When I was first invited to stay at the Westin Lagunmar Ocean Resort Villas & Spa in Cancún, the idea that I would be traveling solo with a small group of travel writers and journalists was a huge selling point. “Hey there, busy working mom! Do you want to check out a villa on a stunning beach in the Yucatán?” I mean... I feel like this hardly counts as a question, right? This was not only going to be my first trip to Mexico, but my first trip without my husband and two children, 12 and 9, in years. And you know what they say about moms vacationing, right? They don’t. They just go be a mom somewhere else.
Sure, those trips are fun but they’re not relaxing. But within minutes of my arrival, I saw them, and throughout my stay they taunted me: the kind of family who comes with the picture frame before you put in your own photo. A mom, dad, son, and daughter; conventionally attractive and always smiling. I never actually spoke to them but I somehow saw them everywhere. Frolicking in the crystal clear ocean, steps from the infinity pool; tossing around a football; lounging in hammocks; gathering around a sea turtle hatchery on the beach. They were having the time of their lives, genuinely enjoying one another’s company. Seeing this beautiful, carefree group at every turn, all I could think was, “I wish my family were here.”
Alas. I was on my own: doomed to lounge on a beach, eat tacos, and drink margaritas at the swim-up bar all my myself. Truly, God gives his hardest battles to his strongest warriors…
Here’s what travelers, especially family travelers, should know about the various amenities and logistics of vacationing at Westin Lagunamar.
Location
Fortunately for me, my relaxing getaway could start very shortly after getting off the plane: Westin Lagunamar is a 20 minute drive from the airport, located on a narrow strip of land between the Caribbean sea and the Nichupté Lagoon that serves as the city’s main hub of hotels and resorts, restaurants, and an absolutely massive luxury mall called La Isla.
As I walked into the impressive all-glass lobby of the resort, I gazed past the reception desk to the turquoise-cerulean waves of the Caribbean visible beyond, perhaps, the largest infinity pool I’ve ever seen. Immediately, greedily, I began to pray for an ocean-view room, because if the view was this beautiful from down on the ground I couldn’t imagine what it would be from a few floors up. Luckily for me, every room at Lagunamar is an ocean-view room though, to be honest “room” is sort of underselling it.
The Villa
I was led by a friendly staff member (a recurring theme) to a villa that was bigger and much, much nicer than my first apartment. The exterior wall is entirely windows, offering a sun-soaked view of the pools and ocean. There was a full kitchen, complete with all the cookware and utensils I could possibly need to make a full dinner if I wanted (I did not want to, but the option, especially with an on-site marketplace, Tierra, was nice).
On the large dining room table in the spacious living room area, the staff had left an assortment of goodies — delicious Mayan-inspired snacks, fruit, wine. After hours of running on little more than overpriced airport coffee, I was delighted, and also almost touched, because OMG someone is thinking about the fact that I might be hungry and want snacks. Normally I’m the one with a small canteen in my purse on vacation just in case one of my kids gets hangry.
Separated by handsome pocket doors was the bedroom. Normally, my husband and I share a queen bed. For this trip I’d have a king all to myself, to say nothing of the absolutely massive bathroom, complete with a luxurious shower and massive jacuzzi tub. Push open a pocket door beside the tub and you get a view of the ocean via the bedroom. For those of you keeping track, this means that unless you’re in the shower or on the toilet, anywhere in the villa offers a stunning view of the ocean. And about that view…
The Vacation Club
As excited as I was to have this space entirely to myself, I found myself looking around with mom eyes, because this space would make vacationing with kids so. damn. easy. Kids, even big kids like mine, need breaks sometimes. Here, it would be easy for them to head up to the room for some downtime. I imagined my son lounging on his iPad after paddling around the pool, or my daughter grabbing lunch after tiring herself out at the beach. I thought of them when they were littler and needed (needed) afternoon naps: I could just bring them up to the room for a few hours and tuck them in while I read a book on the balcony, perhaps while I threw in a load of laundry (yes, the villas are equipped with a washer and dryer).
Of course, I also knew this from experience.
The Westin Lagunamar is part of the The Marriott Vacation Clubs, which comprises the Marriott Vacation Club®, Sheraton® Vacation Club, and Westin® Vacation Club and it just so happens that my parents have been “owners” for about 15 years. Of the more than 90 domestic and international properties in their portfolio, I’ve stayed in at least four, from South Carolina to Southern Spain. Most of those trips have included my children and I have to say: the ability to have (ostensibly) a fully furnished apartment has ruined me for regular hotels for the rest of my life. It’s become a (privileged) must. Prior to kids, I never quite understood the appeal of timeshares. As a mom? Absolutely I do, especially a timeshare system that allows you to travel to a wide variety of locations.
