Review: One&Only Mandarina (WOW!)

One&Only Mandarina opened in late 2020 as one of the most hotly-anticipated new properties in the ultra-luxury sector. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, when wealthy travelers are increasingly prioritizing wellness-focused properties with an emphasis on sustainability, freshly-sourced ingredients, and picturesque natural beauty.

This property had been on my radar for all of 2 years, and I finally had the opportunity to visit. And all I can say is… WOW! This is the new gold standard in Mexico. From celebrity chef Enrique Olvera to an equestrian and polo club to 2 beautiful swimmable beaches to a mud bath, the One&Only team left no stone unturned.

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How to Book One&Only Mandarina

While I usually pay for these stays with publicly available rates, in this case I was extended a travel advisor rate. We’ve booked a lot of clients here, as well as other One&Only properties around the world, and so this was a great opportunity for us to check out the property.

Generally speaking, the entry-level rates here start at around $1,000 per night during the low season, although it can jump up to nearly $1,500 per night during the high season. From time to time, there are also promotions such as a 4th-night free promotion.

If you’re planning on booking a stay here, the best option is to book through a travel advisor that’s associated with the Virtuoso program. In the vast majority of instances, you’ll pay the same exact rate as what you’ll find on the property’s website, but you’ll receive perks like:

• A room upgrade, subject to availability
• Complimentary full breakfast for 2 guests per bedroom in Alma restaurant
• $100 resort credit once per stay
• Early check-in, subject to availability
• Late check-out, subject to availability
• Complimentary Wi-Fi

Location and Getting There

Although One&Only Mandarina is truly a special property worth making a trip around the world for, one of the initial criticisms was that getting here would take nearly 2 hours by car from Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR).

We redeemed around 44,000 Capital One points + $130 in taxes per person transferred to British Airways Avios for round-trip business class flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Puerto Vallarta (PVR) on American Airlines, which ended up costing around $1,100 round-trip per person, netting a redemption value of around 2.2 cents per point of redemption value. Not too shabby for a short-haul premium cabin flight!

However, a new highway that finished construction in 2023 effectively cut down the drive from nearly 2 hours to less than 1 hour! In fact, with this new highway, it’s now faster to get to One&Only Mandarina than it is to get to Punta Mita!

We booked a luxury Mercedes-Benz V-Class transfer, which was priced at around $493 round-trip. We highly recommend booking your transportation through the hotel because One&Only has dedicated parking spots in the airport to make your transfer as efficient as possible.

If you’ve been to the Puerto Vallarta airport before, you probably know that traffic is horrible, and most hotels don’t have dedicated parking spots, which means that even if your transportation was pre-booked, getting your car can end up taking upwards of 1 hour during busy times.

We had a terrible experience in the past waiting a long time for transportation, and so One&Only’s private transportation was worth every penny.

Check-In

As soon as we arrived, we were whisked to an open-air reception area and greeted with cold towels and a welcome drink amenity. The welcome drink was either a mango turmeric mocktail or a selection of tequila or mezcal tasting accompanied by fresh fruit, salt, or chocolate.

Our check-in formalities were completed in a matter of minutes, and we were promptly escorted by buggy to our villa.

One&Only Ocean Cliff Villa

We were assigned to Villa 204, which is an Ocean Cliff Villa. We felt that this villa had a fantastic location within reasonable walking distance to all of the property’s facilities including the fitness center, spa, and Alma (the breakfast and all-day restaurant with 2 family pools).

Near the entrance, there was a counter with a sotol welcome amenity, a booklet, and a beach tote bag.

The king bed was appointed with top-notch bedding, nightstands, and USB/power plugs on both sides of the bed.

The interior area spans around 900 square feet, and it includes a plush king bed, a queen-sized sofa bed, a lounge chair with a coffee table, a work desk, and a flat-screen TV. The personal bar was located next to the bed.

The queen-sized pull-out sofa bed is suitable for 2 small children or 1 adult and 1 child.

We enjoyed the welcome amenity in our villa, which consisted of a note and sliced fruits and nuts.

There was a writing desk on the far side of the villa.

We also utilized these complimentary binoculars during our stay to gaze at the wildlife in the ocean from our villa.

The open-concept architecture leads to the bathroom behind the bedroom, complete with a water closet, double vanities, a deep-soaking bathtub, and 2 luxurious showers (1 outdoor and 1 indoor).

