Time together as a couple before deployment or following deployment is important. A romantic couples vacation at Haven Riviera Resort Cancun Resort & Spa in Riviera Maya, Mexico is exactly what military couples need to reconnect and recharge for pre-deployment or post-deployment leave. Haven Riviera Resort Cancun is a newly-opened all-inclusive adults-only resort. Boasting a small and intimate setting, this resort is not your typical spring break-style resort. It is laid back, quiet, and relaxing, allowing you and your service member to enjoy that time together that is so important for a military marriage to flourish. Best of all, it is located just 15 minutes from Cancun International Airport, making it an easily accessible location for weekend trips or longer vacations.
Pre-Deployment or Post-Deployment Leave in Mexico
As a military family, your first thought might be “Can we even go to Mexico?” The short answer is yes. The long answer, as with many military initiatives is that it is up to your command. There are certain areas in Mexico that are off-limits to federal employees but large resort areas are often given the green light. Service members will have to put in a Foreign Leave Packet with their command for approval. They will also have to register with the United States Embassy, giving the exact address of the hotel you will be staying at and exact dates of travel.
There are special considerations to take while traveling to Mexico as a service member, with safety being paramount. With the recent string of deaths in the Dominican Republic, many are hesitant to venture to resort areas like Mexico. In general, however resorts themselves are safe if you are smart:
- Don’t drink the water- Even in the resorts, the water might not be clean. Stick with bottled water.
- Don’t be moto- Leave the cami backpacks with your nametape at home.
- Stay on the resort- Unless you are going on a large tour group, it is best to spend most of your time at the resort.
Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa: A Quiet, Romantic Couple’s Getaway
When people think about vacationing at one of Cancun’s ever-popular all-inclusive resorts, they think of a loud party-style resort filled with loud music and gaggles of kids. However, at Haven Riviera Resorts, you won’t find any of that- here you will be able to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing vacation to connect before your service member deploys or reconnect after they return.
Haven Riviera Cancun Resort is only open to adults 18 years and older. There are no poolside games, loud music, or extravagant events, meaning it is quiet and relaxing. Staff at the resort are friendly and accommodating, and they will do whatever they can to ensure that you have a positive and friendly experience. During the day you will be able to relax by one of their two pools, both with a swim-up bar, take on one of the daily activities like kayaking, yoga on the beach, or even ping pong tournaments with other guests, or enjoy a couple’s massage with a relaxing hydrotherapy at MySenses, the resort’s full-service, 17,000 sq. ft. spa
Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa is perfect for a couple’s getaway for pre-deployment or post-deployment leave. They cater to your experience together as a couple– from couple’s massages to pool and beach cabanas for two, Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa creates a relaxing atmosphere for you to reconnect with your partner.
Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa: Lodging, Food, and Amenities
Lodging at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort
Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa is an intimate all-inclusive small resort offering a purposefully small selection of of 333 rooms, all of which are suites with a minimum of 600 square feet. The goal of the resort is to create a comfortable and intimate atmosphere for their guests. Haven Riviera Cancun Resort has two lodging options: Standard Junior Suites and Serenity Club Suites.
There are five total buildings at Haven Riviera Cancun with the main building housing the lobby, restaurants, bars, spa, and most activities. The other four buildings are for guests’ rooms, with two of those buildings being for Standard rooms and two for Serenity Club rooms. Every room, no matter if it is Standard or a Serenity Club room, has either a swim out pool or a large outdoor jacuzzi on the balcony. Dual-sized rain showers, large king-sized beds (no options for two double beds here), a complimentary bottle of Mexican Mezcal, and an all-inclusive mini-bar with Nespresso machines are found in each room as well.
The Serenity Club
The Serenity Club at Haven Riviera Cancun is an exclusive club level at the resort that gives you larger rooms as well as access to unique amenities and experiences throughout the resort. For guests seeking an amplified escape, Haven offers the Serenity Club where guests are welcomed with a private check-in in our Serenity Lounge, guaranteed premium beachfront accommodations, and personalized amenities, like: Nespresso selections, pillow menu, aromatherapy menu and butler service. All Serenity Club suites have a full ocean view, while Standard Junior suites have partial ocean views coupled with pool-side or garden views.
There are different options for Serenity Club suites: junior Serenity rooms, full suites, and the Presidential Suite. The larger suites have larger balconies with small cabanas and comfortable seating, indoor jacuzzis in addition to the outdoor jacuzzi, and significantly more space. However, no matter which room or suite you choose, all rooms have a capacity of two guests, which speaks to the importance of creating a romantic experience for couples.
All Serenity Club rooms at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa have a personal butler service throughout the day. Your personal butler is there to help you with any needs you might have and will come into your room twice daily to provide evening essential oil experiences and replenish any snacks. You will also have exclusive access to the Serenity Club, a private area that includes gourmet snacks, espresso, wine, cocktails, and a beautiful view.