Of course, if you’re not quite ready to go in for a timeshare, Lagunamar is still open to non-members and can be booked as you would a typical hotel.
The Amenities
While it is possible to do nothing but lounge by the pool or on the beach all day, for the more ambitious vacationers the resort offers a robust daily schedule of activities ranging from trivia games to BINGO to water aerobics. The Westin Kids Club is an adorable space where vacationers traveling with kids between the ages of 4 to 12 can drop them to make crafts indoors, play out on the shaded playground, or even kick back with some video games or a movie with other vacationers their age.
I happily enjoyed an outdoor yoga class beneath palm trees and the opportunity to feed the local iguanas, which, yes, was technically an activity meant for children, but it was my still my favorite and I regret nothing. That said, my most favorite activities were more passive…
The Pools
There are no fewer than three, extremely large pools at the resort and I made some excellent memories in all of them. One has a swim-up bar — so I made sure to practice saying “Una margarita, por favor,” in my best “I took French in high school” Spanish since the plane. Another has a waterslide. Of all the things I got to do while I was in Mexico, this was probably what my kids were most jealous of and, honestly, I don’t blame them.
Surrounding the pools were hundreds of lounge chairs. Even at 95% capacity (which is standard for the resort) I never felt like I was in a crowd and I never lacked a great location to sit and read. This went double for…
The Beach
… which one of my travel companions who’d been to Cancún more times than she could count told me was the nicest she’d seen. With over a hundred chairs and umbrellas, I always had a place by the water to hunker down with a book, which I’ll admit was my second favorite thing to do. My favorite thing to do on the beach was use the various QR codes located on the umbrellas to order tacos, guacamole, and (you guessed it) more margaritas, delivered promptly by friendly staff.
I repeat: you just click a few buttons and someone brings you tacos and guacamole on a stunning beach. I did this… kind of a lot.
Heavenly Spa
I’ve enjoyed many a massage on vacation (#blessed), so when I tell you this was the most soothing and relaxing massage of my life, please understand that I mean my masseuse is clearly a powerful witch who uses her powers for good. Between the incredibly talented and welcoming staff, calm atmosphere, and heavenly aromas: have I thought about returning to Lagunamar just for this? Every day.
A Literal 13th Century Mayan Temple
The Templo del Alacrán is not technically part of the resort, but the resort was effectively built around it. Located on a bluff overlooking the ocean, the ruins are accessible via a steep, rocky set of stairs. Being in the presence of this site feels like a privilege, especially since it is guarded by vicious attack iguanas. (OK, they’re not vicious and they don’t attack, but a whole bunch of big iguanas do live there and I liked to think of them as the temple’s guardians.) At least once a day, I would venture up to this beautiful, sacred spot and just breathe it all in.
The Food
Other than lazing on a pristine beach with tacos and booze, dinner was my favorite part of every day. (Which makes sense: in 2023, Lagunamar was included in Food & Wine’s Global Tastemakers reader’s choice awards.) Executive Chef Angel Ibarra prepares meals thousands of guests a year, but still clearly gets excited about feeding people. Each night at dinner, I noted a barely repressed smile as he explained each course. A mixologist and a sommelier were always on hand to pair every bite with the perfect beverage, proving that not all heroes wear capes.
The first night we were treated to the resort’s most popular themed meals: Maya night. While normally held on the beach, the strong winds necessitated a move to a secluded area by the pool, where we enjoyed Mayan language music and dancing, before moving to the poolside restaurant Viento for more food than I possibly could have finished, but damned if I didn’t give it my all. (My favorite, and it was hard to pick, was the cochinita pibil, a slow-roasted pork dish.) We were also treated to a seven-course meal at Oceano, which involved a decadent surf and turf and table-side alchemy involving liquid nitrogen. (Try as I may, I couldn’t pick a favorite that evening.)
The TL;DR
Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort Villas & Spa, which is part of the The Marriott Vacation Clubs, is a gorgeous, ocean-side resort conveniently located minutes from the airport in Cancùn. The combination of natural beauty, impressive amenities, and unbelievable food make this an ideal vacation spot for families. But it’s also a delightful recharge spot for moms...
...who also want to go on the waterslide.
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