Staying Fit
With more than 32,000 hotel rooms in Cancún alone — from ultra-chic, all-inclusive resorts to laid-back beach bum hideouts — you’re spoiled for choice here when it comes to where to stay.
Cancún's famous Hotel Zone occupies a skinny island shaped like the number 7, tracing a path between the Caribbean beaches on the east and Nichupté Lagoon on the west. It’s connected to the mainland by two causeways. The mainland city to the north, where Mexicans live and do business, is called El Centro (downtown) even though it sprawls far beyond the city center.
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Like most of the coastline, the Hotel Zone is dominated by all-inclusive mega resorts that many a guest never even ventures out from. And if you think the Hotel Zone is just hotels with cheap buffets and rooms stuffed with college kids, think again. Cancún lures the global jet set, too, and everything in between, with ultra-luxurious properties such as the Iberostar Cancún and Grand Velas. There are many adults-only properties along the coast, too, ranging from Excellence Playa Mujeres north of downtown Cancún to the wellness-themed Le Blanc Spa Resort and the 28-room the Beach Tulum, an adults-only eco-hotel on the Riviera Maya.
Cancún hotels include grandes dames Ritz-Carlton, J.W. Marriott and Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach Cancún. The Beachscape Kin Ha is a smaller, moderately priced independent hotel on prime beachfront. A few affordable hotels hug the lagoon shore, too, such as Sina Suites and Real Inn, both of which draw travelers seeking relaxation removed from the club zone.
In Cancún Centro, Adhara Hacienda Cancún is a great bargain, while the modern Fiesta Inn Cancún Las Américas offers beautiful views and proximity to one of the city’s best malls.
Many major hotels have wheelchair-accessible rooms, and even more have ramps and wide entrances in public areas. The Four Points by Sheraton in El Centro, part of the Cancún Medical Tourism Complex, is fully accessible and completely smoke-free. It’s one of only a handful of Cancún hotels with pool lifts, along with Westin Lagunamar. A few others have ramps leading to their beaches.
If you’re traveling with children, Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya has an incredible onsite water park that feels like its own theme park and a free kids club they’ll love.
