Cancún-Riviera Maya

Air Supply

When Mexicana suspended operations in August, on the heels of the carrier's bankruptcy filing, Cancún lost 16 flights per day. As of mid-September, the Cancún Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated that local hotels were losing as much as US$4.5 million per day due to the decreased air traffic. Much of the loss is from Mexico's domestic market, as Cancún's location on the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula makes it a destination heavily reliant on air service. As of press time, there's talk of Mexicana resuming operations late this year or early in 2011. Meanwhile, the city is looking to other airlines to pick up the slack. Continental has filed for permission to offer service from Raleigh, N.C., and Austin and San Antonio, Texas. And the CVB is negotiating with Virgin America to increase that carrier's newly announced service from California.

Local Update
The Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa Cancún is slated to complete the first phase of construction in December, at that point making available to the public an as-yet-unspecified number of guest rooms. The new resort will be near Playa Mujeres, with its beautiful beaches just a short drive north of Cancún's Hotel Zone. A full-service spa will be on-site, as well as a fitness center, two restaurants, a deli and a snack bar. Suites will include full kitchens and large balconies.

AMResorts launched a new brand of luxury lifestyle resorts at the beginning of this year, called Now Resorts & Spas. The first two properties, just outside of Puerto Morelos, are the 550-suite Now Jade Riviera Cancún, which opened in January, and the 496-suite Now Sapphire Riviera Cancún, which began hosting guests in May. Now Jade offers an air-conditioned theater that seats up to 1,200 attendees, as well as a small private conference room in its business center. Five specialty themed restaurants are on-site, as well as six bars and lounges. For its part, Now Sapphire has more than 15,000 square feet of event space, including a grand ballroom that exceeds 8,000 square feet and seats up to 450 people. That property offers six restaurants and five bars and lounges.

The Tides Riviera Maya, a 30-villa luxury property just north of Playa del Carmen, added an antojería to its culinary offerings -- a place where guests can eat and learn how to make popular Mexican street-food snacks. The resort, formerly known as Ikal del Mar, also offers an on-site restaurant, a lounge and private dining for anywhere from two to 75 people in Casita Maya, an outdoor palapa with a traditional Mayan kitchen.

The hip Hotel Reina Roja opened in December last year in the center of Playa del Carmen. The 63-room property offers eclectically themed suites as well as a meeting room that can hold up to 20 people and the Roof Garden, a rooftop deck complete with pool that can accommodate receptions of up to 500. The on-site restaurant can host group dinners of up to 70.

Great Gifts

Attendees can get the lowdown on the city from the People's Choice Guide Cancún Survey Guidebook, a frank and meticulously detailed guide to touring, eating, shopping and staying in Cancún. Substantial discounts off the $15.95 cover price are offered for bulk orders, and customized covers, with company names and logos, are available.

All-natural, Oaxacan-style chocolates from Motivos Prehispánicos showcase a variety of prehispanic art, such as the gods and goddesses of the Maya and Aztecs, formed right into the treats themselves. Decorative wooden gift boxes are available, with the option of imprinting company names and logos.

Meeting Hotels
Properties in Cancún include the 2,457-room Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort; 1,744-room Hotel Be Live Cancún; 687-room Gran Meliá Cancún; 602-room Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancún; 601-room Cancún Palace; 502-room Fiesta Americana Condesa Cancún; 500-room Great Parnassus Resort & Spa; 450-room CasaMagna Marriott Cancún Resort; 448-room JW Marriott Cancún Resort & Spa; 426-room Hilton Cancún Golf & Spa Resort; 419-room ME by Meliá Cancún Hotel and Resort; 379-room Westin Resort & Spa, Cancún; 376-room Dreams Cancún Resort & Spa; 371-room Aqua Cancún; 365-room Ritz-Carlton, Cancún; 343-room Omni Cancún Hotel & Villas; 311-room Cancún Caribe Park Royal Grand; 299-room Presidente InterContinental Cancún Resort; 295-room Hyatt Regency Cancún; 287-room Beach Palace Wyndham Grand Resort, and 213-room Le Méridien Cancún Resort & Spa.

