Ringing in 30 in Riviera Maya for Aprox 1 Million Dollars
For my 30th Birthday my fiance Charlie and I decided to splurge. My birthday is in November, and living in Oregon it is often rainy, dark, soggy, and I always have large expectations that just can’t be met without some sunshine. For the big 3-0 we took my dream tropical Mexico trip to the Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai.
This hotel is a splurge and has been on my list since it opened. Here are my notes on the trip!
Price: $565 per night.
Let’s get this out of the way! We paid using points on our Amex Platinum and so we didn’t pay for the hotel itself through cash. We had booked a trip to New Zealand for our friends’ wedding, so we had a ton of sign up points through Amex that helped us cover this trip. If we had paid cash, for 5 nights it would have been approximately $2,825 for the stay.
When budgeting for this trip it is important to keep in mind that it is in the middle of nowhere and not near a city where you can find your own meals, it is a resort area that has been part of environmentally conscious development while preserving the mangrove forests. There closest chill beach town is 30 minutes away. We arranged car transport from the airport and didn’t rent a car, so we found ourselves picking from the resort restaurants at our hotel the Edition, The St. Regis Kanai, and the Etéreo, Auberge Collection. They were all wonderful, and if you’re spending less than 4 days I wouldn’t recommend getting a car as there was enough to do. We spent $240 round trip on our car transfer from USA Transfers. Just a warning, this isn’t a budget trip. There weren’t many chill restaurants so expect $100+ per dinner for a couple.
Also be sure to budget in spa treatments, their spa is amazing and I highly recommend at least one service. We paid $380 per person for a 60 minute signature massage with 60 minutes of soak and sauna.
On a no holds barred full send 5 days, if we had paid in cash and not points, we would have spent around $6,000 at the hotel on this trip + the cost of airfare.
My Recommendation
If we were to come back this would be my recommendation
Early morning flight from the west coast to Miami with 1 night stay in Miami. Arrive early evening, have a cute dinner at Tropezon, stay at the Betsy Hotel South Beach, and fly out late morning or early afternoon to get to Riviera Maya for check-in. We took a redeye and it was not great, it is long enough to be uncomfortable but short enough to be sleepless and completely mess up your schedule. If we could get to the east coast, that last leg is super short and easy.
Late morning flight to Cancun. The Cancun airport is rough and not the cutest, arriving in the morning and not on a weekend would be a great way to avoid the crowds. Wear weather-appropriate clothes for Mexico to keep comfortable.
Take USA Transfers to the Edition. Our driver was super kind and professional and the drive out went super quick. The car was very nice with great AC that kept us cool and they also gave us water which was wonderful after our long journey.
Arrive at check-in time to the Edition. Our bags were a mess and we had our valuables and wallets in our carry-ons. I’d recommend having a small purse so that you can leave your bags with reception. Our room wasn’t ready the moment we arrived and so they gave us a property tour and led us to the beach bar. I wished I was in my flip flops and had a smaller bag as we lugged our small duffels to the restaurant. The hotel staff was so incredibly kind and made us feel welcome, they also greeted us with cold waters and kind conversation. Sip a Carajillo as you wait for your room.
Arrange 1-2 spa treatments for the 1st full day of your stay and the 2nd in the middle with at least day in between. The spa is impeccable but we didn’t have time to check out the Hammam. Our private couples massage was insane and I highly recommend doing at least 1 service.
Book restaurant reservations 2 months out, as there aren’t a ton of options the reservations at the properties fill up fast. If you’re headed to another property you can take the golf cart, but arrive early as at dinner times sometimes there is a short wait. If you plan accordingly you can walk along the beach, but be warned there is a stretch of beach that has some seaweed and if you aren’t adventurous the hotel recommends the golf cart. The restaurants we loved were
Toro at the St. Regis
Swanky Japanese-Mexican fusion full of fresh fish and bright flavors with incredible drinks, wine, and Mezcal selection. Worthy of dressing up, but you wouldn’t be turned away in a linen trouser and flip flop.Che Che at Etereo
The most casual option we dined at, super cute patio restaurant, any attire would be fine, with great sashimi
Kitchen at Edition
Delicious for both breakfast and dinner. Great standard breakfast that often comes with the rate of your room if you book with Amex with a really lovely buffet as well as healthy options like avo toasts and salmon. Coffee is OK, but they have really wonderful juices. Beautiful and celebratory for dinner.
