About the Resort
At this exclusive adults-only retreat, you can immerse yourself in secluded luxury with private plunge pools, gourmet dining, and world-class service. Escape the ordinary at one of Riviera Maya's best kept secrets.
Key Property Facts
Our Experience
First Impressions
Disclaimer: My brother and I were given a free 3 night stay at the resort, including accommodation, food, drink and entertainment in exchange for our honest, unbiased review of the resort.
If you’ve read any of my guides about Mexico, you’ll know that Riviera Maya is one of my favorite places to visit. I live in landlocked Nebraska, so it’s nice to hop on a plane at 6 AM and be lounging on the beach with a cocktail in my hand by noon. That said, I tend to visit quite a bit, recently reviewing Vidanta Grand Luxxe and Sensira Resort & Spa.
As someone who’s spent more time than most researching and visiting Riviera Maya, I’ve heard the name “Viceroy” constantly, with their marketing materials typically showcasing large, opulent resorts packed to the brim with amenities and steeped in luxury.
As a small, boutique resort with only 41 rooms, Viceroy Riviera Maya is quite the departure from the towering behemoth you’ll typically find with the company, but promises an equally luxurious experience. So when a member of their marketing team reached out and offered a stay for me to experience it for myself, we packed our bags and headed to Cancun.
As with most other resorts in the area, the Viceroy is about 45 minutes south of the airport, with the entrance tucked away on an unassuming alleyway. Pulling up to the resort was like discovering a hidden gem. The resort’s understated, Mayan-inspired theme was immediately apparent and was a refreshing departure from the typical all-inclusive giants.
The spacious and welcoming palapa that doubles as a check-in area
The low-slung buildings and open-air architecture promised a harmonious blend of luxury and nature. Upon arrival, we were greeted under the open-air palapa with fresh lemongrass and coconut welcome drinks while the scent of tropical flowers and the gentle sound of a nearby fountain created an instant sense of calm.
Easily the best welcome drink I’ve had at a resort
Unlike other resorts I’ve been to, the check-in process was seamless and the attention to detail was evident everywhere. From the impeccable grooming of the gardens to the chic, minimalist decor, it was clear that Viceroy delivers on the goal of creating a Mayan-inspired getaway unlike any other.
After the short, 5-minute check-in process we headed down the narrow path through the jungle to our room. I very much like that the resort is small, so there’s no shuttle, no waiting, and no long walk to get to the pool or restaurants; just a short, 2-minute journey to our room.
There are outdoor terraces on either side of this path, but the large walls and ample vegetation offer great privacy
Most guests describe this resort as having a half-jungle half-beach vibe, and I definitely felt this way walking to our room. While the vegetation is not quite cut for someone taller than 6′ (I’m 6’3″), it does offer a nice cover from the rain, which I found to be quite nice later in my trip.
Our Accomodations
The entrance to the rooms are quite unassuming and private. They even included an umbrella since we visited during the rainy season
Viceroy was kind enough to give my brother and I the Signature Villa, which is one of the larger rooms. The spacious layout, complete with a separate living area, created an atmosphere of both serenity and grandeur.
The overall vibe of the room is Mayan-inspired luxury
Clocking in at 1,700 square foot (both inside and out), there’s plenty of space to relax, which I thought would be much needed if it happened to rain. Since I visited during the rainy season, this ended up being a nice place to relax until the short, seasonal storms passed.
Unlike other large resorts, Viceroy has standalone villas, each with their own bedroom, bathroom, plunge pool, and private terrace. These rooms are extremely private and are each surrounded by trees and a large wall. Also unique to this resort was the plunge pool.
Typically, I find that pools are more of a novelty than anything else, as they tend to be two or three feet deep and on the edge of highly-trafficked walking paths. However, our plunge pool was secluded and 5 feet deep. It’s quite useful and I am guessing that most visitors use it. And with a large seating area with multiple loungers and tables, the terrace is perfect for morning coffee or evening cocktails.
For many guests, there is no reason to ever leave the villa
I spent quite a bit of time on the terrace writing this review, reading a book, or just relaxing in the hammock before dinner. The layout offers a nice mix of sun and shade while also being steeped in privacy. Even better is the fact that the resort staff can dial up or down the pool temperature according to your preferences; quite an unusual feature for a plunge pool.
The villa itself was quite luxurious, with towering ceiling and stocked with unique features like wireless phone chargers, bug spray, comfortable linens and bathrobes, and locally-made soaps that were cut fresh for us upon our arrival. When you’re paying upwards of $700 per night for a room, you expect the experience to be perfect, and Viceroy far exceeded my expectations with all of these little and unexpected touches.
As you’d expect from a luxury villa, the spa-inspired bathroom was huge with soaring ceilings and an enormous soaking tub. I liked that the bathroom was partitioned off from the main living area by not one but two doors, a unique feature that I’ve yet to see at any resort I’ve visited.
