My very packed travel schedule continues, after only 6 days at home (6 times more than before the last trip). For the first time in years, I’m doing what so many love to do: vacationing instead of actual traveling. I just arrived in Mexico with my girlfriend. But thankfully not in an all-inclusive resort, at least! 😉
I’m continuing our new good habit of sharing content about our trips here. For the last one, my fall trip to the US, I also tweaked and improved this intro post template a bit. So please let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to know about our trips.
And of course, this is in addition to my daily stories on my personal Instagram account, as with all my many trips.
Here’s the intro to my trip to Tulum and Cancún, specifically the reason, the context, the itinerary, and the booking. The tips and logistics, reviews, and experiences will follow soon.
Reason for my trip to Tulum and Cancún
I’m sharing why I’m doing this trip, to get straight to the point right at the beginning as in all our posts.
Here are the 3 main reasons:
- To go on a vacation with my girlfriend
- To get my first taste of Quintana Roo
- To review 3 nice Marriott Bonvoy hotels
First, my girlfriend was interested in going on a short vacation before the Christmas break.
We had been to the Colombian cities of Cartagena and Barranquilla in early 2023 and on the beautiful Caribbean island of Bonaire in mid-2019, so we were about due for this kind of thing we do approximately every 3 years apparently.
My girlfriend has a “normal” job and can’t work remotely like I can. So she has way fewer weeks available for travel in a year. But she was able to squeeze one in now, to complement our 3-week trip to Europe in June.
Second, you know I’m very authentic in my content, and I won’t lie: so-called “Sun” destinations that most Canadians love are literally the least appealing places in the world to me.
But I loved exploring the real Mexico, though! I visited Guadalajara twice in 2024 and had such a great time. So I figured Quintana Roo, the Mexican Caribbean coastal region, is probably a great place to go for a vacation.
My girlfriend actually wants to stick to only Tulum and Cancún since we only have 8 nights, so I won’t go to Quintana Roo’s other great destinations that our team member Indira loved!
Finally, I’m obviously very used to getting a lot of free Marriott Bonvoy hotels all year long with my Marriott Bonvoy points. But in this case, I am getting some free free hotels, including a couple of nights in a stunning 5-star resort.
There are 3 nice hotels hosting me for free in exchange for me to share my experience with all the many Marriott Bonvoy fans in our Flytrippers community.
You know how passionately I love getting free travel, so that’s certainly an incentive for me to make this trip work in my calendar.
Context of my trip to Tulum and Cancún
I’m sharing a bit more detail about my situation, so you can learn a bit more about how we plan our trips if you’re interested.
Given the incredible amount of travel I’m doing from August to December (which I listed in my last trip introduction post), it just made so much sense to have my girlfriend join me on the Tulum and Cancún hotel review trip to (somewhat) minimize our time apart.
I’m actually probably going home for just 3 days after this trip and heading back to Mexico for other hotel reviews in other cities.
That’s certainly not efficient at all, but my girlfriend hates flying alone, and I’m really such a nice guy, you know. Or I need to be nice to make up for all my trips… 😬
Also, I do really want to attend a music festival in the US in mid-November anyway (and I have more JetBlue flights to do to get my huge bonus; update post coming soon). So I would’ve probably had to split the Mexico trip into separate parts anyway to make it fit into my packed travel schedule.
Is this all too much? Of course.
I always want to do everything. I also always have major FOMO. And I also always overestimate what I can fit into any timeframe (I have ADD). That’s a big problem for me. But that’s enough psychoanalysis for today.
So this week was really the only one that even worked for this trip.
And my girlfriend had a free day off from work on Monday, November 10 (Remembrance Day). Maximizing statutory holidays is a savvy way to get a bit more travel into your schedule if you’re limited in terms of time off from work.
(Although, with my girlfriend’s love for giving out candy to our neighborhood’s kids on Halloween, it was out of the question to miss that, and so the statutory holiday mostly made up for our later departure rather than actually extending the trip this particular time!)
As for the trip, just doing nothing, like so many people seem to enjoy doing, is just the absolute least interesting thing possible to me (aforementioned ADD).
So I’ll definitely not be doing just nothing, but it’ll still probably be the most relaxed trip I’ve taken in many years. That’s what my girlfriend wants.
