Megan is one of my best clients (not to mention my sister) and this was no ordinary vacation. You only get to celebrate your 40th birthday once….and I knew she wanted to do it in style. It sounds like the Fairmont Mayakoba in the Riviera Maya was the perfect choice! Better start thinking now about her 45th….
Thanks for your help planning my quick 40th birthday escape! I was really torn on having a birthday party ― with all the planning that would involve ― or simply escaping it all and relaxing with Jim. Given how insane my summer started out (work, house renovation…) the escape won out and boy am I ever glad it did!
Resort and Room
I’ve long heard about the Mayakoba resorts and was eager to try one. For this occasion, I wanted something extra special so, at your suggestion, we booked a beachfront casita at the Fairmont Mayakoba which was simply amazing. These casitas come with a butler who was extremely helpful and stayed in touch by SMS all weekend. He planned our reservations and spa trips, brought our towels and set up our pool and deck daily and, perhaps most helpful, arranged our golf-cart transportation to/from our casita whenever we wanted (vs. having to wait at the stops ― not that waits were that long). The resort was supposedly at 90+% capacity but it never felt that crowded. The only time you could see much crowding was around the pool ― but we had our own pool so it didn’t matter to us 🙂
Our casita had one huge bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a private pool and was set directly on the beach. We had our own beach access and were even able to get beach waiter service right to our pool/deck.
Food
I never worry that you’ll steer us wrong, given how long we’ve worked with you and how well you know our travel expectations. For this trip I wanted to do something different than the Mexican resorts we’ve done before ― but an all-inclusive really helps Jim relax and enjoy more. Most places that appealed to me didn’t have an all inclusive option. The Fairmont Mayakoba with their ‘Appetite for Luxury’ optional add-on was the perfect solution!
The food was very good and the way the plan works never makes you feel like you’re at an all inclusive. No bracelet to wear or ID card to show and very few restrictions (a handful of menu items, liquor over $18, room service, bottles of wine and craft beer). We ate everything from fresh guac and chips at the lobby bar to amazing entrees at their signature asian fusion restaurant El Puerto and everything was great.
One thing to note: the Fairmont is very family friendly, but we didn’t feel it detracted from our romantic vacation. Instead, we actually talked a lot about coming back with Jane! Each restaurant and each meal had a small kids buffet already set-up (no waiting for hungry kiddos!)
Spa
If you like like a strong deep tissue massage, the spa at Fairmont was outstanding, ask for “Cielo”
