There are many reasons why Mexican resorts have become a go-to escape plan for so many of us in North America—the allure of a beach vacation, the incredible food, and the sheer diversity of cultures, all a relatively short flight or drive from home.
Looking for a jungle-strewn paradise? Beach town vibes? You’ll find both and more on this curated list of the 15 best Mexico resorts of 2023—informed by our travel experts and listed below in no particular order—that are part of our Hotels We Love series of the best hotels and resorts of 2023.
These 15 resorts, which span destinations including Baja California, Oaxaca, and the Riviera Maya, go the extra mile to incorporate homegrown talent into their operations with a range of local makers, world-class architects, and top Mexico City chefs, while also delivering the warm hospitality that has made Mexico such a beloved destination.
The Lagoon Presidential Suite at the Rosewood Mayakoba
Courtesy of Rosewood Mayakoba
1. Rosewood Mayakoba
- Location: Riviera Maya
- Book now
At this all-suite resort, set on a handful of private islands and a mangrove forest in the Riviera Maya, guests take an electric boat to reach their rooms. The 129 spacious accommodations all have butler service and feature outdoor terraces and private plunge pools; many have outdoor showers. Daily eco-tours teach guests about the flora and fauna of the area, which the resort’s sustainability practices aim to protect. Its conservation efforts in everything from energy and water conservation to locally sourced, lower-waste culinary practices have earned the property a certification from the NGO Rainforest Alliance, which vets business for their social, economic, and environmental impact.
Guests looking to take a dip have four pools and a sparkling beach to choose among, while the 17,000-square-foot spa on its own private island offers a hydrotherapy circuit, meditation platform, and 12 rooms for treatments that showcase locally grown aloe and agave.
Susurros del Corazón blends contemporary design with Mexican craftsmanship.
Courtesy of Susurros del Corazón
2. Susurros del Corazón, Auberge Resorts Collection
- Location: Punta Mita
- Book now
Set on a white-sand beach between Puerto Vallarta and Punta Mita—away from the luxury resorts that populate these areas—the 59-room Susurros del Corazón offers true seclusion. In the bungalow-style rooms and suites, all of which feature patios or balconies, Dallas-based designer Paul Duesing showcases the work of local makers, including hand-carved whitewashed wood headboards and oversize dream catchers made from driftwood and seashells. Bohemian-chic restaurants like Casamilpa and La Boquita celebrate the produce of area fishermen and farmers, such as organic pork shank with a sweet corn puree. When guests aren’t relaxing in the three-tiered pool, spa, or ocean, activities abound, like daily yoga classes, drum sessions, hat decorating workshops, and master classes on raicilla, a locally made agave spirit.
A casita at Chablé Yucatan with its own plunge pool
Courtesy of Chablé Yucatan
3. Chablé Yucatan
- Location: Yucatan
- Book now
The Yucatan is known for its ancient ruins, from Mayan temples to crumbling buildings constructed at the end of the 18th century during the boom of henequen, or sisal, a fibrous plant used for textiles. At Chablé, visitors can soak up some of that history in the hotel’s main area, set in a restored turn-of-the-century hacienda on a 750-acre property. The 40 guest rooms are slightly more contemporary—they’re glass-fronted stand-alone casitas with hammock-filled terraces that spill onto the surrounding Yucatecan jungle. Here, nature is front and center—even the spa is set next to a cenote, a natural limestone sinkhole.
Our Habitas Bacalar sits on a secluded lagoon surrounded by Mayan jungle.
Courtesy of Our Habitas Bacalar
4. Our Habitas Bacalar
- Location: Quintana Roo
- Book now
A four-hour drive south of Cancun International Airport, Our Habitas Bacalar is composed of 34 A-frame accommodations, a restaurant, and a wellness center, among nearly 20 acres of Mayan jungle on the shores of the azure Bacalar Lagoon. Built with locally sourced materials and designed to have a minimal environmental impact, guest rooms feature private decks with outdoor showers, ideal for rinsing off in after a swim or activity on the lake, like SUP yoga, crystal kayaking, and eFoiling.