SO’OL Beach Club
Best for appetizers and drinks
Lobby Bar at Edition
The perfect lobby bar, great snacks and excellent drinks. They often host guest bartenders and their main bartender who runs the program is super knowledgeable and passionate, a joy to chat with about Mezcals
Pool Bar at Edition
Fantastic and the most casual, a great spot for lunch. I loved their steak tacos. Unfortunately they are closed for dinner. Great service both poolside and in the dining area.
The St. Regis Bar
Cute bar to get a drink at before your reservations at Toro
Misc: Itzam was good but I found it overpriced, it might be better for lunch or appetizers. Overall I think the resort complex is missing 1 or 2 additional casual restaurants for something lighter and more relaxed. Room service is great but you miss the ambiance of a feet in the sand beach bar. Maybe an excursion to a local area and dinner in an area like Puerto Morelos would be fun. We did not make it to KI’IS, the tasting menu experience at the Edition as it was just very fancy and we would rather spend it on spa treatments, but I’ve heard it is excellent.
Book water sports or excursions with your concierge at least a month out. They have a newly constructed pier that looks really fun, we didn’t book anything but if we were to return we would probably book a kayak or something.
Toro at the St. Regis
Length of stay. We were there for 5 days and it was simultaneously too short and too long. I think the ideal trip would be 4 nights with arriving early the first day due to staying in Miami the night before, followed by a weekend in Mexico City or Oaxaca City. We got bored of the restaurants and felt a little trapped in the complex of hotels, but at the same time we didn’t feel like we had a ton of time for the spa services. If we were able to dedicate our time to relaxing and not feeling like we had to see more restaurants and parts of the other resorts, I think that would be the way to go. When you have a weekend of exploration and high energy and historic city adventures following your trip, I think it would take the pressure off to explore at Riviera Maya and just enjoy.
Sunday: Arrive in Miami
Monday: Arrive at Riviera Maya on Monday, settle in, dinner at the Edition
Tuesday: Spa, Beach, dinner at the St. Regis
Wednesday: Relax, workout at the beautiful gym, sit by the pool head to the Etereo for lunch or dinner
Thursday: Spa session 2 or splurge and enjoy the upscale restaurant KI’IS
Friday: Up early for last pool dip, head out at check out for the airport in Cancun, and head to Mexico City
Saturday: Mexico City
Sunday: Mexico City, depart in the evening with a direct flight home
Alright. You’re prepared for what to do and how to structure it, here are the fun details
The Rooms
The rooms are beautiful with a minimalist design. The lush landscape view and the pretty pots on the patio create that elevated minimalist coastal Mexico feel. The beds were very comfortable and we were able to relax with the generous size of the room. The bathrooms were private with a sliding door which was nice, some hotels try and be sexy and have open doors and I don’t want anything to do with that. In addition, the low lights and private water closet made it super easy to get ready in the morning before my fiance was awake. I love having alone time to myself with a cup of coffee and my book on vacation and it was easy to do that with this bathroom set up. The coffee was really nice keurig-style espresso that was very tasty and I was surprised by the quality for a keurig. The art in the room was beautiful and we loved the low lighting and the multiple settings. The uplighting on the pots on the patio was a very nice touch. The automatic blackout curtains were a godsend after a night of celebrating my birthday! As we let the staff know upon booking that we were celebrating my birthday, they gifted us a bottle of champagne which was very kind. The walk to the room was long, but it was beautiful the entire way and easy to navigate.
Edition Restaurant Details
Kitchen at Edition
Beautiful open-air garden setting indoor and outdoor space. This restaurant had large booths lining the walls and 4-top tables on the interior with lots of plants and ambient light. This is the location of the only breakfast at the resort where it feels more casual, and at night it is a really local-feeling Mexican cuisine-forward upscale restaurant. We had breakfast here every day as we had free breakfast included with our stay thanks to Amex, it was nice to stop in before the pool. We did 1 dinner here and it was very fun and special.
SO’OL Beach Club
We had lunch here one day and we found it overpriced and just OK. Some of the flavors weren’t super balanced, the grilled oysters we had needed some acid and the veggies we got were just OK, but the smells of the charred seafood were wonderful and their drinks were great, and the view was unmatched. I think a drink and a seafood appetizer here is the way to go, or poolside snacks while you swim, but I wouldn’t recommend sitting in for full lunch of dinner to be honest.
