Banyan Tree Mayakoba

Amazing stay at Banyan Tree. Beach villas are fantastic - highly recommend for beach access, private palapa, and promiximity to Sands for breakfast and lunch. Service is excellent, especially at the beach. Gamaliel, in particular, was so friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. Food is delicious. Buffet breakfast and Saffron are a must. We loved getting around Mayakoba in the golf carts and boats and also enjoyed dinner at Fuego (fairmont) and Agave Azul (rosewood).

We love coming to Banyan Tree. The villas are so spacious and relaxing! You also never feel like it’s crowded. We loved the two adult pools on the beach (La Sur) and met Jesus (our server) for the first time this April. He was constantly checking in on us and had fresh waters when we needed them. He was so friendly, personable, and had such a positive attitude. You can tell he loves what he does! We looked forward to seeing him every day and appreciated his ability to treat every guest with genuine care. He’s an excellent employee and asset to Banyan Tree. We will be back soon!

We had a great time at Banyan Tree. My family and I really enjoyed the beach this year. The beach activities crew of Jorge, Edwin, and Rogelio were amazing with our kids. They were truly the vibe. We enjoyed beach volleyball, rumba, and soccer. We also enjoyed the service of Victor and Paco. Victor remembered us from our visit three years ago! The rest was exactly how we remembered, great villa, great food, very clean, and amazing service.

We were a small group of seven across three villas, and every part of our stay was exceptional. We spent time at the beach club and enjoyed many wonderful meals, but the Thai restaurant was our absolute favorite. The resort is stunning—beautifully renovated—and returning after 15 years felt even more magical than I remembered. Our stay for my mom’s 75th birthday was nothing short of extraordinary. What truly set this trip apart was the warmth, care, and attention we received from the team. A very special thank‑you to Sara from Concierge, whose kindness and thoughtful coordination made every moment feel seamless and celebratory. She went above and beyond to make my mom feel honored throughout the weekend. We also want to recognize Edson, our breakfast server, who brought such genuine warmth and joy to each morning. His gracious service and personal touches made each of us feel truly cared for—we found ourselves seeking out his section every day. Thanks to them—and the entire Banyan Tree team—this celebration surpassed all of our expectations. It was a beautiful, memorable experience we will treasure for years to come. We look forward to returning again. And one last tip for future guests: always lock your doors… the raccoons are clever and will absolutely let themselves in! We learned the hard way...

What a wonderful escape in a fantastic location. This place is really magical. The lagoon and mangroves are stunning and humming with life. The villa we stayed in was faultless, with a huge bedroom, luxurious bathroom and our own pool. We could hang out there for days on end. But the beach club was also great, so we were spoiled for choice. The staff are really top notch to a person: helpful, personal, thoughtful. The restaurants are very good but the best cooking by far were the fresh tacos at breakfast. Seriously they should have their own high-end Mexican restaurant (please not Tex-Mex) in place of one of their foreign cuisines. That’s my only gripe and it’s a small one. You really can’t go wrong here. It’s pricey but totally worth it. Did I mention the perfect weather too?

We have been back for a month and are still dreaming about our stay at Banyan Tree. The accomodations were perfect and the grounds were gorgeous. Every staff member was incredibly welcoming and happy to help in any way. We loved the bikes, trails, and enjoyed several of the restaurants. The highlight for us was spending our days at the beach with our favorite server Gama who anticipated our every need. 10/10. We will be back!

Such a great experience! Jesus and Gamaliel took such great care of us at the beach every day. They really made it special, and we felt like family. Francisco was our main point of communication and he took care of anything that we needed. He was caring and attentive. Jazzmin was also incredibly helpful and seemed to truly care about us enjoying our trip! The people that work here made this trip fun, welcoming, and safe!