But it won’t be the end of the world to take things somewhat slow after:
- 30,000+ miles flown (22 flights in 24 days)
- 20,000+ miles flown (just 11 flights, thankfully)
- For my trip to Asia
- 40,000+ miles flown to visit all 6 continents (in 3 weeks)
- 13 flights in 13 days
- 5 flights in 3 days (amongst 12 total flights in 3 weeks)
That’s on top of my trips to Europe in June for 3 weeks and to Toronto in August for 3 days with my girlfriend, and my trip to Florida for a week for a conference.
In short… lots of traveling. If only airlines would stop giving out so many points so easily! I’m kidding. Please, I beg all other airlines to also consider giving out points this easy to get!
Itinerary of my trip to Tulum and Cancún
I’m sharing the general itinerary of my trip, so you can follow me.
Here’s my itinerary on a map.
A really normal and logical itinerary! Very different from my summer trip for Turkish Airlines’ 6-continent challenge and my 2 trips for JetBlue’s challenge (September and October). As usual, I booked one-ways, so I was able to do an open-jaw itinerary (fly into Tulum and out of Cancún).
Here are the cities I’ll visit during my trip (so connections are excluded):
- Miami, Florida 🇺🇸
- 1 night
- To save money on the flight
- Tulum, Mexico 🇲🇽
- 4 nights
- To review 2 free hotels
- Cancún, Mexico 🇲🇽
- 3 nights
- To review 1 free hotel
As I said, I really did enjoy Mexico. And it’s so close and yet I haven’t explored it much, especially compared to having been to 47 US states, which are not that much closer. I’m looking forward to exploring a region that’s probably very different from Guadalajara.
Booking transportation for my trip to Tulum and Cancún
I’m sharing the details of how I planned my trip, so you can learn about transportation, as it’s obviously always the aspect to design a trip around (except maybe if you get complimentary hotel stays).
Here’s the transportation during my trip:
- Flight: Montreal–Miami
- Air Canada
- Flight: Miami–Tulum
- American Airlines
- Bus: Tulum–Cancún
- ADO
- Flight: Cancún–Québec City
- Air Canada
Here are more details about each.
Flight: Montreal–Miami
There are direct flights from Montreal and Québec City to the new airport in Tulum, but there aren’t many of them (at least this early in the season).
They were all Saturday, and with Halloween night being Friday, my girlfriend did not want to leave Saturday. Especially since they were early morning flights and we live 2 hours from the airport.
And flying Air Canada is certainly always my preference over Air Transat and WestJet, so using the self-transfer tip made sense for the outbound flight. And this way, we could also avoid Air Canada Rouge (IYKYK)!
This routing was also a lot cheaper than a direct flight on this date. And no, the hotel in Miami wasn’t more expensive than the hotel we would’ve paid for anyway in Tulum (as is often the case with airport hotels).
Also, the free VIP airport lounges situation in Miami is great, with a very good Amex Centurion Lounge that we like. So we certainly don’t mind this particular layover to save money (because saving money obviously allows for more traveling). Getting over always wanting direct flights is literally one of the most basic tips to travel for less so easily.
Flight: Miami–Tulum
It was just 120 USD for the quick flight to Tulum.
American Airlines very often has very low cash fares from its huge hub in Miami to short-distance destinations, making Miami a good place for the self-transfer tip to reach many destinations that are expensive from Canada.
That’s actually exactly what we had done to go to Bonaire and to Colombia, too. Although those times we had used Avios points for the flights from Miami; it was a better redemption those times.
I thought of doing the Royal Jordanian status match to get oneworld elite status before this flight, but since it’s so short and we already have access to a great lounge, I think I’ll wait a bit more to make sure my 12-month status lasts longer.
Bus: Tulum–Cancún
I always find it so fascinating how so many travelers are stressed out about transportation, as if it were hard to get around anywhere in the world. It’s really not, rest assured.
Kevin just took a bus from Iraq to Kuwait; surely you can manage getting to your hotel in any remotely touristy country! It’s normal not to know how if you’re not experienced, but it’s so easy to find information online in 2025!
The Quintana Roo area, in particular, apparently has a good bus network. That’s what I’ll probably do for the 2-hour ride from Tulum to Cancún; the ADO bus is 220 MXN.