Wellness is a major focus, with daily yoga at the yoga shala, sound healing, Janzu water meditation, temezcal ceremonies, and a spa that offers workshops on the healing properties of medicinal herbs, cacao, coconut, and honey. Our Habitas RISE, the hotel company’s global impact initiative, supports the nearby community with educational programs on micro economies and works to preserve the lagoon’s stromatolites, microbial reefs that are considered living fossils.
A Grand Reserve Villa at Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Courtesy of Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
5. Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
- Location: San José del Cabo
- Book now
Set along the dramatic coastal dunes of San José del Cabo, the 20-acre Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, is composed of 113 sprawling guest rooms and the two-story, oceanfront Grand Reserve Villa. Interiors were designed by the Mexican design firm uribekrayer, which employed communities of weavers in Oaxaca to create handwoven textiles, and commissioned ceramic artists Monica Bizzarri and Raquel Charabatti for sculptural embellishments throughout the property. It’s easy to spend an entire afternoon at the 30,000-square-foot Spa Alkemia, which includes the Savasana Sound Room for sound therapy, the Mindful Movement Studio for group fitness and mind/body classes, and the Alkemia al Fresco garden, where guests can select and blend their custom body scrubs.
The resort’s eco-friendly initiatives include on-site composting and a sewage water treatment system for irrigation water. Zadun’s Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program offers guests of all ages a deeper understanding of the habitats of Baja California and the protected marine sanctuaries of the Sea of Cortez.
The guest rooms at Montage Los Cabos are designed with ample outdoor spaces.
Courtesy of Montage Los Cabos
6. Montage Los Cabos
- Location: Cabo San Lucas
- Book now
Swimmable beaches in Cabo San Lucas are rare—usually the waves are too rough. Not so at the private beach at Montage Los Cabos, where guests can swim and snorkel right on property. Set along the shoreline are the 122 accommodations, which range from rooms and suites to larger, open-plan casas with as many as five bedrooms. They all feature terraces with daybeds and outdoor showers, while a handful have private pools.
Active travelers have plenty to do here: There are three pools, a fitness center and movement studio, tennis courts, complimentary use of kayaks and paddleboards, two yachts to charter, and access to a 19-hole golf course designed by Fred Couples. For more relaxing endeavors, the 40,000-square-foot spa offers organic treatments, some inspired by local shaman rituals. Four bars and restaurants offer a range of cuisines, including Mexican (short rib empanadas; shrimp tostadas) and Thai (gaeng kau lobster curry; tiger prawn fried rice).
One&Only Palmilla has one of Cabo’s rare swimmable beaches.
Courtesy of One&Only Palmilla
7. One&Only Palmilla
- Location: San José del Cabo
- Book now
At the edge of the Baja Peninsula, One&Only Palmilla was originally built in 1956 as a 15-room hideaway for Don Abelardo Rodriguez, son of the then-president of Mexico. Today, it’s one of the region’s most luxurious resorts, composed of 174 oceanfront rooms and suites and two villas decorated in neutral hues and splashes of red; many have infinity pools and patios that face the Sea of Cortez.
One&Only Palmilla has one of the area’s few swimmable beaches, plus three private rocky coves complete with floating beds, lounge chairs, and dedicated butlers. Activities include snorkeling, surfing, parasailing, and golfing the award-winning 27-hole course designed by Jack Nicklaus. The massive spa’s wellness garden features a juice bar and 13 treatment villas; several have private plunge pools, rain showers, and swinging daybeds.
One&Only Palmilla is a member of EarthCheck, a scientific benchmarking certification program, for its sustainability efforts, which include a state-of-the-art water purification system that produces and bottles filtered water on site. The resort works with the Red Committee for the Protection of the Sea Turtle by helping with daily patrols of nearby nests, an activity guests can join.
The new Paradero Todos Santos in Baja California, Mexico, has more than 60 native plant species, including red sand verbena and Mojave yucca, on site.
