RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico — The Rosewood Mayakoba is a unique resort that offers both intimacy befitting couples on honeymoon, and a setting that caters to families and large groups.

The resort is one of three independently operated properties on the Mayakoba development site, where 1,600 acres of mangroves and lagoons abut several miles white sand beaches between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. (For a slideshow of the property, click here or on the photos.)

The first hotel to open here was the Fairmont in 2006, followed by the Rosewood in 2008 and the Banyan Tree in 2009. The development was designed to respect and preserve the natural setting, and the properties were developed embracing ecologically sound practices.

Such a base was well-suited to the Rosewood brand, which attempts with each of its properties to convey a sense of place with respect to where it is in the world.

The Rosewood Mayakoba’s 128 luxurious suites are built over several islands and a beachfront. The resort is connected by bridges and pathways where golf carts transport guests from the beach to an island spa to two restaurants, a tequila bar with a tapas menu, a game room, and three pools.

Most distances here are also very walkable, and guests can rent bikes for $5 per day.

The resort’s design embraces the Mayan roots of the Yucatan Peninsula; its open-air, check-in area is built with the same stone made famous at nearby archaeological sites, and is designed to resemble a cenote, the groundwater holes fed by the Yucatan’s extensive system of underground rivers that were sacred to Mayans.

The resort’s unique design, on small islands naturally formed in the lagoon’s waterways, allows most guests to check in via boat (only beachfront suites don’t face the lagoons).

The boat delivers the guests to a private dock that leads past the individual plunge pool each suite here has. The suites are actually two-story, private villas, with a modern design that also incorporates local stone and wood materials.

In addition to the plunge pools, each suite has an oversized indoor soaking tub and bathrooms that lead out to a private outdoor shower and a staircase up to a rooftop sunbathing area.

Most suites overlook the lagoon’s waterways and offer a decent degree of privacy from the other docks. The largest accommodations are the 18 overwater suites that float out over the water’s edge where the lagoon widens out.

Near the beach, several suites have both ocean views and a dock leading to the lagoon, while the 18 beachfront suites give guests direct access to the sand.

The resort’s spa, Sense, is situated on its own island surrounding a natural cenote. Twelve stand-alone treatment cabanas are scattered among the trees, making each feel as if it stands alone in the Yucatan jungle.

Spa island has eight suites where guests enjoy their own private treatment rooms, and a no-children environment.

Children are welcome everywhere else at Rosewood, and the property has indeed become popular among families. The beachfront pool is popular with families, and the Rosebuds Children's Program offers a supervised, complimentary kids program, which includes eco-tours on a boat with Rosewood’s full-time biologist who points out turtles, crocodiles and birds on a boat ride through the lagoon and mangroves that teaches the children about conservation.

Rosewood Mayakoba has two restaurants and a tequila bar, Agave Azul that serves antojitos, or small plates with items such as ceviche and empanadas, and hosts informative tequila tastings.

The casual, beachfront eatery Punta Bonita offers creative Mexican cuisine such as lobster tacos and tlayudas, Oaxacan-style “pizza” made with tortillas.

Casa Del Lago is by evening a more upscale, elegant dining experience overlooking the main pool and lagoon, and in the morning the bustling site of the extensive breakfast buffet.

The Rosewood is one of the few European Plan hotels in the region. Last summer, it implemented a meal plan that about 15% of guests purchase, starting at $90 per day for adults and $45 for children.

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