Properties along the Riviera Maya include the 2,568-room Gran Bahia Principe Tulúm; 1,554-room Grand Palladium Riviera Resort & Spa; 1,492-room Grand Riviera & Sunset Princess; 1,266-room Aventura Spa Palace; 1,080-room Gran Bahia Principe Coba; 960-room Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya; 858-room Gran Bahia Principe Tulúm; 769-room Occidental Gran Flamenco Xcaret; 756-room Barceló Maya Palace Deluxe; 653-room El Dorado Royale & Spa Resort; 630-room Gran Bahia Principe Akumal; 627-room Barceló Maya Beach; 540-room Valentin Imperial Maya; 507-room Royal Playa del Carmen; 496-room Now Sapphire Riviera Cancún; 492-room Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort; 480-room Barceló Maya Colonial; 480-room Viva Wyndham Azteca; 438-room Azul Sensatori Hotel, by Karisma; 431-room Dreams Tulúm Resort & Spa; 412-room Secrets Maroma; 408-room Barceló Maya Caribe Beach, and 401-room Fairmont Mayakobá. See mcvenues.com for more area hotels.

Convention Centers
Cancún Center: Conventions and Exhibitions; exhibit space, approximately 152,852 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 37; (866) 891-7773; cancuncenter.com

Cancunmesse; exhibit space, 233,498 square feet indoor, 107,639 square feet outdoor (scheduled to expand to 645,835 square feet indoor/322,917 square feet outdoor in two years); (011) 52-998-209-1366; cancunmesse.com

Entry/Exit Requirements
All U.S. citizens must carry passports for any air travel to and from Mexico. When entering Mexico, travelers receive a tourist visa (FMT), which they must present upon departure. Fines apply for lost visas.

Airport Transit
Cancún International Airport, 20 to 30 minutes away from Cancún's Hotel Zone. One-way transfer cost by taxi to Cancún starts at $35; private service starts at $45; shuttle starts at $9. One-way transfer cost by taxi to Playa del Carmen, about $60; shuttle, about $23

Currency
Mexican peso (MXN). At press time, the exchange rate was 12.40 pesos to US$1.

Taxes
Hospitality tax, 3%; sales tax, 11%; total tax on hotel rooms, 14%. A VAT exemption, which eliminates sales tax, is available to congresses, conventions, fairs and expos held by foreign companies in Mexico. For details, visit cancun.travel.

Group Venue
A relative newcomer to Cancún's Hotel Zone dining scene, La Habichuela Sunset (011-52-998-
840-6240) nonetheless has an exceptional Cancún pedigree: It's the new outpost of the Pezzotti family's downtown restaurant, La Habichuela, a local favorite that has been serving up classic (and delicious) Mexican cuisine and Caribbean seafood dishes since 1977. The newer venue combines much of its older cousin's same cuisine -- about 30 to 40 percent of the two menus overlap -- with scenic views of the lagoon. La Habichuela Sunset can accommodate groups of up to 200 people and also offers a private dining room that can seat as many as 30. Three-course set menus are available for larger groups.

Incentives
The unique Cancún Underwater Museum (MUSA, for the Spanish Museo Subacuático de Arte; musacancun.com) will celebrate its official inauguration in December. Located in the waters surrounding Cancún, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc, the museum is the brainchild of British sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor, who sank the first three pieces last November. As of mid-October, aided by a team of local artists, the sculptor had sunk 380 incredible life-size sculptures of human forms; by opening day, the museum is slated to showcase 400 such works. The project has an ecological bent: to draw tourists away from the nearby natural reefs, thereby lessening human impact on the fragile ecosystem, while at the same time creating an artificial reef. Already, the first pieces immersed have revealed significant coral growth. Sculptures can easily be seen by diving, snorkeling or viewing from glass-bottomed boats. All tours must be accompanied by a registered guide (aquaworld.com.mx).