A Perfect Storm for Cancun Renovation
 Jay Clarke - McClatchy Newspapers
| | Tourists crowd the main shopping street in Playa del Carmen. Along with Cancun and Cozumel, it's seeing a lot of building and rebuilding. (Marjie Lambert/MCT) |
Check into a Cancun hotel and you may think it's a brand-new establishment. That's because many hotels in the Mexican resort area that were battered by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 not only repaired their damage but also took the opportunity to refurbish and upgrade their entire properties.
Take Me by Melia, for instance. Pre-Wilma, it was the Melia Turquesa, an all-inclusive resort that catered to families. Today, after a $30-million reconstruction, it is a hip hotel with amenities intended to lure jet-setters.
After a $15-million renovation, the former Club Las Velas is now the Elan Resort and Spa, a colonial-themed, upscale all-inclusive. The Ritz Carlton, closed 11 months for renovation, added a popular culinary center when it rebuilt. The Beach Palace, which was destroyed, was completely rebuilt.
The completely new adult-only all-suite Royal, which opened in February, offers use of a Mini-Cooper car, double Jacuzzis in each room, and a "magic box" for discreet 24-hour room service delivery. Another new adult-only hotel, the Great Parnassus, has 10 restaurants and eight bars.
All told, Cancun hotel capacity today is close to what it was before Wilma -- and certainly a lot fresher.
This month, Cancun opens the first Mexican resort-based swim-with-dolphins attraction, the Delphinus, at the Dreams Cancun Resort and Spa.
The island of Cozumel, also hard-hit by Wilma, is happily greeting new nonstop American Eagle flights from Miami. Its port sees more cruise ship passengers than any other in the Caribbean.
But the greatest growth along Mexico's Caribbean coast is the 81-mile stretch known as the Riviera Maya, which starts 11 miles south of the Cancun airport. This coast, which received only a glancing blow from the hurricane, now has more hotel rooms than Cancun -- 30,705 in 2006 compared to Cancun's 25,000.
Eleven golf courses are being built, new upscale hotels are rising, an anti-aging center has opened and the government plans to build a new international airport in Playa del Carmen. Earlier this year, the Riviera Maya played host to the first regular PGA event ever held in Mexico.
Playa del Carmen, a quiet fishing village a few years ago, has rapidly expanded into a bustling shopping and hotel destination. Attractions like the Maya ruins of Tulum, the Xel-Ha lagoon and eco theme park Xcaret are getting more and more visitors.
But the Riviera Maya's main appeal is to those who prefer its laid-back ambience to Cancun's party atmosphere. |
Vallarta Weddings
Travel & Outdoors | May 2007 
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