Alex, Jess, and I had planned to meet in Houston in December for a THM retreat to discuss upcoming plans and goals for 2023. We had always talked about going somewhere fun together when we hit a designated goal. That happened sooner than we thought (nice, huh?), so we changed our plans to a Cancun retreat on points and miles. We love the Hyatt Ziva but wanted to try the Hyatt Andaz Mayakoba for a change and compare the two. Here is our Andaz Mayakoba retreat on points and miles:

 

Flights

Each of us found nonstop flights from where we lived. Alex flew Delta, Jess flew United, and I flew United. It is easy to find award flights from each destination with points/miles to Cancun. Jess and I then upgraded to first class with cash. My upgrade was covered by a $300 incidental credit from my Ritz Carlton card.

Here are flights on United:

 

 

I started my day, as did Jess, in an American Express Centurion Lounge, thanks to the American Express Platinum card. She was in Houston, though, and I was in Denver. We each enjoyed a nice breakfast, and both got local chocolates because they were celebrating small business week.

 

Hotel

We were excited about staying at the Hyatt Andaz Mayakoba – it has a great reputation, and none of us had gone to it yet. Jess had a Suite Night Award, so we were upgraded! You can use World of Hyatt points from the Hyatt cards to stay here or any card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards and transfer to Hyatt. In total, we spent 25K points per night points for our stay. We earned  our points through these cards primarily:

 

 

 

 

On arrival, we were greeted with cool washcloths and popsicles! What a unique and fun welcome treat! The resort is large, so we were taken by a shuttle to our room. It was massive! A huge living area (where we had a rollaway put for the snorer in the group 🙋🏻‍♀️), a large bathroom with a separate room for the toilet and an extra sink, a walk-in closet, and a large bedroom area. We had two terraces that overlooked a waterway and our own heated plunge pool!

 

The Andaz brand of Hyatt provides a free mini-bar of water and sodas and four packages of treats, including peanuts, chocolate raisins, gummy bears, and mixed seeds that were replenished daily. This is a nice feature in Mexico because not buying bottled water is a huge perk.

 

Restaurants

On the first night, we went to Pinto, which serves Mexican food. We had some guacamole and chips to start (of course!). Each of us ordered fish tacos, which were so, so good. It came with three for each order, and we could barely eat two. Lesson earned: Order two orders for three people!

Breakfast for Globalists (that’s us!!!🎉) was at the Cocina Milagra. It was a massive buffet consisting of an egg and omelet station, a quesadilla station, delicious pastries and bread, a fabulous fruit assortment, traditional Mexican hot dishes, and much more. We looked forward to breakfast every day!

On our second night, we went to Sotavento for dinner. It is located right on the beach and has delicious food, live music, and a cool vibe. We loved the decor, and the service was top-notch. It is a seafood restaurant, and we can vouch that the lobster, catch of the day, and salmon were very tasty.

 

Off-site Restaurants

There are several other hotels near Andaz Mayakoba with great restaurants. The Andaz provides a free shuttle to any of them, so we went to the Banyan Tree (absolutely gorgeous!) for our next two meals.

Cello at the Banyan Tree was Italian, and it overlooked a lagoon that connects all the properties. The restaurant had delicious food and the most magnificent decor and view – one of the best I’ve ever seen! And the birds! The sounds were off the charts amazing. Truly a magical dinner with impeccable service!

We loved it so much that we returned to Saffron, a Thai restaurant, the next day. I’m not the best ethnic eater, but I saw a couple of options that would work for me. And surprise! It ended up being my favorite meal – delicious!

 

Activities

There is a daily list of resort activities that one can do, including a 60-minute eco-boat ride, hat painting, taco, and salsa classes, making facial massages, children’s art and painting activities, ceviche classes, margarita demonstration, making the perfect guacamole and many more. Some are free, and some have a fee attached.

 

 

 

 

There are also bicycles all around the resort that you pick up and ride if you want to explore. The shuttles run every 10 minutes near the different buildings to take you to the restaurants, pools, and the beach.

 

 

A fitness center and Naum spa are located on the premises.  We took advantage of the spa facilities, and each had a 90-minute massage. Heaven! One of the things that I love about traveling on points and miles is that I feel like I can spend more on food and massages because the entire trip is so cheap. So a Cancun retreat on points and miles had to include spa treatments!

 

Bottom Line

Our Andaz Mayakoba retreat on points and miles was a huge success! Great food, sun, and laughing together, all while setting goals for the next year, made it a trip to remember. We highly recommend the hotel and area for your next points and miles adventure!