Atelier Playa Mujeres All-Inclusive Resort

A review of my 40th birthday girls trip to this luxury all-inclusive resort just north of Cancun

Why Atelier?

For my 40th birthday, I wanted to take a girls trip to a luxury all-inclusive resort with great food, great drinks, and an elevated vibe (no foam parties, please).

All-inclusive resorts can be tricky, often skimping on food, drinks or service.

Enter Atelier Playa Mujeres.

This resort checked all the boxes - but there are definitely some things to know before you go.

TIP: Watch my Playa Mujeres highlight bubble on Instagram to see video coverage of the resort!

Flying in and out of Cancun

Many of us were traveling from different cities, and had no problem finding flights to Cancun’s international airpot (CUN).

Passports are required, but when we went in February 2023, there were no COVID-19 vaccination requirements or health screenings of any kind. Praise!

Immigration at the Cancun airport was a bit of a nightmare.

Expect a sea of humanity, unclear line markers, and a very long wait (about an hour).

One of my friend’s landed at the exact right time and breezed through immigration, but the rest of us weren’t so lucky.

Airport transfers and WhatsApp

Schedule your transfer from the Cancun airport to Atelier ahead of time.

Either contact the resort directly to use their transfer service OR - use a local, reputable transfer service.

We used both Mayaland and LOMAS transfer companies and had great, safe rides.

TIP: Download the app WhatsApp before your trip. Most service industry workers in Mexico will use this app to communicate with you.

Do not stop and talk to anyone at the Cancun airport. There are about 10,000 taxi and excursion companies trying to get your attention as you walk through the airport. Keep your head down until you are OUTSIDE in the sunshine, then look for a sign with your name on it.

Get lost in paradise…literally

Our main hiccup with Atelier Playa Mujeres is that we got lost, a lot.

It is a long and sprawling, resort with different restaurants in Building 2 and Building 3, and on Floor 1 and Floor 3.

Maybe it was the mid-day mimosas, but we were constantly confused.

Upon arrival, I recommend asking a bellhop for a tour of the resort.

OR - assign the most directionally-savvy member of your group to familiarize themself with the resort on Day 1, and follow that person around the rest of your trip!

Atelier has an app that you can access after you check-in. Download the app and enter your name and room number.

TIP: If your name is on the reservation, you will have to approve your roomie’s device when they try to login to the app.

The app tells you when the restaurants are open, what activities are going on throughout the day, and more.

Zen guest rooms

The rooms are lovely with an adult zen vibe.

Atelier has guest rooms with 1 king bed, or with 2 double beds. For our group of 6 people, we booked 3 rooms with double beds and all had a roomie.

The rooms were plenty big for two people’s luggage, getting ready and hanging out.

Every room also has a balcony with 2 chairs which is a huge plus!

We stayed in Building 3 which is at the back of the long sprawling resort.

At first we were disappointed, but we ended up loving Building 3’s pool (with a swim up bar), coffee bar, and restaurants.

Atelier has an upgrade option called INSPIRA. INSPIRA suites come with a butler, and access to El Cielo (Sky Bar) all day. This is a rooftop pool / bar that is pretty chic! We did not book INSPIRA rooms for this trip and didn’t feel like we missed out on anything. Anyone at the resort can access El Cielo after 6pm and we ended up here every night after dinner.

All-inclusive (what’s included, and what’s not)

Almost everything is included which is so fun!

All the restaurants EXCEPT Maria Dolores, which is a fine-dining restaurant on the property. It gets rave reviews, so if you are a foodie, make a reservation! We did not eat at Maria Dolores and opted for the restaurants that were included.

All drinks EXCEPT bottles of wine. You can order their house wines all day (and we did, LOL), but at dinner if you order a bottle of wine off their wine menu, you will be charged.

Even the minibar in your room is free. We all ate Pringles just because we could at no charge! It feels a little naughty and exhilarating to raid a minibar!