Complimentary toiletries included bath and body products by Tata Harper, cotton buds, combs, a hairdryer, dental kits, and more.

There was plenty of storage space in the closet.

There were 2 sets of bathrobes and yukatas for additional comfort, as well as some of the plushest slippers we’ve ever enjoyed.

We were also able to make use of the complimentary hats and yoga mat during our stay!

The deep-soaking bath tub came appointed with various bath salts.

There were a total of 2 showers, one indoors and one outdoors, both with rainfall shower heads.

The water closet was separated via a door from the rest of the villa.

The centerpiece of the villa, though, is the furnished outdoor terrace, which has a heated plunge pool, 2 dining chairs with a coffee table, and 2 sun loungers covered by an umbrella. The outdoor terrace boasted incredible ocean views amidst the verdant jungle.

We had some fantastic ocean views from our villa.

Treehouses vs. Cliff Villas vs. Grand Villas vs. Signature Villas

The property has 4 categories of accommodations. The entry-level rooms are the treehouses and cliff villas.

Treehouses are situated near the top of the property. Because they’re located 12 meters above the ground, children must be at least 10 years old to stay there. Treehouses have 1 king bed, a day bed, a private terrace, and a plunge pool.

Cliff villas are the next category up, and these are furnished with a king bed, a queen sofa bed, a private outdoor terrace, and a plunge pool.

Grand villas are notable because they contain a separate living room, as well as a larger pool and terrace. In fact, you can swim short laps in the grand villas’ pools.

Lastly, signature villas are lavish spaces to entertain large groups, starting at 4 bedrooms and going all the way up to 10 bedrooms.

One&Only Mandarina Property Overview

One&Only Mandarina is an extraordinary combination of unspoiled white sand beach and lush nature in the jungle. It’s set on the miles of Riviera Nayarit’s coastline, and it’s appointed with a total of 104 treehouses and villas. In addition, there are 54 One&Only Private Homes on the property.

This property first opened its doors in late 2020, and it’s been the ultimate destination resort in Mexico since then. With signature dining from the likes of celebrity chef Enrique Olvera, 2 swimmable beaches with watersports, 6 infinity pools, an incredible spa, a comprehensive fitness complex with tennis and pickleball, an equestrian and polo club, an enormous kids club, even ziplining and adventure courses, there truly is something for everyone at One&Only Mandarina.

Fitness Center

The designer fitness center was appointed with top-of-the-line equipment from Technogym. There were numerous exercise machines, medicine balls, dumbbells, kettlebells, treadmills, exercise bikes, and even a boxing bag.

The fitness center was also supplied with mid-workout refreshments and snacks.

Daily activities were offered, including yoga classes, breathing classes, and HIIT training.

Spa

The One&Only Spa is elegantly nestled within the verdant landscape, complete with a high-end Technogym fitness center, waiting area for treatments, steam rooms and sauna, heated outdoor infinity pool, temazcal (a traditional Mexican sauna of sorts), and even a mud bath.

Unfortunately, we did not have an opportunity to enjoy a spa treatment here.

Beach

Some of Mexico’s softest white sand is at One&Only Mandarina. There are 2 swimmable beaches: 1 at Jetty Beach Club and 1 at Canalan Beach Club (a 5-minute buggy ride away).

You’ll find plenty of shaded areas, as well as an abundance of water sports available, including jet skis, kayaking, snorkeling, whale watching, stand-up paddleboarding, and much more.

Pools

One&Only Mandarina has a total of 7 infinity edge pools:

• 2 pools at Alma
• 1 pool at Jetty Beach Club
• 1 pool at Carao (adults-only)
• 2 pools at Canalan Beach Club
• 1 at the spa

One of the pools at Alma is mostly shaded by the lush trees, which we really enjoyed because we could lounge in for an extended period of time without being too worried about getting sunburned.

All of these pools are heated for maximum comfort. We spent most of our time at Alma’s pools.

KidsOnly Club

The One&Only Mandarina is home to an incredible KidsOnly club spanning nearly an entire acre of land. Uniquely, the KidsOnly Club places a strong emphasis on a connection with nature, as evidenced by its butterfly sanctuary and insectary with a series of indigenous butterfly species and other native wildlife.

Additionally, there are outdoor mazes, an adventurous treehouse, and numerous other playground facilities available for the little ones.

Unfortunately, the outdoor treehouses were damaged by termites, and so they were being renovated while we were there.

