marriott caribbean edition
The Kanai site is set among the mangroves on the Caribbean coast of Mexico.
News

Marriott Is Planning Its First Edition Hotel in the Caribbean

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - April 24, 2019

By the Caribbean Journal staff

One of Marriott’s hottest hotel brands is coming to the Caribbean.

The luxury boutique brand that was the brainchild of legendary hotelier Ian Schrager will be coming to the Caribbean coast of Mexico.

Marriott has signed a deal for an Edition to be set in the Kanai luxury community in the heart of the Riviera Maya, the first-ever Edition brand property in the wider region.

Kanai, years in development, will eventually be home to four hotels and a beach club on a 183-hectare oceanfront site.

It’s been pegged as the home of a planned “retreat” designed by famed architectural firm Richard Meier & Partners, although it’s unclear if that will be the Edition project.

Several hotel brands have been rumored at one point or another to debut in Kanai, from W to St Regis (both of which are former Starwood brands now part of the Marriott umbrella), but Edition will now be the first.

marriott caribbean edition

The new Edition is part of a wider luxury pipeline in Mexico that includes Zadun, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, slated to debut later this year in Los Cabos.

It’s part of a wider expansion in Mexico’s luxury market for Marriott, with 1,000 luxury-segment rooms in its pipeline across nine properties in the country.

That includes a planned Ritz-Carlton Reserve resort set to open in Mexico later this year called Zadun.

Another Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Mexico is also in the pipeline, a 110-room resort in the Costa Canuva development on the Riviera Nayarit.

“Mexico continues to be our biggest and most successful market in the region, thanks to our proven operating excellence, preferred brands and business platforms, and strong owner and franchise partnerships,” said Laurent de Kousemaeker, Chief Development Officer for Marriott International in the Caribbean and Latin America. “We are equally enthusiastic about 2019, given our strong pipeline, the launch of Marriott Bonvoy – the company’s new loyalty program – and the increasingly compelling value proposition that our size and scale can bring to our partners.”

Popular Posts caribbean travel

The Caribbean Travel Awards 2025

More than 32 million people visited the Caribbean in 2023, and that number should be eclipsed by the end of this year. In other words, the Caribbean is more popular than ever — deepening its position not just as the world’s […]


Aruba’s New Adults-Only Resort Has Swim-Up Suites, a Rooftop Bar and One of the World’s Greatest Beaches 

eagle beach cj photo

Eagle Beach. If you know Aruba, you know it. That wide, white, shimmering stretch of sand in the northwestern corner of the island is one of our favorite beaches in the Caribbean — and inarguably among the best beaches, well, anywhere […]


Royalton Just Reopened These Punta Cana All-Inclusive Resorts After a $32 Million Upgrade 

punta cana all-inclusive royalton

One is family-friendly. The other is an adults-only escape. They’re both part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, both set on a beautiful stretch of beach in Punta Cana.  And they both just reopened after a sweeping $32 million upgrade.  The adjacent […]


Related Posts dominican republic malecon

This Dominican Republic City Has a New Waterfront Boulevard 

It’s one of the signatures of a great Spanish Caribbean town, the Malecon, that vibrant, always-bustling waterfront boulevard that is the seaside town square of downtowns from Havana to Santo Domingo.  Now, you can add another one to the pantheon: […]


“The Caribbean Is the Soul of Royal Caribbean”

the newest royal caribbean ship

The Caribbean Tourism Organization hosted a major summit with Royal Caribbean this month in Miami, gathering ministers and directors of tourism to talk about sustainability, sourcing and economic growth in the region.  The summit, held on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of […]


Aeromexico Is Now Flying Daily Nonstop From Miami to Cancun, Which Keeps Adding New Hotels 

cancun nonstop pool at hotel

With the seemingly never-ending stream of visitors that have been flocking to Cancun in the last few years, it’s been easy to overlook just how many new hotels have been opening in the Mexican Caribbean hotspot.  From Marriott’s new luxury […]