Mexico Editor Picks

With just eight, two-story suites (each unit’s two daybeds downstairs are good for kids), this small hotel quickly starts to feel like home. The exceptionally kind and helpful owners are happy to give advice and make arrangements for guests.

There’s no check-in desk at this premier all-star resort, made up of white-washed hacienda-style villas facing the Pacific. Instead, check-in is carried out in your room where a welcome gift of tequila, salt, and chili-ed nuts get your Mexican vacation started right. Extravagant suites have 42” flat screen TVs, fireplaces, telescopes, and an outdoor shower, hot tub, and upstairs terrace, in some.  The redesigned Lounge restaurant sports rainbow-like contemporary colors while the Sea Grill restaurant specializes in the region’s best asset, super-fresh seafood. Pool amenities include Evian spritzes, iPod loans, and ‘Hot Type’ books, which means you’ll read the latest Janet Evanovich before Borders gets it. The Ceviche & Tequila bar has over 50 types of firewater and in the evening it morphs into a Mexi-sushi joint.

Built in 1969, Cozumel’s first luxury hotel is still one of its best, with 220 sleek, modernist rooms, all facing a perfect semicircle of protected bay. There’s a lavish spa as well.

Maroma’s sparkling white-sand beach is renowned for its beauty, and this resort is perfectly located mere steps from the shore. Service is excellent here, and the resort has grown over the years to offer ever-more-pampering accommodations. Maroma was the Riviera Maya’s original luxury resort, built by a Mexican architect on a former coconut grove. Though it belongs to Orient Express now, it retains its Mexican heart. At night, the resort’s pathways are lit with nearly 1,000 candles, while cicadas sing in the jungle. The dramatic Kinan Spa offers a wide range of treatments using organic products. One word of caution: the ground-floor, garden-view rooms in the oldest buildings are a tad disappointing and not worth the high fare.

2008 SMART LUXURY WINNER
Lovingly Crafted Seaside Escape

From the unmarked dirt road leading to its doorstep to the astrologically determined alignment of its spa structure, Maroma has never been afraid to stand out from the crowd. And the crowd on the Riviera Maya has never been bigger, as new megaresorts blossom each season.

Owner José Luis Moreno fell in love with the 500-acre seaside property on a 1976 trip to the Yucatán. Four years later he fell in love with another visitor, Sally Shaw. They both stuck around, got married, and built this 65-room resort in part so their friends could visit, employing local artisans to create a one-of-a-kind environment (and using bamboo from the premises and marble from quarries nearby). The hotel took some 20 years to finish, evident in the custom oversize tubs, handmade tiles, and hand-carved lighting niches.

On arrival, guests are handed a margarita infused with a traditional Mayan honey liqueur known as xtabentún, just one of a host of Mayan-influenced elements. The resort’s Kinan spa (Mayan for “source of life”) offers traditional treatments, such as a volcanic healing steam bath called temazcal. Just off the white-sand beaches, the world’s second-longest barrier reef beckons diving enthusiasts. Best season for value: winter/spring.

Great Value Alternative: Rustic-chic Amansala, a yoga resort near Tulum, is known for its Bikini Bootcamp rejuvenation programs. From $125/night; www.amansala.com

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An atmospheric villa stay at a reasonable price can be had at this seven-suite villa-cum-bed-and-breakfast – a special sanctuary situated on a dazzling cove on Playa Conchas Chinas, just south of Mismaloya. The unique “Mexatarranean” inn, as it’s often described, offers tall doors with lattice terraces, a thatched-roof dinning room, and a pool with a sun-drenched terrace. Eclectic decorum – a mix of elegant European styles, quirky trimmings, and original art – fill the common spaces and guestrooms. A quaint living room with a cozy fireplace and trophy antlers mounted on the wall (one of the many surprising touches that make the place so memorable) serves as a welcoming gathering area, while the palapa dining room hosts breakfast Monday to Saturday from 9am-10am. A shorefront veranda with Roman columns has beach chairs for lounging and the massive rocks just offshore create calm pools, perfect for a refreshing dip. All seven charming suites, which occupy one of the seven floors, are completely original with a whimsical grandeur all their own. The lot comes complete with a kitchenette or full kitchen, air-conditioning, private baths, and balconies or terraces (with the exception of the Jessica suite which has no balcony and limited views). We love the Maria, all 12000 square feet of it, with its dramatic sumptuous style, rich colors, antique armoires, graceful canopied bed, and superb ocean views. The split-level Guadalupe suite is also fabulous with a fantastic beachfront spot right on the sand.