Of course, the indoor kids club facility is fully air-conditioned for maximum comfort. It’s fully stocked with video games, bean bags, books, toys, and much more.

Mandarina Recreational Facilities

Although the One&Only property spans an astonishing 80 acres, the Mandarina nature reserve itself is nearly 640 acres, which means that the One&Only’s footprint is only an eighth of the size of Mandarina!

Mandarina also includes dedicated facilities that are accessible by One&Only guests (and guests of the upcoming Rosewood Mandarina). In addition, One&Only Private Homes owners have full access to these facilities.

In this section, we’ll go over all of the recreational facilities under the Mandarina umbrella.

Canalan Beach Club

One of the most noteworthy offerings by Mandarina is the famed Canalan Beach Club, which fronts a beautiful 1-mile stretch of secluded white-sand beach. There are 2 infinity-edged pools (1 kid-friendly), numerous sun loungers, as well as water sports available.

In addition, Canalan Beach Club is home to Allora, a fantastic seaside Italian restaurant serving lunch, dinner, and afternoon fare. We’ll touch more on Allora in our restaurants section below.

Grass and Hard Tennis Courts

Mandarina boasts a professional sports facility managed by LUX Tennis, which includes 2 grass courts, 2 hard courts, and a hitting wall. Court rentals include rackets, balls, water, sunscreen, insect repellent, and cold towels.

There’s also a pro shop, too.

Plus, you can book a range of different lessons, clinics, and exclusive events. Some of these sessions are complimentary. You can even book the “Beat the Pro” event to challenge the in-house tennis director to a full tennis match. If you win, the session is complimentary!

Pickleball Courts

For those who want to enjoy a more geriatric racket sport, there are 2 pickleball courts you can reserve, in addition to clinics and lessons bookable with pickleball pros.

Basketball Court

There’s a half-court basketball court located next to the pickleball and tennis courts.

Polo and Equestrian Club

One of the signature facilities is the Mandarina Polo & Equestrian Club, which is the flagship facility in the country. Featuring 2 stables with over 50 horses, riders and players of all ages and abilities have the opportunity to book riding lessons, watch tourmanents and games, or just feed the horses.

Specifically, the state-of-the-art facilities include:

• 30,000 square foot jumping arena with Premier footing
• 13,000 square foot dressage arena with Premier footing
• 20-meter round pen with Premier footing
• Tournament-sized polo field
• 10 acres of irrigated grass pastures
• Galloping track with Premier footing
• Equine Veterinary Clinic
• Bridle paths to the beach
• Tack store

If you’re an equestrian or polo enthusiast, this is the most aspirational destination in Mexico.

Other Recreational Activities

There are so many more recreational activities available on the property, including hiking trails, biking trails, ziplining, and even adventure challenge courses featuring ropes courses and hanging bridges.

You can even book cooking classes, tequila tastings, day trips, and so much more.

We saw numerous coatis around the property, too!

One&Only Mandarina Restaurants

Guests at Mandarina will not go hungry. With an array of exquisite signature dining options showcasing sustainably sourced flavors and curated ingredients, culinary arts is one of the hallmarks of One&Only Mandarina.

Alma

Alma is the all-day restaurant serving seasonal Pan-American and Mediterranean cuisine. In addition to being the breakfast venue we visited daily, we had the chance to savor their pool menu, as well as their dinner menu.

The breakfast is a fusion of buffet and à la carte dining. In the buffet, we could help ourselves to seasonal fruit, freshly baked pastries, yogurt, cold cuts, cheese, and other items. Meanwhile, there was a menu available for made-to-order options, and we even ordered off-menu, customized dishes every morning.

The buffet setup is quite modest, but we mostly utilized the made-to-order items during breakfast.

We ordered items like:

• Tiramisu toast
• Pancakes
• Avocado toast
• Omelets
• Scrambled eggs
• Eggs divorciados
• Eggs benedict

Alma is fronted by 2 beautiful infinity pools cliffside, and there were plenty of sun loungers and even cabanas available on a first-come, first-serve basis. We enjoyed delicious snacks and cocktails while lounging in cabanas one day.

We also visited Alma for dinner one night with live music.

Carao

Carao is the hotel’s signature restaurant, masterminded by celebrity chef Enrique Olvera, who runs Pujol in Mexico City, which is arguably the hottest ticket in town.

We dined here on our first night, and we found the menu to be simple, yet incredibly tasty.