Members of Serenity Club also have complete access to the hydrotherapy experience at the MySenses Spa during their stay. A one-hour massage is also included in your package as a Serenity Club member.
Other Serenity Club amenities include first service and special seating at the different on-site restaurants, special menu options at some dining areas, and discounts on different items like spa experiences and golf experiences.
Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa Restaurants and Dining
One of the best parts of an all-inclusive experience like the one you will have at Haven Riviera Resort Cancun & Spa is that you don’t have to worry about what you’re paying every time you sit down for a meal or grab a drink at the poolside bar. This helps to alleviate any stress during your vacation, allowing you to truly relax and enjoy your partner’s company.
There are five different restaurants that serve dinner at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort. There are also two swim-up pool bars, two snack bars, and an espresso cafe with quick service meals, desserts, and gelato. Haven Riviera Resort wants to make sure that all their guests are safe and that their diets are taken into account. Every restaurant has vegetarian and vegan options, and all hostesses at restaurants will ask about known allergies before they seat you.
Vora Mar
Vora Mar at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort serves both lunch and dinner. Lunch hours are buffet-style, while dinner provides a full-service seafood grill experience. For your mid-day meal, you will find fresh juices and cocktails, traditional Mexican dishes and other self-serve options. For dinner, you can order fresh seafood from the special catch of the day, all cooked on an open charcoal grill.
Flavours
Flavours is a an international marketplace inspired by food halls across the world. Here you will enjoy traditional Mexican-style dishes, desserts, and cocktails like Mimosas and Bloody Marys. Flavours has several options for you to choose from including a smoothie bar, an omelet bar, and fresh pastries as well as traditional Mexican breakfast dishes and pastries.
Satsu
Satsu is an Asian-fusion restaurant. It offers a fun Hibachi-style experience where you watch as the expert chef prepares fried rice, shrimp, steak, and chicken for you. While you enjoy the show, you will be served a plate of fresh sushi and a signature cocktail crafted by their mixologists. Traditional seating for the Robata Grill is also available for you to order a la carte options like sushi, sashimi, and charcoal-grilled small plates.
Olios
Olios is a Mediterranean style fine dining experience. This is the most formal of the dining options at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort and long pants are required for gentlemen. Service is slower here every single menu item is made by hand when you order, so plan to spend some extra time for dinner. The bright, open, and airy decor will make you feel like you’ve stepped into Oikos, Greece.
Agua Bendita Mexican Steakhouse
Agua Bendita Mexican Steakhouse is the pride of Haven Riviera Cancun Resort. It is a traditional Mexican steakhouse that offers the finest cuts of meat, freshly prepared seafood, and exquisite service for all guests. The decor reflects both historical and modern Mexican culture. Many agree that it is the best restaurant on the resort.
Bars and Cafes at Haven Riviera Resort
Vista’s Poolside Bar
Located in the circular pool area surrounded by Romance Jr. suites, Vista Restaurant offers a poolside swim-up bar. The cocktails and drinks are made to order. A small restaurant sits above the pool for lunch hours, offering full meals like tuna tostadas, caramelized onion burgers, and fresh salads. Serenity Club members have access to the rooftop seating area with a wonderful view of the pool below.
Mistral Poolside Snack Bar
This small snack bar offers finger foods like fresh chips, guacamole and salsa, fries, and burger sliders for you and your partner to enjoy poolside. It is located near the circular pool.
Lobby Bar
The lobby bar is located behind the reception desk and has custom cocktails, beer, and wine all made to order. Comfortable seating and lounge chairs are available as well as some light snacks for guests in the evening.
Limes
Limes is an American-style sports bar at Haven Riviera Resort. Both indoor and outdoor patio seating are available offering plenty of space for guests to relax and mingle. It is the only bar besides the evening shows at Moon’s that is open late. Satellite televisions are located behind the bar so you don’t have to worry about missing the game even when you’re on vacation. Mixologists at Limes are quite knowledgeable and will create any drink of your choice or even craft a custom drink right there on the spot.
Moccacino
Moccacino is Haven Riviera Resort’s espresso bar. Custom made espresso drinks and coffee-based cocktails. It also has gourmet pastries, quick service salads and sushi, and gelato for a sweet treat after a day spent out in the sun. You might even want to try an affogato-gelato with espresso poured on top!
Relaxation and Fun at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa
MySenses Spa
The MySenses Spa at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort is a full-service wellness center and spa. Some of the available services include massage, hair, beauty, reiki readings, and more. Guests can choose from different types of massages such as Swedish, sports, deep tissue, and hot stone. Couples’ massages are available either in a private room or on the patio deck. There are also options for facials, pedicures, manicures, and hair care.
