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The best hotels in Playa del Carmen
Mangrove lagoons, cenotes and the Riviera Maya coastline
Playa del Carmen has 8 hotels ranked in the finehotels.world index. Hotel Esencia leads on prestige score at 8.42 out of 10, followed by Rosewood Mayakoba and Banyan Tree Mayakoba. Of those, 8 hold MICHELIN Keys, 2 hold a Forbes Five Star rating, 2 have placed in The World's 50 Best Hotels, 2 are rated by La Liste.
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The highest ranked houses in Playa del Carmen. Each opens a live rate screen for that exact property through our booking partner.
- 7.04/10Rosewood MayakobaPlaya del CarmenReserve
Photographs: Rosewood Mayakoba, supplied by the property (mayakoba.com).
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The stretch of coast around Playa del Carmen holds eight ranked properties, all with MICHELIN Keys, one at three Keys and four at two Keys; two restaurants reach The World's 50 Best and two appear on La Liste. Rosewood Mayakoba and Banyan Tree Mayakoba sit inside the same network of engineered lagoons and mangrove channels north of town, reached by boat or buggy rather than road.
Further south the properties are more secluded. Hotel Esencia occupies a former private estate at Xpu-Ha behind a long beach, Chable Maroma works the jungle inland from Maroma Beach, and Etereo sits at Kantenah. The St. Regis Kanai Resort anchors a newer development, while Viceroy Riviera Maya keeps thatched villas among the trees.
Every ranked hotel in Playa del Carmen
| Hotel | Prestige | Distinctions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hotel Esencia3 Keys · Forbes · 50 Best · 51 rooms | 8.42 | 3 MICHELIN Keys; Forbes Five Star; World's 50 Best No. 19 in 2023, No. 48 in 2024 |
| 2 | Rosewood Mayakoba2 Keys · Forbes · 50 Best · La Liste · 128 rooms | 7.04 | 2 MICHELIN Keys; Forbes Five Star; World's 50 Best No. 95 in 2025; La Liste 99.5 |
| 3 | Banyan Tree Mayakoba2 Keys · La Liste · 159 rooms | 6.18 | 2 MICHELIN Keys; La Liste 98.5 |
| 4 | Etéreo, Auberge Collection2 Keys · 75 rooms | 5.99 | 2 MICHELIN Keys |
| 5 | Palmaïa-The House of AïA: All Inclusive Wellness Resort2 Keys · 234 rooms | 5.99 | 2 MICHELIN Keys |
| 6 | Chablé Maroma1 Key · 70 rooms | 5.20 | 1 MICHELIN Key |
| 7 | The St. Regis Kanai Resort, Riviera Maya1 Key · 124 rooms | 5.20 | 1 MICHELIN Key |
| 8 | Viceroy Riviera Maya, a Luxury Villa Resort1 Key · 41 rooms | 5.20 | 1 MICHELIN Key |
Prestige score is shown out of 10. Sources: MICHELIN Guide hotel selection, Forbes Travel Guide 2026 Star Awards, The World’s 50 Best Hotels 2023 to 2025, La Liste Top 1000 Hotels.
Where to stay in Playa del Carmen
Mayakoba, just north of Playa del Carmen, is the lagoon-and-golf enclave with the highest concentration of ranked hotels; Maroma and Punta Bete to the north offer some of the calmest swimming water on the coast; Xpu-Ha and Kantenah to the south are quieter still, with Fifth Avenue in Playa itself the choice for walkable dining and nightlife.
When to go
December through April is dry, breezy and busiest, particularly around the New Year and Easter; sargassum can affect beaches from late spring into summer, and the September to October hurricane window is the quietest of the year.
Common questions
What are the best hotels in Playa del Carmen?
By prestige score, the three highest ranked hotels in Playa del Carmen are Hotel Esencia, Rosewood Mayakoba, Banyan Tree Mayakoba. The score is a composite of MICHELIN Keys, Forbes Travel Guide Five Star ratings, placements in The World's 50 Best Hotels for 2023, 2024 and 2025, and La Liste's hotel ratings. finehotels.world tracks 8 award holding hotels in Playa del Carmen in total.
How many MICHELIN Key hotels are there in Playa del Carmen?
Playa del Carmen has 8 hotels holding MICHELIN Keys in this index, of which 1 hold the top rating of three Keys and 4 hold two Keys.
How are the hotels in Playa del Carmen ranked on this page?
Each hotel is scored on a fixed formula built only from award facts, then shown on a scale of 5.00 to 10.00. MICHELIN Keys carry the most weight, a Forbes Travel Guide Five Star rating adds a flat six points, placements in The World's 50 Best Hotels for 2023, 2024 and 2025 are weighted equally, and a La Liste rating moves the total slightly. Nothing a hotel supplies about itself enters the score, and the full formula is published on the methodology page so any figure in the table can be reproduced from the awards beside it.
When is the best time to visit Playa del Carmen?
December through April is dry, breezy and busiest, particularly around the New Year and Easter; sargassum can affect beaches from late spring into summer, and the September to October hurricane window is the quietest of the year.
Which area of Playa del Carmen should you stay in?
Mayakoba, just north of Playa del Carmen, is the lagoon-and-golf enclave with the highest concentration of ranked hotels; Maroma and Punta Bete to the north offer some of the calmest swimming water on the coast; Xpu-Ha and Kantenah to the south are quieter still, with Fifth Avenue in Playa itself the choice for walkable dining and nightlife.