Flight: Cancún–Québec City
I just flew to Québec City last week, because the flight from Chicago was cheaper than to Montreal at just 72 USD. It’s rare, but it happens. That’s why I always check alternate airports; it takes 30 seconds.
My semi-retired father-in-law has graciously offered to drive us from our hometown of Trois-Rivières (halfway between Montreal and Québec City) to and from the airport on this trip.
And he obviously much prefers driving to Québec City rather than Montreal (as any sane person would).
It was just 250 CAD for the direct flight on Air Canada (and again, not Air Canada Rouge), so that was pretty good for something we booked very last minute with no flexibility on the destination or date.
Booking accommodations for my trip to Tulum and Cancún
I’m sharing the details of where I’ll be staying during my trip, so you can learn about the other important aspect of the travel budget.
Here’s the accommodation during my trip:
- Miami
- Element Miami International Airport (Marriott)
- Tulum
- Aloft Tulum (Marriott)
- Moxy Tulum (Marriott)
- Cancún
- JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa (Marriott)
- Four Points by Sheraton Cancun Centro (Marriott)
Here are more details about each (it’s so rare that all my accommodations are decided before leaving; my girlfriend does not enjoy choosing once you get there, like I enjoy😂).
Miami
I should really write a post about the best airport hotel in Miami (MIA) that’s part of Marriott Bonvoy, as I’ve now tried 6 of them.
It’s an airport hotel, so I’ll obviously look at the price first and foremost. For my date, the Element Miami International Airport is the cheapest, and I happen to very much like it (I’ve already been twice).
It’s super close to the airport; I’ve even walked to it when my flight was outside the free shuttle’s operating hours.
I love the Element brand’s environmental focus; it makes me feel better about taking 80+ flights in a year! 😂 It’s a brand with few hotels, though, and I’ve only tried 3 others apart from this one.
Tulum
While not as luxurious as the other hotels on my Mexico review trips, I’m still really looking forward to these. It honestly looks like the best Moxy and the best Aloft I’ve seen.
The Moxy Tulum actually just opened on October 15! That’s almost as new as a hotel can be. I personally love the vibrant and youthful Moxy brand. I’ve tried 8 of them (including some multiple times) and I’ve had nothing but nice experiences, because they’re all very recent.
I also love new hotels, so it’s sure to be very nice. It has very nice common areas, as all Moxy hotels do. And a rooftop pool. It even has a temazcal (a traditional Mayan sweat lodge), but the spa area is not open yet (a downside of a very new hotel).
The Aloft Tulum also looks very nice. The architecture is quite unique, and it has a great view of nature. It’s also walking distance to the Tulum city center, like the previous one.
Aloft is the other youthful and trendy brand amongst Marriott Bonvoy’s 30+ different brands, so I also like it very much. I’ve stayed at 10 of them (including some multiple times, again), and it’s another rather new brand with newer hotels and much better consistency.
Cancún
The JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa is obviously the fanciest hotel on this trip, and I’m very much looking forward to staying there. My only previous JW experience was great.
JW is one of Marriott’s most luxurious brands, and this is a 5-star resort on the beach in Cancún’s hotel zone.
Nice resorts are great… especially when you don’t just stay in there for an entire week without even leaving! These 2 nights will be the most “vacation” part of the trip, and it’ll be awesome.
For the last day, we wanted to be a more authentic part of Cancún to make for the perfect combination.
I chose the Four Points by Sheraton Cancun Centro as it is highly rated, is only 100 USD, and has a good location close to the city but a bit closer to the airport than the other alternatives (it’s on the southern edge).
Four Points is a midscale brand that’s perfect for a day like that, when basically all we’ll do in the hotel is sleep. I’ve stayed at 16 of this brand’s hotels, and as with other similar Marriott midscale brands, the quality is much better outside of Canada and the US, so I’m curious to see on which side of that Mexico falls.
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Summary
I’m on a trip to Tulum and Cancún, in Mexico. It’s a short 8-day trip to go on a vacation with my girlfriend, to get my first taste of the Quintana Roo region, and to review 3 nice Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
What would you like to know about my trip to Tulum and Cancún? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Tulum and Cancún, Mexico (photo credit: Aarom Ore and Fernando Garcia)
