The Coolest Places to Stay in the Yucatán Peninsula

Viceroy Riviera Maya is a serene all-villa hideaway where guests experience true relaxation, gracious villa living, exquisite dining and healing spa treatments surrounded by lush jungle and a sugary-white-sand beach. One of the more unique touches from the resort is the Soap Concierge who providing artisanal soaps formulated with organic ingredients on the Yucatan Peninsula for all guests. Its Wayak Spa offers traditional Mayan healing techniques, treatments, botanicals and indigenous products, as well as a newly appointed Máak Bacab to lead the resort’s spiritual and wellbeing offerings.

You shouldn’t overlook Mérida, the Yucatán capital, when in Mexico’s best-loved beach state – and Casa Azul, a 19th-century certified historic monument, is your palatial base when in the Ciudad Blanca (White City). The so-called Blue House has just eight suites, each inspired by a local landmark, including a Franciscan convent and 16th-century cathedral, while the pink, flower-filled suite is an ode to the Santa Isabel hermitage. Restaurant tables are tucked between colonial columns, breakfast comes gratis and courtyard gardens give way to a small pool. Three daughters restored this casa and you’ll feel part of the familia in no time.

The lakeside town of Bacalar may be on an upward curve as a destination, but it manages to retain a certain laid-back charm – thanks in part to its way-down-south location on the Belizean border and the fact it’s not quite on the Yucatán coast. But what it lakes in shoreline, it makes up for with the incredible Lagoon of Seven Colors. Set just back from the natural spectacle, you’ll find Toto Blue, with just 11 boutique rooms, a bar and free bikes to borrow, plus hammocks on the rooftop practically begging you to chill out.

This jungle-shrouded spa hotel near the Yucatán capital, Mérida, is the antidote to the bustling resorts of the peninsula. Based around a centuries-old cenote, or underground pool, the treatment menu blends ancient Mayan mysticism with modern facilities (wood-lined cabins, a sauna, steam room, even “sensation showers”). Plus, there’s an outdoor infinity pool set in sleek, white marble. Afterwards, steal a siesta in your private casita within the 19th-century walls of the hotel, a working hacienda that produces honey, jams and more.

If you’ve come to Mexico’s playa playground for blue seas and sugar-fine sand, you’ll find it at Aqua Star Hotel. Rooms and apartments are simple and functional, done out in tropical woods and shades of blue that nod to the view outside. Plump for one with a balcony – or even a hot tub, if you’re feeling flush – and bag a sea-facing front-row seat. The pool deck and beach are pretty special, too.

From above, Mahekal Beach Resort with its handful of palapa-style huts blends subtly into the jungle. At ground level, luxe touches including sea-facing beach houses and treehouse-style penthouses – there’s even a palatial residencia, with a kitchen and private terrace with hammocks. There’s a spa and several pools to spoil, plus a dive center that’s been here for 35 years, so they know every fish-filled corner of the nearby reefs. Ask nicely and they’ll show you where the turtles live.

Until recently, Isla Holbox – an island off the north Yucatán coast – was very much a laid-back, lo-fi sort of place, where you kicked off your shoes on arrival and dispensed with them until you left. It still has many of those things – car-free, crowd-free, carefree – but the arrival of several hotels marks a turning point. Designed by young architects who won a competition for their Mayan-influenced ideas, Punta Caliza is all whitewashed walls, single-story dwellings, cedarwood interiors and palapa roofs. Come here from May to September, during whale shark season, when you can swim alongside the world’s largest fish.

This loved-up hotel woos honeymooners and couples with its adults-only offering on the beach in Tulum. Rooms are designed for two and chef Paul Bentley, who’s won awards for his Magno Brasserie in Guadalajara, seduces with his Med-Mexican menu in the main restaurant. There are jungle adventures in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve and river tours where you can spot spider monkeys swooping through matchstick palms. In the spa, couples can connect with various rituals performed in a traditional Mexican sauna. You’re in Tulum, after all…