Where to stay in Cancun
Cancun, the right part of town.
Beach towers on a strip of sand, a real town across the lagoon, and two smaller resort towns down the coast. Where you sleep decides your trip.
Both open in a new tab. Rates, dates and reviews are there.
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Where visitors stay in Cancun
Cancun's hotels sit on a 14-mile sandbar, the Hotel Zone, with the Caribbean on one side and the lagoon on the other. Downtown is the working city with the food and the bus station. Playa del Carmen, 45 minutes south, is a beach town you can walk; Tulum, two hours south, is boutique hotels on the jungle edge. Airport transfers reach all four.
01
Hotel Zone
The classic strip: big beach resorts, many all-inclusive, with the nightlife clustered at Punta Cancun. The sand on the east-facing stretch is the wide one.
Suits: First visits, families, all-inclusive
02
Downtown Cancun
Smaller hotels and guesthouses at a fraction of the beach price, a bus ride from the sand, next to the markets and the taco stands.
Suits: Budgets, longer stays, food
03
Playa del Carmen
A walkable beach town with Fifth Avenue's restaurants and the ferry to Cozumel. Hotels from hostels to beachfront, 45 minutes from the airport.
Suits: Couples, walkers, Cozumel divers
04
Tulum
Boutique hotels on the beach road and cheaper rooms in the town two miles inland. Quiet, pricey on the sand, and two hours from the airport.
Suits: Couples, design hotels, slow days
Hotel links open Expedia in a new tab. All Travel Fun earns a commission on bookings made through them; it does not change what you pay. Distances and times above are approximate.
Good to know
- Look at the map before the pool
- Hotel Zone addresses run by kilometre marker. Km 9 to 12 is the party end; km 14 to 20 is quieter with the wider beach. The lagoon side has no beach at all.
- Sargassum has a season
- Seaweed washes up most heavily from roughly April to August and resorts rake it daily. North-facing beaches near Punta Cancun and Isla Mujeres get less of it.
Once the room is booked
- Things to do in Cancun: the day trips and tours worth booking before you land.
- All-inclusive resorts in Cancun and the Riviera Maya: what the package covers and which zone suits whom.
- Mexico and Central America Flights by Phone: more trips in the region.
Questions before you book
Hotel Zone or Playa del Carmen?
The Hotel Zone has the big resorts, the wide beach and the shortest transfer. Playa del Carmen is a town you can walk around in the evening, with smaller hotels and the ferry to Cozumel. Many people split the trip.
How far ahead should I book?
For Christmas, spring break and Easter, months ahead; the rest of the year, a few weeks is fine. Each listing on Expedia shows live rates and the cancellation terms.
How do I book a hotel from this page?
Each "See hotels" button opens Expedia's hotel search for that part of Cancun, with live rates, photos, reviews and the cancellation terms. You book and pay there. All Travel Fun earns a commission on bookings made through those links; it does not change what you pay.
Can your agents book the hotel over the phone?
Our agents book flights. Call to price the flight to Cancun; book the room on Expedia once your dates are fixed.
Where to stay elsewhere in Mexico
Flying to Cancun?
One call, every airline on the route, the total with bags and seats before you decide. Nothing is charged until you say yes.
Toll-free. No obligation.