Trip GrapevineTop places, picked by travellers

Cancun · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Mexico

Sofia Marchetti

Sofia Marchetti Italy

Updated 1 September 2026 · 36 Cancun hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Cancun, out of the 36 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.5 down to 4.4.

All five are inside 1.5 km of Mexico, so you can walk it.

Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort

Highest rated of the five

Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort

★★★★★4.5 from 4,412 reviews

Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.5 from 4,412 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 5 star property, found under poi and around $352 a night on the dates we checked.

36 hotels in Cancun qualified for this list and five made it. Hotel 28 Cancún is the one I would book if the first is full.

Why it works for this trip

  • Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
  • Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
  • Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
  • Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
  • Bara drink without going back out

Check rates Read more

All five, ranked

  1. Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort1

    Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort

    ★★★★★4.5 from 4,412 reviews

    1.1 km from Mexico, about a 14 minute walk

    • Pool
    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking

    Check rates Read more

  2. Hotel 28 Cancún2

    Hotel 28 Cancún

    ★★★★★4.9 from 64 reviews

    300 m from Mexico, about a 4 minute walk

    • Pool
    • Bar
    • Parking
    • Kitchen
    • Air conditioning
    • Airport shuttle

    Check rates Read more

  3. Los Girasoles3

    Los Girasoles

    ★★★★★4.4 from 850 reviews

    600 m from Mexico, about a 8 minute walk

    • Restaurant
    • Parking
    • Kid friendly
    • Air conditioning

    Check rates Read more

  4. Grand City Hotel4

    Grand City Hotel

    ★★★★★4.5 from 434 reviews

    900 m from Mexico, about a 11 minute walk

    • Pool
    • Restaurant
    • Parking
    • Kitchen
    • Kid friendly
    • Air conditioning

    Check rates Read more

  5. Hotel Adhara Cancún5

    Hotel Adhara Cancún

    ★★★★★4.4 from 3,774 reviews

    1.5 km from Mexico, about a 19 minute walk

    • Pool
    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking

    Check rates Read more

How this list was put together

36 Cancun hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Mexico second, then took the top five.

Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

Sofia Marchetti

Sofia Marchetti Italy

Refuses to fly anywhere reachable by rail. Four sleeper-train crossings of Europe, a collection of old transit maps, and building sketches drawn from carriage windows.

Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.