One of the most unique experiences at Haven’s MySenses Spa the hydrotherapy pool circuit. The hydro-therapy is included for Serenity Club members and can be used at any time. However, it is available to all guests for an additional fee and is absolutely worth the experience. During your hour-long treatment, you will experience the benefits of hydrotherapy with intense water pressure for different parts of your body as well as gentle relaxation in jacuzzi areas, shock your body with extreme cold water plunges, and eliminate toxins with their hot steam sauna.
Your hydrotherapy experience starts off with a couple’s shower to rinse any outside elements off your body. You will then enter the warm hydrotherapy pool and experience intense water pressure on your neck, lower back, and legs as well as gentle soothing bubble therapy and waterfall therapy for your entire body. Each station lasts for three to five minutes, all allowing your body to enjoy the benefits of this experience.
After the intense yet gentle relaxation of the water pressure pool, you will quickly go into their hot tub. This water is a temperature of 106 degrees and is meant for a quick jolt of heat. The polar plunge is next, shocking your body at a chilly 62 degrees. After that, you will be led into the sauna where you will have chilled cucumbers placed over your eyes. Seven minutes in this heaven will then bring you to your last couple’s shower, where you will be able to bring your body back to its regulatory temperature.
The entire experience is one that you completely rejuvenate your body, and is a favorite among Haven Riviera Resort guests.
Pools at Haven Riviera Resort
There are two pools at Haven Riviera Resort. The main pool is located in the middle of the resort in front of the main building. The two different levels give an expansive feel to the pool, and on Fridays and Saturdays, a DJ accompanies your poolside experience with some low-key music. The swim-up pool bar, Dock’s, has seating on both sides for couples and newly-made friends to enjoy their drinks.
The other pool at Haven is a circular zero-entry pool. It makes you feel like you’re at the beach without all the sand and seaweed. Here guests can pull their lawn chairs into the water and enjoy the sun. Vista’s Pool Bar is the perfect spot to grab your favorite cocktail (we suggest a Sexy Banana), beer, or a margarita. Both Vista’s Restaurant and Mistral Snack Bar are both located here. Serenity Club members can enjoy a full bird’s eye view of the pool below at the raised seating in Vista, while all guests can enjoy the view at ground level.
Both pools are surrounded by several different style cabanas and lounge beds-perfect for sitting with your partner enjoying drinks brought to you by the wait staff, napping, or cuddling.
Moon’s Cabaret & Lounge
Compared to other party-style resorts in Cancun, Haven Riviera’s nightlife is relatively quiet. This makes it a great place to truly reconnect as a couple during pre- or post-deployment leave. Moon’s is the nightly cabaret and performance area where professional performers put on Vegas-like shows with themes like circus, burlesque, and magic. The wait staff will bring you cocktails and light snacks while you enjoy the performances, and after the show, Moon’s turns into a low-key dance club for some additional fun well into the early morning hours.
Daily Activities
Haven Riviera Resort also offers several different daily activities for you to enjoy in a group setting or as a couple. Kayaking, snorkeling lessons in the pool, beach volleyball, and ping-pong tournaments are just a few of the organized activities you can enjoy. But unlike other resorts, Haven doesn’t throw these activities in your face. They welcome you to enjoy them if you wish and at your leisure, so you can make your vacation exactly how you would like it.
Tips for Visiting Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa
Here are some tips to make sure your romantic pre- or post-deployment couple’s vacation is perfect at Haven Riviera Cancun Resort:
- Arrange for a private transport from the airport– When you arrive at Cancun International Airport you will be inundated with offers for ride services. Traditional taxis are not allowed on Haven Riviera Resort property for security reasons, so arranging for a private transport from their recommended company, Amstar, will prevent you from trying to find transport at the last minute as well as keep you safe.
- Be careful during rain– The floors at Haven Riviera, while beautiful, become extremely slick during heavy rains. Use extreme caution during these times.
- Humidity is real– The ocean breeze may be beautiful but leaving your balcony door open for even just a few minutes will create very slippery floors and fog the mirrors in your room almost instantly.
- Only open one door at a time– The doors are designed so that if the hotel room door and balcony door are open at the same time, it could create a hazardous crosswind that slams the hotel room door shut, causing injury.
- Room Service Box– Every room has a room service box inside their room. When you are done with your room service meal, you can place your dishes inside that box and housekeeping will come to collect them. This way you don’t have dirty dishes sitting in your room or outside your door.
- Housekeeping buttons– Next to the bed is a housekeeping button. You can place it in “Do not disturb” for those times you want privacy.
- Tips– American dollars are perfectly acceptable for tips for housekeeping or other services, and they are greatly appreciated by the staff.
Haven Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa isn’t like other Cancun resorts. As an adult-only resort, it offers the quiet solitude many want for their holiday with all of the luxury amenities you expect from an all-inclusive stay. No loud, crazy music. No hyped-up parties. Just simple and pure relaxation that is sometimes necessary with a life full of work, deployments, and kids. It is the unplugged vacation you are looking for in the heart of Cancun.
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