Desire Pearl Riviera Maya Resort

The day-to-day rhythm revolves around the pool by day and the Jacuzzi Lounge and theme nights after dark. Dining runs across an all-day seafront restaurant with buffet and a la carte service and wood-fired pizza, a Mediterranean fusion dinner room, an Asian venue serving sushi, Thai dishes and teppanyaki, and a coffee corner for pastries and sandwiches. The lobby lounge bar is open around the clock, an oceanfront pool bar works the morning and afternoon, and the nightclub opens after the show with the playroom next door. Rooms range from Junior Suites and Ocean View rooms up to Master Suites with a plunge pool on the balcony and the two-level Penthouse Passion Suite with its own kitchen and rooftop plunge pool. The Desire Mansion wing layers butler service, premium liquor and Mansion dining onto suites with terrace jacuzzis or direct swim-up access. Recurring complaints are the beach and some dated corners, not the service.

Desire Pearl suits couples who want a polished clothing-optional escape, couples dipping a toe into the lifestyle scene in a lower-pressure setting, and experienced lifestyle travelers who still want good rooms and real cocktails. Traveler forums consistently describe it as the more intimate, romantic and mellow of the two Desire resorts in the area, compared with the busier Desire Riviera Maya a short drive away, and as more refined and less chaotic than Hedonism II in Jamaica. Pearl guests can buy a day pass to the sister resort. Outside the gates, the Puerto Morelos reef offers some of the best snorkeling on this coast, and Playa del Carmen's Fifth Avenue is about half an hour south.