We ordered the fried octopus, local fresh catch, and ribeye steak, alongside sides of smoked pineapple beans.

In particular, the fried octopus and ribeye steak were spectacular.

Jetty Beach Club

Jetty Beach Club is the all-day beach club with incredible vistas, fresh seafood, and one of the most striking stretches of private beach and white sand you’ll ever see. There are multiple levels to Jetty Beach Club, and the upper levels feature completed shaded seating, while the lower levels have the pool, as well as umbrella-shaded seating with the beach at the front of the lower level.

We visited Jetty Beach Club twice. On the day we arrived, we headed here for a casual lunch. We dined next to the Jetty Beach Club’s pool and had octopus ceviche, birria tacos, soft shell crab tacos, and a flank steak tlayuda.

The next day, we booked a private cabana here, which came with a $250 minimum food and beverage spend. Cabana rentals start around 11:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. The cabanas are located on the beachfront in an area adjacent to the rest of the sun loungers. In addition, a private cabana booking also includes several sun loungers in front of the cabana.

We ordered an array of beverages, including fresh coconuts, margaritas, and tropical mocktails. For food, we enjoyed a burger, freshly sliced fruit, french fries, and crudites.

Allora (Mandarina)

Allora is a luxurious seaside Italian restaurant serving pasta, pizza, and other familiar fare. It’s located at Canalan Beach Club, which is a 5-minute buggy ride from the One&Only hotel entrance within the Mandarina reserve.

Here, you can enjoy oceanfront dining for lunch and dinner (and any time in between), and we found this to be one of our favorite restaurants.

We ordered the roasted cauliflower, grilled shrimp, carbonara, rigatoni ragu, grilled octopus, bresaola pizza, and a ribeye a las brasas. To drink, the Mandarina’s margarita was wonderfully tangy and complex.

What an amazing meal!

Treetop

Treetop is the cocktail bar perfect for golden hour also serving light bites. Although we didn’t have a chance to visit the facility, you could see it from the cantilevered edge of Alma.

Chukker (Mandarina)

Chukker is an Argentine open-flame grill located in the Mandarina Polo & Equestrian Club with views of the fields serving local produce and specialty cocktails. Unfortunately, since Chukker was only open for post-match dinners on select Fridays and Saturdays monthly, we did not have the opportunity to enjoy a meal here.

One&Only Mandarina Host and Service

The service at One&Only Mandarina was phenomenal. It’s easy to see why One&Only is one of the world’s most coveted ultra-luxury hospitality brands. And it’s easy to see why it’s #1 in the Americas on The World’s 50 Best Hotels for 2023 and consistently in the top 3 hotels on other publications such as Travel + Leisure.

During our stay, we were assigned 2 personal hosts:

• Guillermo, who worked the day shift starting from around 9 a.m.
• Alejandro, who worked the night shift starting from around 3 p.m.

We were told that each host is assigned to around 6 villas. Communications were primarily through WhatsApp, which we enjoyed.

Buggy service is critical to getting around the property, and we were astonished at how quickly we were able to get buggies. Within 2 minutes of messaging our host, a buggy was waiting outside our villa. At similar properties we’ve stayed at in the past, we would sometimes wait upwards of 10 minutes for a buggy to arrive, and we didn’t experience that at all here. Truly impressive operations!

The Mandarina team also took us on a Discover Mandarina tour to give us a complete orientation of the entire property on a buggy, which we hugely appreciated.

During our stay, we constantly found team members offering to help carry around our belongings for us and serving complimentary poolside treats such as fresh fruit and popsicles.

The grounds were always immaculately maintained, and the property always felt like it had a sense of place.

Wrapping Up

This was one of the best properties we’ve had the chance to stay at. The service from start to finish was impeccable, and the always-gracious staff all seemed genuinely happy to be there.

The actual facilities themselves were striking, beautiful, and constantly maintained. Perhaps the most impressive part of this property was the sheer number of activities guests can participate in. Ziplining, adventure courses, tennis, pickleball, basketball, equestrian, polo, jet skiing, snorkeling, fitness, spa, yoga, lounging by the pool, swimming in the ocean, archery, and so much more, were all within the Mandarina nature reserve.

The dining options were varied and delicious, too.

This truly was a well-thought-out property, which is heaven on Earth for nature and wellness enthusiasts.

This aspirational property is what dreams are made of, and we’re already planning our next stay back, but next time, we’ll stay longer.

Featured Image Credit: AuPACS