Courtesy of Paradero Todos Santos
8. Paradero Todos Santos
- Location: Baja California
- Book now
Paradero Todos Santos, a Baja California–based hotel, is designed to immerse you in the destination. Unlike many Cabo resorts an hour away, Paradero is less a pool party and more a cultural retreat, set at the intersection of blinding-sun desert, mountains, and Pacific coast, with a working farm on site and the art-and-surf community of Todos Santos a 10-minute drive away. Pablo Carmona and Joshua Kremer, the Mexico City–based founders, have delivered experiences that go beyond the ocean.
All visitors can book complimentary yoga and fitness classes; a (vigorous) guided nature hike overlooking the ocean; a guided art walk through nearby village Todos Santos, which has drawn artists from across the United States and Mexico for decades; and even learn to garden or farm (or both) on site. The hotel itself is an indoor/outdoor retreat, with 35 suites designed to blend in with the desert landscape, with rough concrete walls and handcrafted Mexican furnishings.
An ocean-facing villa at Rancho Pescadero.
Courtesy of Rancho Pescadero
9. Rancho Pescadero, the Unbound Collection by Hyatt
- Location: Todos Santos, Baja California
- Book now
Previously a beachside boutique hideaway with 12 rooms in Todos Santos, Rancho Pescadero relaunched at the end of 2022 following a stem-to-stern renovation that transformed it into a wellness-focused luxury resort. Now with 103 guest rooms, the hotel was designed by Mexican architect Alejandra Templeton, and nearly all of the furnishings and decor come from local Mexican artists. Accommodations have private roof decks, plunge pools, beds with handcrafted steel headboards, and rugs sourced in Michoacán. The 25,000-square-foot spa and fitness center feature a Pilates reformer studio and dedicated indoor and outdoor yoga areas, along with three restaurants and bars whose ingredients are mostly supplied by the nine gardens on property, which range from a citrus orchard to native succulents.
Four Seasons Tamarindo is located on its own private nature reserve.
Courtesy of Four Seasons Tamarindo
10. Four Seasons Tamarindo
- Location: Jalisco
- Book now
Jungle meets the Pacific Ocean at Four Seasons Tamarindo, which opened in November 2022 on a secluded peninsula at the southwestern tip of the state of Jalisco. It’s set within a 3,000-acre private nature reserve, only 2 percent of which was developed for tourism. The Mexican owners have showcased the country’s design and culinary talent. Evoking the lines of Mexican pyramids—tiered down from the cliff on which the lobby sits—the hotel’s brutalist structures are the work of Victor Legorreta and Mauricio Rocha, Mexican architects who came together as LegoRocha for the project. The materials are also all Mexican, including marble from Veracruz and volcanic rock sourced from a nearby mountain.
The 157 guest rooms are split into cliffside suites with private infinity pools set on the hill above the lobby, while the beach and garden rooms are located closer to the public spaces. Rooms feature framed textiles on the walls and handwoven hammocks on the patios. The terrace reveals three levels of infinity pools and Mexican restaurants, including a casual taqueria, a beachside seafood spot, and Coyul, run in partnership with Mexican chef Elena Reygadas, recently named the World’s Best Female Chef. Make time for an on-property hike in the reserve, where guides will point out such local flora and fauna as lilac crowned parrots, squirrel cuckoos, and black-throated magpie jays. A biologist leads night safaris to find creepy crawly residents, including long horned beetles, huntsman spiders, and scorpions.
Monte Uzulu is located an hour’s drive south of Puerto Escondido, a popular surfing spot.
Courtesy of Monte Uzulu
11. Monte Uzulu
- Location: Mazunte, Oaxaca
- Book now
Set in the tiny town of San Agustinillo along the Oaxacan coast, Monte Uzulu offers both nature and urban pursuits: You’ll fall asleep to the sound of the thundering waves and wake to the charming sound of locals carrying out their daily life on the street. Set at the base of town and minutes from the beach by foot, the hotel offers 11 sandy-hued cliffside rooms with a minimalist aesthetic, constructed in materials like local macuil wood and cement. The founder Alan V Favero is an interior designer and artist known for his eco-conscious Taller Lu’um design firm that collaborates with artisans all over Mexico.
