The Reef 28 Hotel & Spa – Luxury Adults Only – All Suites
The Reef 28 is not a traditional all-inclusive beach resort and should not be judged as one. It is a boutique, adults-only hotel of about 120 suites at 1st Avenue and Calle 28 in the middle of Playa del Carmen, closer in spirit to a design hotel with an optional all-inclusive plan than to the big beach compounds of Cancun or the Riviera Maya. Its assets are location and intimacy: 5th Avenue is steps away, the public beach at Mamitas is one block down the street, and the rooftop infinity pool looks straight out over the Caribbean. The people who love it treat Playa del Carmen as the destination and the hotel as a stylish base, not a campus to hide inside for a week.
Traveler Insights
Pros
- +All-suite layout: the resort's rooms page lists 104 Deluxe Junior Suites (about 45 square meters, king or two queens, sofa bed, microwave, coffee maker, rain shower) and 16 Master Suites (about 100 square meters with two bathrooms, an in-room jacuzzi for two and a separate living and dining room)
- +One block from the sand at 1st Avenue and Calle 28, steps from 5th Avenue and Mamitas Beach Club, which makes it one of the best-placed adults-only hotels in downtown Playa del Carmen
- +Rooftop 28 has an infinity pool and jacuzzi looking out over the Caribbean and the city, with a full bar, food service and music from mid-morning until 11pm, and the sunsets up there are the photo everyone takes home
- +Optional all-inclusive: you can book room-only, bed-and-breakfast or the all-inclusive package, so guests who plan to eat their way down 5th Avenue are not paying for meals they will skip
- +Boutique size of about 120 suites means staff learn your name and your drink order in a way that 500-room resorts structurally cannot, and guests single out rooftop and restaurant servers by name again and again
- +Okom Spa runs a hydrotherapy circuit and sauna alongside massages, facials, body scrubs and wraps, and the resort lists a free circuit visit once per stay on all-inclusive packages booked direct
- +A real gym with a personal trainer on site and yoga classes Monday through Saturday, which is more fitness than most downtown hotels bother with
- +For a fee you can spend beach days at the two beachfront sister hotels, The Reef Coco Beach (home of the oceanfront Fragata Beach Club) and The Reef Playacar, so you are not stuck with only the public beach
Cons
- −There is no beach at the hotel itself: you walk a block to the public sand at Mamitas, or pay for access to a sister hotel's beach, and neither feels like stepping off your terrace onto a private resort beach
- −The rooftop pool is small for a 120-suite hotel and loungers go early on busy days, and outside guests can buy their way up with a food-and-drink minimum, which adds to the crowd
- −Music on the rooftop runs loud and leans electronic for much of the day, so anyone after a calm pool will find it closer to a bar scene than a retreat
- −The specialty restaurants rotate: Asiático has opened only Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and the buffet's Italian dinner menu runs on the other nights, so a short stay may not cover every option and groups of five or more must reserve
- −All three restaurants and the bars are open to non-guests, and some all-inclusive menus carry upgrade items at extra cost, so ask at check-in exactly what your plan covers to avoid surprise charges
- −Downtown location means street and nightlife noise reaches some rooms: request a higher floor or an interior-facing suite if you sleep light
- −Without a private beach or a large pool complex, the price can feel high next to similarly priced beachfront resorts down the Riviera Maya corridor
The suites are the strong suit. Junior suites run about 45 square meters with a sofa bed, microwave, coffee maker and rain shower, and the 16 Master Suites double that with two bathrooms and a jacuzzi for two. Okom Spa adds a hydrotherapy circuit and sauna to the usual massages and facials, and there is a proper gym with a trainer plus yoga most days. Dining is Cachito for modern Mexican, Asiático for Asian on set nights and the Veinti8cho buffet, which switches to an Italian dinner menu on the other nights, with a lobby bar, Bar Capricho and the rooftop on top. The rooftop is the divisive part: the view is spectacular, but the pool is small, the music is loud and outside guests can pay to come up. For a beach day you either walk to the public sand or pay for access to the beachfront sister hotels, The Reef Coco Beach with its Fragata Beach Club and The Reef Playacar.
The Reef 28 suits couples and friend groups from their late 20s to their 40s who want Playa del Carmen as their base: cenotes, the Tulum ruins, Xcaret about 15 minutes away, beach clubs and the independent restaurants along 5th Avenue. It competes with Unico 20°87° in the boutique adults-only space, though Unico sits right on a beach. Travelers who want a private beach, a big pool with plenty of chairs and no reason to leave the property will be happier at a corridor resort such as Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun.
Common Questions
Is the all-inclusive package mandatory at The Reef 28?
How far is the beach, and can I use a resort beach?
What is the rooftop pool experience actually like?
What are the suites like?
How do the restaurants and reservations work?
What day trips and diving are easy from the hotel?
Restaurants (4)
| Type | Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Buffet | Veinti8cho |
| Mexican | Cachito |
| Italian | Italiano |
| Asian | Asiático |
From the resort's own dining pages. Only restaurants the resort lists are shown.
What's nearby
15 min drive · 7.0 mi
6 min drive · 1.4 mi
25 min drive · 16 mi
Playa Mamitas4 min walk · 0.2 mi
11 min drive · 6.0 mi
Xcalacoco Beach11 min drive · 4.8 mi
More things to do (21)
- Xenses · adventure park13 min drive · 6.1 mi
- Cenote Azul · cenote25 min drive · 16 mi
- Playa 88 · beach7 min drive · 1.9 mi
- Cenote Cristalino · cenote25 min drive · 16 mi
- Punta Esmeralda Beach · beach14 min drive · 2.5 mi
- Puerto Aventuras Marina · marina25 min drive · 15 mi
- Jardín del Edén Cenote · cenote30 min drive · 17 mi
- Cenote Chikin-Ha · cenote30 min drive · 17 mi
- Museo del Chocolate · museum8 min walk · 0.4 mi
- Frida Kahlo Museum Playa del Carmen · museum4 min drive · 0.8 mi
- Playa del Carmen Fifth Avenue · town4 min drive · 0.8 mi
- Voladores de Papantla (Parque Fundadores) · historic site5 min drive · 1.1 mi
- Parque La Ceiba · nature6 min drive · 1.9 mi
- Xplor · adventure park12 min drive · 6.5 mi
- El Camaleón Golf Course · golf14 min drive · 5.9 mi
- Cenote Chaak Tun · cenote14 min drive · 4.5 mi
- Delphinus Riviera Maya · adventure park20 min drive · 7.2 mi
- Playa Maroma · beach25 min drive · 12 mi
- Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club · golf25 min drive · 13 mi
- Puerto Aventuras Golf Course · golf30 min drive · 16 mi
- Cenote Chac Mool · cenote35 min drive · 16 mi
Amenities
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Style & Rooms
Atmosphere
Seaweed & sargassum
Playa del Carmen gets sargassum, typically worst May through August.See the month-by-month guide →Google Reviews★ 4.4 · 3,467 reviews
“We are members and have been coming to this resort since 2019. The rooms are spacious and very clean. The food is far better than a typical buffet-style resort, as everything is à la carte except breakfast, which is phenomenal. The service overall is...”
“We stayed at Reef 28 on December 15th for my birthday trip, and once again, it was an incredible experience. We’ve been visiting for several years in a row, and every single time, the service is exceptional. The staff is consistently polite, attentiv...”
“We thought the Reef 28 Hotel was amazing! Staff were super friendly and patient. They knew it was our honeymoon and made it feel special. We ended up getting to know some of the staff by names. The rooftop was really good too, with a great view and f...”
