Generations Riviera Maya
Carretera Cancun - Tulum, Mexico. karismahotels.com; 144 rooms from $521 (U.S.) an adult, per night, based on double occupancy.
In her heyday, it’s pretty safe to say, Drunk Mom would have loved it here. Perched on the Caribbean, this all-inclusive works hard to ply both winter-weary parents and their ornery offspring with all they’ll need to chill out under the Mexican sun. Indeed, long before arriving, guests fill out online forms telling staff who’s coming and what their needs consist of. Cribs? Child-size robes? Bath toys? They’ll be waiting. So will a babysitter (though she charges by the hour). Parents, meanwhile, can tap into their own nanny service: butlers who stock rooms with your favourite drinks and nibblies, and who bring endless free refills as the days pass. Thanks to that nanny service and a fully staffed on-site Kids Club that houses a trampoline, supervised crafts room, mini movie theatre and nap areas, everybody can … just … relax.
LOCATION, LOCATION
About a half-hour south of Cancun, Generations Maya sits next to two adults-only sister properties; the three share a seaside promenade. Guests at the Maya can use all facilities of those resorts, but those neighbours aren’t allowed at the family-friendly Maya. Nearby activities (deep-sea fishing, snorkelling, horseback riding) are priced à la carte, though your butler will pack you and yours a bespoke lunch for the road.
EAT IN OR EAT OUT?
Room service is free, though the menu can’t begin to comprise everything on offer at Maya’s four restaurants. They include the Asian-centric Jade, where the Singapore lobster rice rocks; and the Wine Kitchen, where every menu item, down to the butter, is made with at least some vino. Got food issues? Those prearrival online forms suss out allergies and food aversions. Vegans, say, need never see a previously sentient being on their plates – in their room or out of it.
DESIGN
Rooms on the top two floors come with traditional balconies; the bottom four open onto wading pools. The rooms themselves, all with ocean views, include a separate nook with a kid-friendly sectional couch and big-screen TV.
ROOM WITH A VIEW
Rooms to avoid include those that end in 271, 281 and 291, where views aren’t as great, and which afford views of your own terrace to passersby. And decide if this horrifies or intrigues you: Balcony wading pools on the ground floor connect directly with a “lazy river” that flows into the hotel pool.
BEST AMENITY
The service: Those suited butlers add a nicely starched air to the low-level organized chaos of a family resort; beach attendants wander around with cool facecloths scented with lavender; and those nannies even change diapers. I’ll drink to that.
WHOM YOU’LL MEET
Other adults with an “I’m a parent, but I have my needs” attitude. And pretty chill young ’uns, too: The Kids Camp, where a finger painting blowout was in progress when I wandered by, appeared stocked with children happy to be temporarily free of their progenitors (whose own pleasure zone, the Naay Spa, is one floor above). Aside from the pool and beach, opportunities for entire families to meet entire other families include tours of the site’s organic greenhouse, which grows pesticide-free produce, raises stingless bees for pollinating and houses a shelter for abandoned horses.
IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING
The beach itself could be a bit wider; and as you enter the ocean, the surface is rocky (versus sandy) in some sections. During my stay, the butler could have been more attentive about which room snacks I plowed through most quickly, and restocked them without my asking.
The writer was a guest of the resort.