Mexico's Riviera Maya

The men at the guardhouse were suspicious when a dusty rental car pulled up to Iberostar's enormous five-hotel, five-star complex near Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Almost everyone arrives by taxi or airport bus, but we'd rambled up Yucatan's Highway 307 after a hot day bushwhacking through Mayan ruins.

After the gates finally rose, two rumpled parents and smudged boys, ages 3 and 5, tumbled onto the marble floors of Hotel Paraiso Maya. Welcome drinks appeared at check-in, but only after we'd seen the blocks-long pool was it official: Our carload of hillbillies from Crystal Lake had done gone Beverly Hills in Mexico.

Despite mega-resorts such as Iberostar, rumors of a new airport at tiny Tulum and hundreds of hotel rooms planned for the area, Yucatan's Riviera Maya can still be a tale of two sensibilities.

The previous four nights back in Tulum had been more like "Swiss Family Robinson." Small guesthouses and informal boutique hotels dot pristine and nearly empty beaches along a stretch of Boca Paila Road just outside of town.

Our first digs were the rustic, bamboo-casual EcoTulum Zahra, a 22-room collection of cabanas where the generator and lights sputter out at 11 p.m.

To get there, we flew into Cancun and drove about two hours south along the Yucatan's eastern coast. After a night arrival, we kicked off our shoes and waded out into a perfect limestone cove under a million silent stars.

Zahra is a few miles from Tulum's famous seaside Mayan ruins. Backpackers put the area on the tourist trail in the 1970s, but their ramshackle hangouts are rapidly being replaced by high-end inns, many with New Age airs.

Our large two-level family cabin had a rough-hewn tropical wood bathtub and windows open to the sea breeze. Water pressure in the creaky cabins at Zahra is anemic, but amenities are almost beside the point.

The beaches are perfect and powdery, and area restaurants, including Zahra's own, are torch-lit and romantic. Our laid-back cabana neighbors included two little British girls who immediately started skittering among the palms with our boys.

At Zama's, a similar but slightly more up-market neighboring resort, we enjoyed massive seaside breakfasts of huevos rancheros and fresh tropical fruit while watching the waves. The perfect open-air terrace had hand-painted furniture in iPod colors. On a bulletin board at the bar, a magazine spread pictured Jude Law and Sienna Miller glamorously mussed and laughing it up on the same chairs.

Beaches in the area are so stunning, you won't really need to look for much else to do, especially if you have kids who are happily occupied. We made time to snorkel, explore ruins and poke through a few boutiques and art galleries. A half-mile south of Zahra, the beaches open up even more. By law, Mexican beaches are public, so we played in the waves and beachcombed while practically alone on a stretch of coastline many miles long.

For one lunch, we found a tiny restaurant (unfortunately named Banana Cabana) and dug into quesadillas, fresh fruit and crab and shrimp tacos while geckos skittered along the beams.

When the Tulum stay ended, we headed about halfway back to Cancun on Highway 307 to the outskirts of Playa del Carmen, where amenities matter more. Our fellow guests may have been less adventuresome, but it was great to take a forceful shower, even a whirlpool, in a luxurious room.

Chrome and marble replaced Zahra's bamboo at the all-inclusive, but because of the size of the place, we were at least a 10-minute walk from the ocean. Getting back to the car was an ordeal, so we didn't bother and never missed it.

Incredible European-style food at a half-dozen restaurants, plus unlimited drinks at formal bars and poolside perches, are part of the deal. Optional activities include golf, scuba lessons, parachute rides and trips into and around Playa del Carmen, but essentially this was life aboard a stationary cruise ship.

A jarring contrast to Zahra maybe, but we felt like emperors. After enjoying what we considered the "real" Mexico on this and previous trips, we also felt a bit guilty with the in-your-face conspicuous consumption.

Kids' programs, bars and water toys were at hand at Iberostar's amazing series of pools, which is almost a half-mile long. Joining four of the five hotels, the connected pools serve as a sort of town square. It's easy to duck into the adjacent restaurants to grab some salmon or a mojito.

At the beach, conditions are perfect, as in Tulum, but activities such as surfing lessons, volleyball and access to boogie boards take the place of solitude. I tried a short introduction to the scuba school at the pool. It was Cousteau-like and cool, but our time was short.

Since we'd already accomplished so much sightseeing on our own, eating became our main Iberostar sport. Cruise-worthy buffets offered a huge number of choices and the elegant food was sometimes Spanish-tinged, owing to Iberostar's Spanish owners. Dinners at several fancier restaurants are themed by venue to seafood, steak and other specialties and require reservations. Gracious resort employees who came from all over Mexico loved to talk after we asked about their hometowns and the lively conversations even veered into economics and politics.

One night at the Las Vegas-style nightclub, our family hit the free Mexican folkloric musical review and stayed on for a mechanical bull-riding contest.

Probably owing to excess free drinks downed by the other contestants, I won with a bone-crushing 16-second ride. With mariachis and dancing -- there were a couple of hundred people in the audience -- the night was gringo fun of the highest order.

The next morning, we almost missed our flight home at the Cancun airport because Daylight Savings Time had kicked in while we were playing cowboy.

Spring forward, or fall back? All-inclusive resorts are giving the little guys a run for the money, but on this trip we tried both.

If you go

Mexico's Riviera Maya

GO: For the Mayan ruins and a perfect tropical setting for couples or families

NO: If winter break strictly means Florida or South Padre Island

Need to know: Mexican Tourism, (800) 446-3942, www.visitmexico.com; www.locogringo.com

Getting there: American, United and Mexicana airlines have nonstop service from O'Hare to Cancun and ATA has nonstop service from Midway to Cancun.

Getting around: While renting a car in Mexico gave us freedom from tour buses and flexibility, take care when driving, especially at night. Mexican drivers have their own rules of the road when it comes to passing, for example, but generally were surprisingly courteous in the Yucatan.

Accommodations: For the family cabin at EcoTulum Zahra ((888) 898-9922, www.ecotulum.com), we paid $588 for four nights, but rates vary widely by season and two-person cabanas are considerably less expensive. Don't forget a battery-powered light if you'd like to read after the generator quits around 11 p.m.

Many travel agencies offer discount packages at Iberostar, but you can also book directly with the resort ((888) 923-2722, www.iberostar.com). The latest price check for the March medium high season quoted $1,757 for our four-person family for four nights. Again, doubles are cheaper, and keep in mind that excellent meals and limitless drinks are included.

Dining: In Tulum, we had an inexpensive and good lunch of enchiladas mole and ceviche at Don Cafeto's (Calle Centauro at Orion), where diners spill onto the sidewalk.