TIP: We brought home minibar items for our kids because all the packaging (Oreos, Kit-Kats, M&Ms) is in Spanish which they loved!

Also 24-hour room service is included! My sister and I ordered a margarita pizza and 2 glasses of sauvignon blanc to our room while we were getting ready one night. Why not?!

There is also an 18-hole golf course at this resort. Rounds of golf are not included, unless you stay 7 nights in an INSPIRA suite, then 2 rounds are included. However, you can pay to play anytime! Talk to the concierge for tee times.

Restaurants and reservation kiosks

You cannot make dinner reservations until you are on property.

There are reservation kiosks throughout the resort that you can visit to make your reservations.

TIP: If you have a large group, the reservation might not work. This is because most of the restaurants only have 2 top and 4 top tables.

For our group of 6, we were told to make two reservations for 3 people. When we got to the restaurant we explained that we were a group of 6, and they pushed two tables together.

You will need to make the two separate reservations under two different room numbers.

One night the reservations were quite booked up and we made a 9:30pm reservation at the steak house Los Abrazos. We went over early at 9pm and they were ready to acommodate us.

Where we ate

BREAKFAST
Suspiro - Sit down restaurant by main pool with a great breakfast menu
La Consentida - Restaurant in Building 3 with a breakfast buffet and a make your own mimosa and bloody mary bar!
Azucar - Coffee shop in lobby of building 3 with fabulous coffee drinks and small bites

LUNCH
Suspiro - Restaurant near main pool
Limon Y Sal - Restaurant at the end of main pool. Good for wings, burgers, and salads.
Poolside / Beach menu - We ordered off this but staff wasn’t thrilled when we did. It seemed like they had concerns about the food taking too long. We convinced them to let us one day. Hit or miss on poolside/beachside food service. But drink service was fabulous and they kept ‘em coming!

DINNERS
Cilento - Delicious Italian! We all loved the Ceasar salad and the vodka parmesan pasta that they prepare table side and light on fire!
Kopai - Fabulous miso soup and sushi!
Los Abrazos - Great steak dinner. I got a filet mignon and creamy mashed potatoes!

LATE NIGHT
Cielo / Sky Bar - This is the rooftop pool & bar that is open to everyone at the resort starting at 6pm. (It’s open ALL day to just INSPIRA guests.) This is the most happening spot in the evenings and we ended up here every night after dinner.

NUUP Spa and hydrotherapy circuit

The spa on property is massive! You can make reservations ahead of time and they don’t charge you until you leave the resort.

TIP: When you are booking your spa appointment online, the cost at checkout is in pesos. So it looks like your massage is like $4,000, but don’t panic.

Every spa appointment comes with their hydrotherapy circuit! And even if you don’t want a standard spa service, you can still book the hydrotherapy circuit for $59. The circuit includes a steam room, cold showers, sauna, cold plunge pool, hot tub, indoor pool with pressure/jets stations (let the jets massage your back, neck, etc.), and outdoor pool. We had a lot of fun doing this!

Pools, beach & hammocks, oh my!

We spent most of our time at the beach and pools!

People definitely play the chair-saving game at this resort, so nominate the early riser in your group to head down and save chairs.

All rooms come with a large beach bag that you can use during your stay.

We saved chairs with the beach bags, hats, and books.

There are hammocks along the water at the beach which is a great place to have your morning cup of coffee!

40th birthday girls trip swag!

What’s a girls trip without some swag?!

My birthday trip travel outfit
Birth year sweatshirt
Lulu dupe belt bag
Pink Nikes
Rose gold suitcase (24 inch)
Dagne Dover travel backpack (the best travel backpack everrrr)

Girls trip swag
Personalized sun hats (these were a hit, made for the cutest photos, and EVERYONE at the resort was asking us about them!)
White sarong cover-ups
Rose gold cups
40 never looked so good hats
Personalized Turkish towels
Mexico drink stirrers with our faces

Drop any questions about this resort in the comments!

And be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok for more travel destinations coming soon!