Well-situated at the bay’s northern tip, the Four Seasons offers all the usual comforts, plus inviting beaches, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and a spa that offers indigenous temazcal treatments.

Enveloped by jungle and overlooking the Pacific, the mountains, and the thatched-roofs of Yelapa’s village, Verana is a destination on its own. Six fantastical little houses, all with a completely different style and ambience ranging from bohemian to minimalist, dot the lush hillside. Mango and lemon trees, an infinity pool (fed by natural spring waters), bar, and restaurant flank the tropical grounds while a posh spa offers soothing treatments. With steep stone walkways and the ever-present threat of scorpions (keep those shoes on!), a young hippie-chic, nature lovin’ set follows. A European chef prepares praiseworthy meals, mostly international-style cuisine with a touch of Mexican flair, twice daily. Verana also offers boat trips, walks to the waterfall, and yoga classes. Owners, Heinz Legler, former set director, and Veronique Lièvre, interior designer, often refer to Verana’s rooms as six movie sets. Pick from a palapa-style cottage with no walls, stone floors, eclectic furnishings, and gauzy drapes; a Mediterranean-style stone house with rustic adornments and warm colors; or a striking minimalist studio with polished cement.

The superlative colonial-style hacienda is made up of several villas with commanding views of the muddled village and bay; one of the villas was originally purchased by Richard Burton as a gift for his wife. While the beach and Old Town are within walking distance, this heavenly antique-filled hotel is so divine – dotted with such lush courtyards, pools, and trickling fountains – you may not want to leave at all.

A Mariachi band or a quartet serenades guests every evening at 6pm in the courtyard where guests can enjoy sweet mojitos and complimentary snacks (be sure to sample the spicy guacamole). Continental breakfasts with warm croissants, sweet yogurt, and coffee or tea, are brought to your room every morning.

The hacienda’s suites are all superbly decorated with one-of-a-kind antiques. One of our favorites, Celestial Suite, comes with a dripping candelabra, a gorgeous four-poster bed with billowing gossamer drapes, a Venetian chandelier (circa 1850), a 17th-century silk tapestry, and its own large palapa complete with a thatched roof, private bar, sitting area, and fantastic views of the town, the water, and the velvety Sierra hillside.

2008 SMART LUXURY WINNER
Charming Costa Alegre Perch

When Janice Chatterton finally decided to share her colonial-era home and its unmatched views over old Puerto Vallarta and Banderas Bay with the world, she didn’t scrimp. In fact, she spent six years collecting fine colonial furniture and artwork (from quirky folk pieces to intricate religious art), and acquiring four adjacent villas to create a sprawling hacienda with 16 spacious suites. The staff can direct you to Puerto Vallarta’s best-kept-secret galleries, eateries, and stretches of sand, unless you’d rather sample the three on-site heated pools. Best season for value: early summer.

Great Value Alternative: Cozy Quinta Maria Cortez hotel has great views and excellent service. From $140/night; www.quinta-maria.com

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Spacious rooms with balconies boasting ocean views and marble baths, a luxurious spa, a cooking school, and a range of activities catering to children are some of the reasons this 365-room hotel tops every other in the city.

A member of the prestigious Preferred Hotels & Resorts chain, this grand boutique hotel is perched upon a lush 80-foot cliff in Punta Diamante (a 15-minute drive to the Costera Golden Zone), overlooking the Pacific. It’s filled with classic south-of-the-border style, from its hacienda-style architecture, its many palapas, abundant tropical décor, and rife beachside terraces. Guests can luxuriate on the resort’s own private beach, rejuvenate in the sumptuous spa, dine on Mexican specialties while overlooking the water, and take to the sea with a host of fabulous water sports and facilities. Handsome suites tout balconies with commanding ocean views, marble-tiled floors, Mexican hardwood furniture, white-leather wingback chairs, ceiling fans, high ceilings, and sculpted white headboards. All 74 suites feature Jacuzzi baths and sweet touches like iguana-shaped handles on closet doors.