Las Ventanas 5 diamond resort Los Cabos

[Editor’s note: this 5-Diamond Resorts of Mexico post was updated in March of 2024.]

The AAA 5-Diamond Awards are, in most respects, the most exclusive listings out there for North American hotels and resorts. There’s a thorough vetting and inspection process the properties go through and a long checklist of amenities that need to be in place to qualify. Unlike a membership organization like Leading Hotels of the World, this is not a paid reservation system for hotels. The AAA inspectors are about as impartial as you can get.

If you’ve ever heard the phrase “true 5-star hotel,” the person is generally referring how easy it is for a hotel to be classified as “5-star,” especially by the local tourism board or hotel association. For these 5-diamond awards, however, in 2023 there are only 5 properties making the cut for all of Canada. There are only 5 for Hawaii. There are only 11 for all of the Caribbean, including just 2 in the popular Dominican Republic.

Mexico is a different story though when it comes to 5 diamond resorts, with several in each major beach resort area and several inland, with 33 in all. Each year that number goes up, not down: it was 24 the first time I put up this post.

We have detailed reviews of almost all the 5-diamond properties in Mexico. We’re not sure how the two Grand Luxxe timeshare properties got on this hotels list since you have to buy into their fractional ownership system unless you rent from an “owner” or through RCI. but we don’t make the rules. We did stay at their Riviera Maya property once as their guest and it was quite nice. (We never wrote about it though because they refused to give us any prices!)

We don’t have some of the Secrets chain ones covered because there are more discerning options nearby not aimed at the mass-market tourism crowd (like the Belmond Maroma or Waldorf-Astoria Cancun) and the Xcaret Hotel property “with eight theme parks” is aimed more at serving 1,000 guests (with 700 more rooms in the works) than pleasing the luxury travel crowd.

You do have to understand that the criteria for these rankings is based on an extensive list of required facilities and amenities, so it’s easier for a giant resort to qualify than a $1,000-per-night luxury boutique hotel where your service is customized.

Here’s who made the current AAA 5 Diamond List for 2024 in Mexico.

Cancun and Riviera Maya 5-Diamond Resorts

Cancun 5 diamond resort Le Blanc

Le Blanc Spa Resort
Casa de la Playa
Nizuc Resort and Spa Cancun
Zoetry Paraiso de la Bonita Riviera Maya
Fairmont Mayakoba
Grand Luxxe Riviera Maya
Grand Velas Riviera Maya
Rosewood Mayakoba
Banyan Tree Mayakoba
Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya
Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun
Secrets Moxche – Playa del Carmen
Unico 20 °N 87 °W Hotel Riviera Maya
Waldorf Astoria Cancun
Hotel Xcaret and Hotel Xcaret Arte

Puerto Vallarta to Punta Mita

Hotel Mousai
Grand Luxxe Riviera Nayarit
Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit
Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita
The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort

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Los Cabos 5-Diamond Resorts

5-diamond Los Cabos resort One&Only

Esperanza An Auberge Resort
Waldorf Astoria Resort at Pedregal
Grand Velas Los Cabos
Las Ventanas al Paraiso, A Rosewood Resort
Montage Los Cabos
One&Only Palmilla
Ritz-Carlton Reserve Zadun Los Cabos
Four Seasons at Costa Palmas (1.5 hours from San Jose del Cabo)

Mexico City 5-Diamond

Four Seasons Hotel Mexico City
St. Regis Mexico City

AAA 5 diamond hotels - Mexico City luxury Four Seasons

San Miguel de Allende

Rosewood San Miguel de Allende

AAA 5 Diamond hotelsChanges for the 5-Diamond Resorts in Mexico

After years of no additions, 5 more properties got the 5-diamond hotel nod for Mexico for 2023 and 3 more got bumped up for 2024. The new ones are all in Quintana Roo: La Casa de la Playa by Xcaret, Impression Moxché by Secrets, and Waldorf Astoria Cancun (actually south of the Cancun airport). Click those links for posts with video tours.

Sometimes new properties take a while to make the cut though: Rosewood San Miguel de Allende and St. Regis Mexico City had been open for years before they got recognized. It was much quicker for those new ones above, maybe because they set out to check off all the AAA five-diamond boxes upon opening. For existing hotels, sometimes they can drop off the list and then be added back when they make improvements.

As best we can tell, only one Mexico property dropped off the list the past two years. The Ritz-Carlton Cancun became Grand Hotel Cancun by Kempinski. They have been playing hide-and-seek with the media ever since and guest reports say it doesn’t match up to its past. That’s apparently what the inspectors thought too.

If you don’t see your favorite luxury resort on this list, keep in mind that inclusion is often a matter of “more is better” when it comes to amenities. Luxury properties like Royal Hideaway Playacar and can be at a disadvantage compared to newer openings if they don’t do massive renovations to check off all the right amenity boxes that a new build will include from the start. They could be excluded for not having a separate shower and tub, for not having a phone in the bathroom, for not providing 24-hour room service, etc. AAA tends to favor huge mass-market resorts more than boutique hotels unless they’ve really crammed in a lot of public areas and amenities.

An intimate boutique hotel with superlative service, like Hotel Esencia in the Riviera Maya, is not going to make the cut. A huge convention hotel may though, as long as all the rooms meet the checklist requirements and there are plenty of good restaurants and bars. See more explanations at the AAA newsroom site.

See more reviews of the best Mexico luxury hotels, including many smaller boutique properties with personal service.

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