Monte Uzulu reuses 100 percent of the water it takes in, in addition to having a rainwater catchment system, biodegradable skin products, and retractable walls that cool interiors with ocean breezes in lieu of air-conditioning.
Mexico City–based architect Alberto Kalach is behind the biophilic design of Terrestre.
Photo by Fabian Martinez courtesy of Grupo Habita
12. Terrestre
- Location: Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
- Book now
In the Oaxacan hills, with views of the Pacific Ocean, Hotel Terrestre marries modern style and sustainability. Mexican hoteliers Grupo Habita commissioned Mexico City–based architect Alberto Kalach, who is known for his sustainable approach that harmonizes with nature, to design the property. (He also created the Casona Sforza retreat in Puerto Escondido.) He fashioned Hotel Terrestre’s 14 villas out of local clay, wood, brickwork, and concrete that blend into the sand-colored landscape. Each accommodation has a private terrace with an outdoor shower, a dipping pool, and a hammock; custom furnishings were designed by Mexico’s Oscar Hagerman and were built by area craftspeople. The hotel, which is entirely solar powered, is cooled by fans and cross ventilation, while landscaping includes endemic flora (copales and mesquites) that thrive in the arid climate.
St. Regis Kanai Resort was built on stilts that protect the surrounding mangrove forest.
Courtesy of St. Regis Kanai Resort
13. St. Regis Kanai Resort
- Location: Oaxaca
- Book now
Opened in May 2023, the St. Regis Kanai Resort was built on stilts with elevated walkways to protect the surrounding mangrove forest, which runs parallel to the two miles of white-sand beach fronting the property. The multi-circular design by Mexican architectural firm Edmonds International Design was inspired by the constellation Pleiades, significant in Mayan culture, and local craftsmen and artists are highlighted throughout.
The resort features both adults-only and family pools, a spa with hydrotherapy treatments, and eight bars and restaurants, including an outlet of Richard Sandoval’s Toro and a library offering Mayan cacao and tea tastings. The 143 guest rooms and suites feature green marble sinks inspired by cenotes, ceramic light pendants that evoke the stars, and intricate walnut-carved headboards inspired by ancient Mayan textiles.
Cuixmala sits within the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve.
Courtesy of Cuixmala
14. Cuixmala
- Location: Jalisco
- Book now
Set along Mexico’s wild Pacific Coast on the 36,000-acre Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve, Cuixmala is one of the remotest beach hotels in the country. The property has 40 guest rooms, suites, and villas in various locations, ranging from beachfront to hilltop. Set inside ornate, tangerine-colored buildings, the accommodations have stark white interiors with soaring ceilings and colorful bedspreads with pops of electric pink and bright yellow; views face either the ocean or the wilderness areas. The hotel is deeply invested in conservation with the Cuixmala Ecological Fund, which aims to protect and preserve the property’s various ecosystems and rare animals, such as jaguars and pumas.
Hotelito is located within Zihuatanejo’s eco-minded Musa development.
Courtesy of Hotelito
15. Hotelito
- Location: Zihuatanejo
- Book now
On a secluded stretch of coastline outside the buzzy beach town of Zihuatanejo, Hotelito debuted in January 2023 as a retreat that focuses on conservation and community. It’s located within Musa, an eco-minded development by Mexico City–born designer Andrés Saavedra and Canadian entrepreneur Tara Medina. The architecture of the hotel, designed by Saavedra, is sharp and minimalist. The 13 guest rooms were constructed from natural materials such as stone and sustainably sourced local hardwood. Most impressive are the property’s eco-credentials: a bio-pool, compost and soil regeneration initiatives, and rainwater harvesting and gray water recycling systems for feeding on-site gardens. In addition, Hotelito has helped Musa’s efforts to regenerate fragile coral reef habitats in the nearby Pacific Ocean.