Five years ago, my bride and I went to Cancun for our anniversary. We took a day trip to Isla Mujeres. She said then, the next time we fly into Cancun, she wanted to get a hotel at Isla Mujeres.

I am looking for recommendations for hotels, side trips of things to do from Ags who have stayed on the island. Mid September to mid October would be time frame.

I have seen three Aggie travel agents from time to time on this "Travel" thread. Recs from y'all are welcome as well.

Favorite hotels in Isla are Impressions Isla Mujeres and Almare Isla Mujeres. The arrival experience at both, via Catamaran is pretty fun and special. They run every two hours to and from Cancun. The waiting experience (if your flight doesn't perfectly align) is better with Almare since they use the dock at the renaissance whereas impressions has an outdoor lobby at a marina but both are fine. They have drinks and snacks available.

I'd pick Impressions if you want the hotel itself to be the whole experience, romantic, private, and wow-factor. The rooftop pool here is beautiful. Pick Almare if you want a beautiful luxury hotel but also want to get out and enjoy more of the island.

There is also a Zoetry property which is a smaller hotel but I'm pretty sure they're under construction.

Zama sushi is a must, one of my faves. Renting a golf cart and driving to Punta Sur is also good, weather dependent.

Happy to answer questions or help with the trip if you're looking for it.

What's your budget?

Privlige Auluxes

Look up the big thread from 2 years ago or so. Lots of good info.
Rent a golf cart and go have lunch at Kin Ha, then hang around their long pier and the beach. The waiters will bring you drinks to the water. Snorkle under the pier, lots of fish. Beautiful view. I don't remember it the food was good, but it was a great afternoon we spent there.

Thanks for the recs.
She loved Playa Norte & Playa Centro.
For that reason, the hotel would need to be in that area.
Privilege Aluxes & Mia Reef looked interesting.

Does Almare have a beach as large as Playa Norte?
The pics looked like it was less "beach" area.
Their website looks great.

Hoping for 3 or 4 nights.
Flying out of Hobby.
Trying to keep the price at $2000.

Almare beach is bigger and better than Impressions but it's not going to be like the ones on Playa Norte. I also think your money will go further at Aluxes or Mia Reef, Almare will likely be closer to $2500 for 4 nights, and Impressions may be double that.

Depending on when you are going, Hyatt doing a 4th night free offer....that covers Impressions for example

https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/offers/latin-america-free-night-offer.html

If you go in September, you might still be able to see some whale sharks.

Yes, she saw a clip from that snorkel/diving business. They showed swimming with the whale sharks. She's ready for that.

My problem is I do not see clearly at all without my glasses. Without glasses, I would only see blurry blobs moving. The diving mask might not fit tight enough to keep water out if I wore my glasses.

The whale shark trips are in my Top 3 of natural experiences. We've done it five times now. Dive masks should be tight enough for you to wear glasses. The only problem is jumping in the water from the boat and the potential for the glasses to shift on impact. You may have to adjust before looking around underwater, and by that time, they may have swam by. That's something you could mess around with at home before you book.

FYI: Whale sharks and mantas are much more active around a full moon. We went twice this year, both in July and August, around 2-4 days after a full moon and there were more animals than we could count. It was awesome. September is getting close to the end of the season but I think it's still technically part of the season.

The last few times we've been, we have stayed at Ixchel hotel. It's not AI but it's close to the "downtown" and it's right on Playa Norte. Lots of restaurants are a block away. The downside it can be busy and the downtown vendors really got on my nerves on the second trip. We've previously stayed down south in a private home and the atmosphere was much more relaxed. While I love the convenience and our room at Ixchel, I think I'll be staying on the other end of the island next time.

I haven't stayed this way, but there are a lot of vrbo options that are oceanfront with private pools that look decent.

Lots of great recommendations here. . I was just on the island about a month ago. Impressions Isla Mujeres is definitely my personal favorite on the island and tends to be a favorite of clients. If you are not working with another travel advisor, my contact info is in my bio. I have a particular Butler that I would definitely recommend at this property for you guys. Also I wanted to also share some of my personal photos from the island.

Feel free to email me if you'd like. We've been 25+ times since 2015. We will be there in early October as well. My email is:

username@live.com

I just realized I put the wrong email originally. It's @live.com

We stay at either NautiBeach or Ixchel. We've been going there a long time and those are just our go to. Both on north beach.