A wonderful spa-inspired bathroom with an outdoor shower and enormous soaking tub
As one of the larger rooms on the property, our Signature Villa also had an outdoor shower. I’m not sure why you’d ever need this, but I thought it was cool to have regardless and added to the list of features that make this resort stand out.
I’m not sure why you’d need an outdoor shower but it’s a neat feature
After checking out our room, we walked around the rest of the resort to get a lay of the land and a bite to eat. Walking around, I was impressed with how private each of the rooms were. Unlike your run-of-the-mill resort, there’s lush vegetation covering the walking path, making it very serene and impossible to see into any other villas or terraces.
In fact, if you didn’t see the signs, you’d hardly even notice the villas as you walked by. Privacy is one of the resort’s biggest selling points and my first impression is that it would be perfect for couples honeymooning or just seeking a quiet getaway.
The Rest of Our Stay
The Pool
The path opens up to the expansive pool deck
Whenever I visit an all-inclusive resort, I park myself at the pool and say there all day. As such, I tend to have high expectations for the poolside service and the pool itself. Looking at photos online, I was a bit concerned about the lack of loungers, but I found the layout and the amount of seating to be just right.
The main pool is small but quaint and I believe it’s the perfect size for only 41 rooms. Unfortunately there is no hot tub, but the staff can turn up the temperature of the private plunge pools, so a hot tub isn’t necessarily needed. There is, however, a cool tub with bubblers that offers a relaxing atmosphere while still providing nice views of the Caribbean.
Great service, great views, and comfortable loungers
I wouldn’t go as far as to call this an infinity pool, but it does have overall nice views of the ocean. The poolside staff was extremely helpful and brought me Mudslides every time mine was half-empty. I can confidently say this was the best poolside service I’ve experienced at a resort, so this was a huge win for Viceroy.
Plush loungers and daybeds were scattered around the pool, offering ample space for sunbathing, reading, or relaxing. The pool is laid out thoughtfully, and the trees and umbrellas offer a nice mix of shade and sun. As I mentioned earlier, the resort caters mainly to couples, and the overall atmosphere matches the target demographic.
While some people love the loud rave music and party atmosphere found in the afternoon of larger resorts, I’m not one of them. And I was very happy to see that there was no loud, obnoxious, alcohol-fueled crowds that seem to make their appearance by the pool in the afternoon.
There were no DJs, pool games, volleyball (which I actually do like), or dancing; just a nice, quiet, relaxing pool deck. While this quiet atmosphere is not for everyone, Viceroy understands that its guests seeking out a serene, relaxing atmosphere don’t want all of those aforementioned activities, and they cater to their target demographic perfectly. This is another huge win in my book.
The Beach
The sun rising over the beach was a view I never got tired of
As with most resorts, the pool deck steps down nicely onto the beach. But since this area is right next to the Coral restaurant, you can tell Viceroy put a great deal of thought into the placement of the chairs; you’ll see that there’s enough open space to allow a steady flow of guests walking to the beach without disrupting the guests eating their meals.
The resort does a great job of spacing out the seating area
Just steps away from the pool, the pristine white-sand beach is perfect for morning walks or lounging by the ocean as the waves lap the shoreline. The beach was cleaned every day and, unlike other resorts I’ve visited in September, there was no seaweed; this is important since the fall is the middle of Cancun’s seaweed season.
The beach is semi-private, meaning that it’s not blocked off to the public, but I found that since the resort itself is nestled in a lightly developed area, the foot traffic is fairly light. And with only 41 rooms, the beach and pool provide more than enough space for all guests to space out.
There’s a nice mix of padded loungers and private cabanas
Some reviewers mentioned the beach being rocky, and while I found a few rocks in the sand, the beach was well-cleaned and the resort even took the feedback to heart by setting out a basket of water shoes for guests to use, free of charge. I thought this was a very nice touch and shows the extreme attention to detail that Viceroy has taken to provide guests with a world-class experience.
That said, when I visit resorts with my wife, I love to walk the beach, and since the resort sits toward the end of the main tourist area, the beach outside of the resort gets fairly rocky. So if you’re hoping for long beach walks, you might be disappointed since you can only walk in either direction for 10 or so minutes, but that’s a minor complaint that’s hardly worth mentioning.
The Food
Coral restaurant overlooks the pool deck/entrance to the beach
One important thing to note is that the all-inclusive package is not automatically included with every room at this resort. However, it’s available as an upgrade experience called “Stay, Dine & Indulge,” or as a supplement that can be added for specific days during the reservation process, based on your preferences.
While I tend to favor all-inclusive-only rooms since I take advantage of the unlimited food and dink, Viceroy’s flexible pricing options offer cost savings for guests who may not drink and want to save a bit of money.
La Marea overlooks the pool deck from the second-floor
That said, there’s two options for dining: La Marea and Coral. Coral is the more casual poolside restaurant while La Marea is the upscale option and is open only for dinner. While the dining options were a bit more limiting than larger all-inclusives I’ve been to, what they lacked in variety they made up for in quality.