Lobby Bar at Edition
My favorite space at the entire resort. The towering ceiling is clad in up-lit timber slats and a grid of floor to ceiling shelving centers the bar, laden with highly curated antiques and pottery and art that feels both modern and Maya. The lush fabrics, breezy curtains flanking the giant wall of windows, and dreamy low light feels both cozy and swanky, a respite from the jungle outside its doors. The cocktail program is outstanding, the head bartender had extensive knowledge about Mexican Spirits and Mezcals and made excellent recommendations and even made us some off-menu creations based on what we liked. Impeccable service, quality, and flavors in the coolest space.
Pool Bar at Edition
This was my favorite lunch destination, I wish they were open for dinner as well. Yummy elevated tacos, poolside margaritas, a swanky take on casual poolside dining in the forested space by the pool. Really yummy and fun. The interior space was very cute but the way to enjoy is in the cabanas that are in the water.
Edition Spaces
The Entrance and Drive
The drive in starts out kind of rough, you’re like am I in the right place? It quickly becomes more and more manicured with up-lighting and beautiful plantings as well as installations. Note that when you give your driver details to the conceirge that you list both of your names, specifically the name that is on the booking and that you give your driver the name that is on the booking for smooth entry into the resort drive. Once you reach the resort there’s a beautiful roundabout with a reflecting pool and an attendant to greet you and take your bags. Enter by going up the stairs of the shaded path to the lobby.
Reception Desk
The reception desk is to the right at the top of the stairs up to the lobby. It is nicely air conditioned for overwhelmed travelers with multiple staff and conceirge awaiting you. They’ll get you checked in and give you a tour.
The Lobby
The lobby isn’t just a lobby, it’s another space to spend time in. It is so beautiful and a nice spot to sit while reading your book out of the heat or to take pictures before your dinner reservations at the St. Regis.
The Spa
The spa is everything to me. It is down on the arrivals level and you follow a shaded path under the main resort around a curve to arrive at a serene brutalist lobby fully of beautiful skin products. They greet you with tea and come to you in the lobby seating to go over your treatments for the day. A staff member leads each of you to the most beautiful locker room I’ve every been in with private change areas, showers, restrooms, and a glam area. While you wait for your partner in your robe, they place you in a circular room full of white linen with comfy benches, books, chess to amuse yourself as you wait for your service to begin. A staff member comes to get you and they lead you through the sauna and steam room prep areas before the pool soaking area with tepid, cold, and hot tubs and they had a thing called a bubble pool with superfine bubble jets that was wild. The pool room is beautiful with slats to the jungle and beautiful wooden beams curving to the ceiling. We took one more rinse before they led us to a private cottage type of thing with a gate and a garden. They introduced us to our massage therapists, and the therapists had us hold hands and meditate to a soundbath in the garden before our service. We then went into the cottage which was air conditioned with counters inside and 2 massage chairs with premium linens on them and places for us to set our jewelry, key to the locker, slippers, and my hair pin. We had the absolute best massages of our lives, listening to calming music and hearing the sounds of the jungle outside the door. I could have hung out in that casita all day, it was magical.
The Gym
The gym is gorgeous and was a lovely way to get some movement in. During these sort of trips where you’re relaxing on the beach, things can sometimes feel a little stagnant so I enjoyed hitting the gym twice during our stay. Their weights didn’t go high enough for Charlie to get a good set in, but I was able to complete my workout with the machines and treadmills. They had a lovely yoga room for my warm ups and warm downs, and their cold towels and fragrant water was very spa-like and nice to end the workout before braving the humidity and heat outside.
The Pathways
No detail was missed, even on these long stretches of pathways. Beautiful landscaping and lighting surrounded every inch of the property.
The Pool
This pool was amazing. You can sit by the pool on the in-water loungers or on solid ground, or upgrade to a cabana. The poolside restaurant staff were incredibly attentive, bringing by complimentary waters on ice and having us order with quick service. The vanishing edge kept the water moving, and the shade of the large mongrove trees were beautiful and created some dappled sunlight areas. The vibe at this pool was peaceful, and chic little families would hang out here more than at the beach club.
The Beach Club
The 2nd pool was at the beach club, this one had 2 terraces and a vanishing edge. The same wonderful service came from this bar, but the food felt a little prissy to me for a beach experience. The beach in front of the hotel also had service with frequent bartenders coming by to take your order. I loved that they kept the sunscreen stocked and accessible even at the beach.
Overall this property was a dream, and I think the value was worth the spend. It was definitely a splurge, but we had a blast. I have to go back in this life for sure, and next time I’ll tack on a city adventure to the tail end. If you choose to spend a special celebration at the Edition Riviera Maya I hope you have as much fun as we did.