The adults-only pool at Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Mexico (photos by Brad A. Johnson)

Grand Velas Riviera Maya is one of the finest resorts in North America—and for the price (not exactly cheap), it’s an astonishing bargain. I’ve made this declaration before, yet my enthusiasm is frequently met with skepticism. “But Brad,” the naysayers counter, “Isn’t Grand Velas one of those all-inclusive megaresorts? How could it possibly compete with, say, the Four Seasons in Punta Mita or Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos?” 

Right. Good question. Those are indeed incredible, exclusive resorts with independent vibes and polished service, whereas Mexico’s all-inclusives are typically mass-market, inauthentic, herd-minded tourist traps with awful food and nonexistent service. So isn’t comparing Grand Velas with the likes of Four Seasons and Rosewood a case of apples and oranges? Um, no. Not at all—because Grand Velas is different. Way different. Grand Velas is a game-changer for the all-inclusive concept. 

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Coral Grill at Viceroy Riviera Maya (Brad A. Johnson)

Truly great Mexican food is oddly difficult to find in Playa del Carmen, the hub of Mexico’s beautiful Riviera Maya. You can find a great (or at least very good) Italian restaurant on nearly every corner and inside most hotels (a story on that coming soon). But Mexican? The good stuff’s here, but the best places aren’t so obvious. These are the Top 10.

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Fairmont Mayakoba (Brad A. Johnson)

Mayakoba Resort near Playa del Carmen in Mexico’s Riviera Maya has just won two of the world’s most prestigious honors for its commitment to sustainability and responsible tourism. 

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Casitas Royale, Riviera Maya, Mexico

No hidden taxes or fees? No shocking drink tabs? No tipping at every turn? Plus all the food you can eat, included? The idea of all-inclusive pricing sounds almost too good to be true. But it’s only worth it when the food is truly great and the service makes you feel like a star. That's rare. Here are four of my favorite Mexican resorts in the Riviera Maya that truly get it right, offering excellent à la carte dining (where you’ll actually want to eat all day) and first-rate service with an all-inclusive price tag.

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I’ve just finished watching a the sunrise from the beach in Playa del Carmen. The coastline at dawn here is always eerily silent, the quietest it will be all day. For a few hours at most, no one is stirring. The dozens of bars and restaurants that line the shore appear abandoned, like a ghost town. My lounge chair is wedged into the sugary white sand just out of reach of the crashing turquoise waves. The sky is an infinity of blue, and the sun’s rays merely lukewarm, like an oven that’s just been turned on but which hasn’t yet had begun to warm up. A seagull circles overhead, effortlessly floating in the breeze like a kite, and I wonder if he, too, is merely half awake.

A small wooden fishing boat powered by a small outboard engine sputters across the horizon then turns toward the shore and heads straight for where I’m lounging.

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The Riviera Maya boasts more destination spas per square mile—plus a better beach—than anywhere else in Mexico. And nestled among the meandering lagoons of Mayakoba, ensconced on its own miniature island, the 17,000-square-foot Sense Spa at Rosewood (rooms from $590; massage from $145) was the region’s first luxury game-changer (with authentic wood-fired stone temazcal), surpassed only by its Asian-inspired next-door neighbor,Banyan Tree (rooms from $565; massage from $160), whose therapists train for 300 hours at the company’s flagship in Phuket, Thailand.

On the boutique tip of the scale, Orient-Express’ 65-room, white-walled, palapa-topped Maroma (rooms from $765; massage from $125) has created an utterly chic, tropical utopia at its Kinan Spa. While on the other, more colossal scale of things, the all-inclusive and truly exquisite Grand Velas (rooms from $570; massage from $178, gratuity included) delivers a surprisingly intimate escape at its 89,000-square-foot, jungle-wrapped sanctuary, which revolves around a must-see-it-to-believe-it vitality pool and temperature-controlled chambers for indulging in therapeutic clay, shaved ice or fragrant steam. And the 8,600-square-foot spa at the 88-room Ceiba del Mar (à la carte from $219; all-inclusive from $303; massage from $100) even offers an all-inclusive spa deal that allows as many treatments as you can possibly squeeze into your sangria-soaked itinerary.

Rates given are for a 50- or 60-minute, full-body massage, except at Banyan Tree Mayakoba, where massages start at a minimum of 90 minutes.