Viceroy also solves this problem by combining their standard dinner menu at Coral with a rotating themed menu on select nights. One night, there’s a special additional Italian menu, another there’s a grill night, etc. This in effect brings the big-resort options to a small bouqitue resort and ensures you won’t tire of the same menu during a week-long stay.
Whether it was breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack, everything I had was amazing. Typically, there is a noticeable difference between the sit-down and quick-service or poolside food options, but I never ate anything that I’d consider to be second-class; everything I had was nothing short of amazing.
Here’s a look at some of my food from both restaurants, in no particular order:
Yogurt with granola and berries
Breakfast ham sandwich w/ cheese
“Sunrise juice” and granola fruit salad
Onion rings, queso with pork rinds, and guacamole
The Margherita flatbread pizza at the pool was amazing
Bruschetta in a tomato skin and mole scallops
Sea bass with popcorn and mole sauce
Cornish hen with guava and peanut sauce
Chocolate berry tart
While the food was amazing, the thing I didn’t like about the restaurants is that they had no paper menus; you could either pull up the menu on your phone or they’d bring out an iPad. While this is a small complaint, it became a problem when the wifi went out on our last night.
While I fortunately had cell service and could download the menu (albeit a bit slowly), many travelers don’t enable international roaming on their phones, so this could present a problem in this case. Also, I personally like paper menus at upscale restaurants since I believe it adds a more luxurious feel to the experience and pulling out a phone in the middle of a nice dinner ruins the vibe.
It’s also worth noting that for guests who partake in the all-inclusive food and drink package, a standard 16% tip is included in the bill. While I always tip extra since even a little bit of extra money goes a long way for the staff, it’s worth noting so you can tip accordingly.
With that said, the service was amazing. Whether I was poolside, ordering room service, or in a restaurant, the staff knew my name and room number by the first night and would make recommendations and remember what I liked and didn’t like from the night before. I’ve visited countless resorts in Riviera Maya, and Viceroy truly has some of the best service I’ve ever received.
The Spa & Gym
No luxury vacation is complete without a visit to the spa, and the Viceroy Riviera Maya’s spa was no exception. As numerous reviewers had raved about, the spa menu offered a wide range of treatments designed to pamper and rejuvenate.
The whirlpool in the spa & steam room facility
My stay came with an hour-long massage and unlimited use of the whirlpool and sauna. The massage was amazing and complete with a surprisingly relaxing aromatherapy treatment. I really liked that the massage room was done outside and next to a small waterfall, which made it much more relaxing and caused me to doze off for a minute or two.
As for the spa itself, it was quite small and the entire building appeared to have a tilted foundation, so I didn’t spend too much time using the whirlpool or steam room. However, for such a small resort, I was shocked that they even had these facilities, so I guess something is better than nothing.
While the spa itself could use improvement, I was pleasantly surprised to find the gym much better equipped than many larger resorts I’ve been to. The gym is just a little glass building in the middle of the trees, but it has enough equipment and space to stretch, do yoga, and get a full workout.
All equipment was Life Fitness; very high quality
Of course, at this point in my review it’s well-established that Viceroy has high attention to detail and seeks to deliver a top-notch experience for its guests. So it’s not shocking that they chose Life Fitness equipment, which I know to be very expensive and high-quality. The gym is equipped with enough machines and weights to do most workouts and I think most users would be quite pleased with the setup.
The gym even had pre-filled takeaway water bottles for your workout
Another nice small touch was that the gym has these little pre-filled water bottles in a refrigerator that guests can use for their workouts.
Final Thoughts
My stay at the Viceroy Riviera Maya was nothing short of exceptional. The resort’s perfect blend of luxury, nature, and exceptional service created an unforgettable escape. From the moment I arrived to the time I departed, every detail was meticulously attended to.
The Signature Villa was more than just a room; it was a home away from home, a sanctuary of peace and relaxation. The resort’s commitment to providing personalized experiences was evident in every interaction, making me feel truly valued as a guest.
I’d mainly recommend this resort for couples and guests seeking a private, quiet getaway without the hassle and annoyance of the parties and loud, alcohol-fueled crowds often found at the bigger resorts.
If you like to be entertained with activities, live music, and poolside games, Viceroy Riviera Maya is not for you. But if you’re seeking a luxurious, upscale vacation with great service that transports you away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, I’d recommend no other resort than this. Happy travels!
We Liked
Delicious, chef-inspired food
Attentive and helpful staff
Quiet, serene atmosphere
We Didn't Like
Limited dining options
No hydrotherapy circuit in spa
All-inclusive plan costs extra
Why You Should Upgrade Rooms
Be sure to upgrade your room for enhanced privacy, more luxurious amenities, expanded living spaces, a bigger terrace, and shorter walks to the pool and restaurants. Trust us... it's worth the extra cost!