resorts in mexico
 

I'm trying to plan a suprise trip for my husband to a resort in Mexico on one of the beaches.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the city and resort?

I have been to several resorts in Mexico, and my favorite was Puerto Vallarta. It was a lot less touristy than the other seaside areas, the crowd was more cosmopolitan (European and Canadian), and the natives were not as pushy. The resorts on PV control the natives; they cannot come up to you on the beach without you asking them to approach. The vendors are also dressed appropriately in trousers and white short-sleeved dress shirts.

The last time I was there was in the late 90s, so I can't say which are the new and best resorts. You will need to ask yourself if you want an all-inclusive resort or not, if you want to be in walking distance to the markets or somewhere it's quieter, and what the rooms are like. I stayed in a Condo complex in a Junior Suite with a kitchenette. This allowed for us to store lots of Corona in the refrigerator, leche for our coffee and a lot of wonderful pastries.

I stayed north of PV, but south of Nuevo Vallarta. I loved the area. Most things were a very inexpensive cab-ride away. We also took in 2 day-cruises, which were inclusive of breakfast, lunch and beer.

I LOVED Xcaret. It's near Playa, and was by far the most relaxing vacation I've ever been on.

http://www.occidentalhotels.com/grand/Xcaret.asp

We loved the natural theme park that is there too. A lot of fun!

Ditto. Playa del Carmen is our regular vacation spot. I LOVE it. It's close to the Tulum ruins, Cancun,Cozumel, etc. Playa.info is an awesome site just about Playa del Carmen. It'll help you if you decide to go there. The ocean there is beyond anywhere else I've been.

One thing about the Occidental Grand Xcaret -- it is not beachfront. It has a swimming lagoon, but not an actual beachfront. I know some people go there not knowing that. However, some people enjoy being near the Xcaret park.

We typically stay at the Riu Palaces. They are amazing. But, the Playacar area of Playa del Carmen has terrible beach conditions right now. We're going to either the Barcelo complex(farther away from Cancun, but AWESOME beach) or the Iberostar Maya in Puerto Morelos (closer to Cancun). But, there have also been some very good reviews about the Gran Bahia complex.

BTW...I found Cozumel very dirty and Cancun very American and commercial.

The Royal Hideway.
Great 5 Star get a way.
http://www.occidentalhotels.com/royalhideaway/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...Peninsula.html

We used www.roadslesstaken.com to find it and a few other special places we have gone to as well.
Please give Beau a call and give him our best.

We live on the beach, and I didn't think about that. *LOL* We lived at the pools there. :D

Casa las Brisas is about 45 minutes from Puerta Vallerta, near the new Four Seasons. It's a small (8 room), boutique hotel, but it is FABULOUS. Quiet, very off the beaten path. Beautiful beach. All inclusive. Gorgeous, spacious rooms. The service, as you can imagine, is very personal and thorough. BUT, it's not for everybody. If you are looking for nightlife, shopping, and people watching, you would feel trapped. It's the kind of place you go when all you want to do is lay on the beach or by the pool and have your every whim catered to. My brother and his wife got married there last fall, and both families went. We were the only guests in the whole place, and it was awesome. They've been there several times and love it.

I agree. Puerto Vallarta is beautiful, the people are friendly and there are great restaurants, clubs and shopping. However, I haven't been there since 2000 (Spring Break with 12 of my sisters). We stayed at the Holiday Inn, of course, we were all on a college budget. It was nice, but I'm sure not as nice as some other, newer resorts.

Can't Go Wrong with the Riu Palaces
 

I saw a previous poster about the Riu Palace. This hotel company is so beloved that there is an unofficial guide/ fan club to the Riu Palaces all over the place. Google it. Lots of pictures on it. Make sure you stay at the Palace, not the other Rius. They aren't quite as nice. Official website: www.riu.com

We stayed in Cancun at the Riu Palace Las Americas for a week for about $3000. It's all inclusive and the food was great. The style is like a giant elegant hacienda, all white. The beach area was the best we saw around there. There are two Riu Palaces in Playa Del Carmen. Maybe next time we will go there but we really liked the beach at the one in Cancun. We had such a relaxing time- it's a big honeymoon place. We went in July, which is when more internationals come than Americans. For us, that's a good thing.

We are not club hoppers but it is really close to the best nightclubs. We did a VIP trip from our hotel- it was really fun with lots of internationals staying at our hotel. We didn't have to wait in line and they had a special, good area for us to sit.

I'm big on the Paradisus All-Inclusives that are run by Sol Melia. I've been to these hotels in Mexico (Puerto Morelos, very near Playa del Carmen), Costa Rica, Dominican Republic. The Mexico one can be seen here. The staff is sensational, the food in the a la carte restaurants is top-knotch, it's on the beach, and in a fairly secluded area, which means you don't have a lot of natives bugging you to buy their wares.

Yes I want limited natives bugging us to buy their wares. I went through that in Tijuana........never again.

Thank you! Seriously, if you want to experience Mexico don't go to Cancun (Cozumel...well all of Quintana Roo basically), Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Acapulco, Guadalajara--they are all VERY americanized and the people are rude--well, they'll be nice to you if you are very "American looking" (which pretty much means if you are white). If you look close to anything that Mexicans like to call "indios" (people that are darker skinned) then you'll be treated like dirt.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of "resort" you are looking for. I suggest going to a more low-key place like Merida, Yucatan. Its about 2-3 hours away from Cancun, but its on the other side of the Yucatan peninsula. You can get to the beach within 20 minutes. The town itself is sooo clean, the people are soooooooo nice! I seriously fell in love with Merida.

You can take a taxi, or rent a car (which is suuuper expensive), and its just soo relaxing. The beach that is the closest is called Progreso, its so nice and calm, you can sit under the palm trees and the restaurants across the street will come to you and serve you. You are also close to soo many Mayan Ruins--Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and the grutas (the Mayan caves).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g?t=1207088920

This is Progreso beach.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g?t=1207089058

This is on one of our many adventures. This was where a telenovela was filmed (I wanna say it was Amor Eterno but I dont remember).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g?t=1207089164

The pyramid at Uxmal.

Wow

I'm surprised that no one has suggested palaceresorts.com

My hubby and I went there (Adventura Spa Palace) for our honeymoon in October. One suggestion though, if you like being able to walk on the beach, dont stay at the spa palace. I THINK that Cancun palace is the other adults only resort, so if thats what you're looking for, check it out. If you dont mind kids possibly being around, their are qa few more resorts to check out as well.

In Cancun there are several adult only resorts.
Royal Hideway, as I posted prior is one. And our agent had several other as well.
That airport is one royal pain.