The Bayan Tree Mayakoba property itself was absolutely beautiful, but what truly made our experience unforgettable was the people. Every interaction we had reflected genuine warmth, professionalism, and care—it’s clear that the entire staff takes great pride in what they do. It’s not easy to create an environment where guests feel both welcomed and valued, but the team made it seem effortless. Their kindness, attention to detail, and positive energy turned what could have been just a lovely stay into something truly meaningful and memorable for us. I don’t usually comment nor post pix of our vacations, and we take several, but at a time where travel can be more overwhelming than usual (cartel violence, DHS issues) I can honestly say we felt completely safe and did not have any traveling issues regarding air or land. In addition, this slice of magic in Mexico is gorgeous! We travel more on the pacific ocean side due to living in Los Angeles, but I cannot wait to come back to Magical Mayakoba! I would like to recognize specific employees and instances in the order that I remember: Vacation first started with my email correspondence 1st noting celebration of our 28th Anniversary and later calming my fears of traveling after the cartel violence, both Vivian & Andrea were timely, caring and addressed both areas. Arrived at lobby and was greeted warmly and given 2 adorable bracelets with flowers (that I put in the refrigerator to preserve and forgot to take home with me as a memento, darn). The bonus was that we were upgraded to an Ocean Front Villa, we were ecstatic…Thank you SO much!! Then we met Roi, our butler who was fantastic! We spent ½ hour or so chatting and he took us around in the golf cart giving us the lay of the land and showing us SUR. We were early, so we expected we would have to wait for our room. Roi was so gracious and in no rush to drop us off. He offered great suggestions like using boat to take us to Safffon and secured a reservation for us, mentioned how SUR is a gem (and it sure is, we were there every day and it was perfect), we wanted to go to Rosewood’s Punta Bonita and he suggested that we go a bit earlier than our reservation to get the table we want (we did, and we got it), he sent a lovely charcuterie and sparkling wine to our villa for our 28th, Roi was very attentive, professional and yet felt like we knew him our whole life. Well, maybe it is because we had a Rosewood Cabo San Lucas connection…. Roi greeted us daily with a good morning and then a good night text and in between asked what he could do for us and asked what we have been up to. He would find us to physically to check in…Roi is one of the best butlers we’ve had, if not the best! On a side note, we felt really bad…the day of check in, my husband wanted to tip him. Roi politely declined and said that can wait until the end of our trip, just enjoy this moment. Then, the day of our departure we expected to meet him in the lobby to tip him, and he was busy with another guest…so he never got our financial gratitude. So please acknowledge him for us! Waiting for our room to be ready, we sat on the couches in front of Sands. Edwin, such a warm ray of light, greeted us with waters and towels and asked how he can help us. Every time we say Edwin, he always had a genuine smile and was beyond kind. We loved our villa, every morning we woke up with the sun and enjoyed the sound of the waves. The anniversary “strawberry cake bathtub” dessert in room with sweet note was a nice way to start our day in Mayakoba. Loved the steam in the shower, and visiting our plunge pool. SUR, where do I start…we remember Banyan Tree and loving Sands…now it is SUR!!! SUR is a gem, best secret ever! The décor is very calming yet St. Barth’s chic. The service is 5 star with Daniel. We dined at SUR every day because it was so delicious, margaritas perfect and how can toes in the sand viewing the beautiful beach not be a fantastic experience!?! Now let’s talk about Daniel…he is a star! He is consciencious and professional, yet he is very warm and you can tell he has a beautiful spirit. Paco was everywhere! He would set up our beach chairs, bring waters and move umbrellas, then we see him making our margaritas at SUR. He is great! His smile just radiates, he is always happy to help. Damiante at Sands bar was lovely. He obliged my husband to take pix, even though my husband interrupted him while he was clearly busy mixing drinks. One morning the lobby coffee was just warm, I asked him to microwave to heat it up. He insisted on making an entire new coffee…he even added a bit of chocolate in it too. Gamariale at Sands beach made a great set up for us at beach, it was busy that day, but he hustled and moved things around to make it happen! Met George at SUR on our last full day and gave him an earful about SUR and how it is not properly marketed. We knew it was there because of ROI. It is not listed as a restaurant on the TV menu. I love that it is for adults during the day, especially because I the main pool does get noisy and overwhelmed with all of those life size floaties, but there should be more events to get guests there and experience it! Davis at Sands made our last margarita of the trip, and boy was it perfection. He was very attentive and offered to take more pictures because he could tell my husband loves capturing the moment. Laura Sands hostess was just adorable and very sweet. We first met Jesus as our boat driver both ways to Saffron, so professional and such a kind man with a good soul. He took, yes, more pictures for my husband, explained the lagoon and what we were passing, and lit our way like a gentleman while we walked in the dark. To my surprise, the next day he was a driver and took our luggage to the lobby. Jesus was named properly. Arturo was full of life and served us at Sands our final 2 cappuccinos, 2 molten cakes with vanilla ice cream + biscotti. He presented it beautifully and his hospitality and warmth was a wonderful way to end our last evening.… The Banyan Tree Mayakoba property is undeniably beautiful, but it is the people who make it exceptional. Every individual we encountered contributed to an experience filled with warmth, care, and genuine hospitality. We are looking forward to our return…

We just got back from our third family trip to Banyan Tree Mayakoba (two adults and two boys age 8 and 12) and it was wonderful. The boys really enjoyed the adventure and independence of the free bikes, which let the adults relax and enjoy a true vacation (rather than the typical family “trip”). Our two bedroom villa was newly renovated, with excellent space, well heated pools, comfy beds, and timely housekeeping twice a day. The service was clearly world class. We say many staff members who we remembered from our last trip two years ago. The staff clearly love their jobs and no request was too much - one bartender even went back to the kitchen to make our drinks with fresh fruit instead of the carton stuff when we asked. The gym is very good - dumbbells only go up to 50lbs as is typical for many hotels but the had leg press, leg curl, leg extension, chest, shoulder, and cable machines plus a smith machine and separate Olympic bar so doing lifting workouts was not a problem. The natural setting was beautiful. Food was excellent but look at the prices before you go as they are generally over 2x NYC prices. If you don’t want to pay $200 for a filet mignon for example you may have to eat off property.