racoon!

To cool off, you can head to the adults only Waves pool which includes a pool bar where you can make the most of your all inclusive drinks. This one was our fave as it’s lined with bali beds which are free to use (except for on a Friday when it's the pool party). The other pools are a mix of the standard style pools, a kid's pool and the premium pool for guests on upgraded rooms.

Food-wise, you are never too far from amazing cuisine. I was shocked at the quality of the meals here as it is far more than you would expect with all inclusive. There is a standard buffet, and then multiple different themed restaurants such as a Caribbean, Mexican, Italian, tapas, and pizza. The only one you have to pre-book is the Italian and we had absolutely no issues getting any tables in the others on any given night. The longest we had to wait was an hour which is when we headed over to the Mojito bar with our buzzer until our table was ready, and this is extremely good considering the wedding party size that tended to split into tables of 8 in the evenings.

For things to do during the day, we tried beach yoga at 8:30am which was really fun and relaxing. The instructor went at a slower pace for all abilities and practicing yoga to the sound of waves in front of you is a such a tranquil experience despite the heat! We also tried out kayaking which I absolutely loved. It was £6 per kayak and you can use them for as long as you like. The hotel has a penned off area for you to move around in which spans quite far. You don’t need to know how to do it and it’s fairly easy, I am not the best at any water sports and I managed to stay afloat. :D

If you want to take a trip out, I would highly recommend booking a boat or catamaran and heading to Isla Mujeres. It was a short transfer from the hotel to the port (30/40 minutes) and then we had the boat for 6 hours for the whole wedding party, which included transporting us across the water to the island and also spending time on the boat with all inclusive drinks. The staff were hilarious, and they were not shy with the amount of drinks they supplied. As you make your way across the water, closer to Isla Mujeres, the most perfectly crystal clear blue water surrounds you. It is absolute paradise and has to be seen to be believed! The boat let us off to swim around and chucked a big float for us all to congregate on if we got tired of swimming.

My friend booked this via Click & Boat and specifically used this one.

Back at the hotel at night time, there are often impersonators or cabaret shows on and the bars are open until around 11/12pm. We never stayed up until close as we had a lot of day drinking going on with it being a celebration but the option is always there!

Now onto the best bit - we were extremely fortunate to see our best friends get married here - this hotel is PERFECT for weddings. The sky deck is incredible, and every little detail was covered. When we moved on to the wedding breakfast on the beach, all of the guests were blown away by the detail on the tables and the setting overlooking the sea. You could just see the staff going above and beyond to make this day so special for the married couple and it is a memory we will never forget, partying on the beach and jumping in the pool at the end was just the most perfect way to finish off the day!

Other notable things to enjoy at this hotel are the 24/7 room service, the pool party on a Friday and also the reggae night (we missed this as it was on Saturday and we flew home but it looked amazing looking back at our friend’s videos of the night!).

We would return here in a heartbeat, and miss it so much. We don’t often do all-inclusive resorts but would consider it again on this experience alone. Perfection is the only word!