Search results for

Why we love it: A design-forward oasis for creative nomads

The Highlights:
- The bright and airy inner courtyard with a massive chaca tree
- Regular programming like live music and wellness workshops
- No single-use plastics in sight

The Review:
From Tulum tastemaker Derek Klein (of Gitano fame) comes this minimalist tropical hotel on the edge of the ever-expanding city. Imagined as a hub for creative types, Casa Pueblo hosts wellness workshops, live music, readings, and other community events, but also boasts amenities like a saltwater pool, rooftop bar, and in-house restaurant situated in an airy central courtyard. Yucatan textiles and handmade pottery can be found in various nooks and seating areas.

The hotel’s 16 spare rooms face into the courtyard and feature clean white-plaster walls, hand-sculpted bedside sconces, carved wooden furniture, and slatted wooden shutters covering floor-to-ceiling windows. Luuna memory foam mattresses wear Parachute linens and bathrooms showcase custom-made concrete sinks and open rain showers. Purified water in glass carafes and full-size organic Loredana bath products mean no single-use plastics, helping the hotel remain 99 percent plastic-free.

It’s no wonder Georgia O’Keeffe came to this New Mexico town to paint. The high-desert setting inspires artists. Think of the city as your oyster: Take in the abundance of local works that occupy a surprising variety of spaces. Hop from ceramic studio to folk art museum, and from photography exhibit to cutting-edge gallery. Even the capitol building is filled with artwork.

If your idea of a perfect beach includes white sands and clear, calm waters, Fort Myers and Sanibel have you covered. Here, you’ll have your choice of beaches with Gulf of Mexico views, great fishing and shelling, a family scene, or the ideal bar for watching the sunset.

Rosewood Mayakoba puts you in a vacation mindset within moments after you land in Mexico. The resort’s 130 suites are strung along the canals of the lagoon or overlook the Caribbean. If you’re looking for a quiet escape along with a serene 17,000-square foot spa on its own island and three restaurants serving the best local dishes and tequilas—then Rosewood Mayakoba is the right resort for you.

Once just a popular food truck in a temporary locale, Charly’s now has its own permanent location on Tulum’s hip hotel strip. Its chefs have managed to take traditional Mexican meat-based dishes and turn them into 100-percent vegan recipes while still maintaining the classic flavors. Try the vegetarian version of an aguachile (seafood marinated in lime juice, onion, and chili) or a trio of tacos with your fillings and toppings of choice, like imitation carnitas, porkless crackling, or mushrooms. Best of all is the restaurant’s garden location, whose atmosphere of cool, beachy charm features shady trees and wicker lanterns.

Why we love it: A wellness-focused stay where relaxation comes first

The Highlights:
- A staff nutritionist who can create customized menus before your arrival
- Suites with outdoor clawfoot tubs for alfresco bathing
- Yoga mats available in every room

The Review:
If you’re dreaming of making your wellness fantasies a reality, Sanará checks all the boxes. In addition to minimalist white interiors that encourage meditation—or, at the very least, tranquility—the boutique resort offers daily morning and evening yoga sessions, vegan meals made with locally sourced produce, and organic bath products crafted on site. Even the mosquito spray is biodegradable (but don’t worry, the 17 guest rooms have air conditioning). Though there’s no pool on the grounds, the resort is steps from a white-sand beach kissed by lapping waves and dotted with shady loungers. If you’re in need of even deeper relaxation, Sanará’s five serene treatment rooms set the tone for crystal healing, Mayan-inspired remedies, and bio-magnetic therapy, as well as soothing facials and massages.

Disco ball, lounge, jungle, and cuisine all come together at this trendy restaurant located on Tulum’s main hotel-zone avenue. The venue is renowned for its eclectic style that blends unusual lighting, a lush outdoor setting, and live DJ nights for a cool, hippie-style vibe. Dinner is prepared over open-fire grills and in wood-burning ovens, resulting in flavorful Mexican favorites like taco samplers, quesadillas with epazote, grilled avocado, and slow-roasted pork belly. Gitano also specializes in strange but enticing cocktails from its mezcal bar, like ones that include ingredients like rum, hibiscus, and tropical fruits.

Although Mexico City gets much of the credit for its country’s booming culinary scene, Guadalajara also features an incredible variety of flavors. The city has something for everyone, from classic street food like spicy tortas and stews, to fine-dining restaurants offering a sophisticated take on regional dishes, to a burgeoning craft beer and cocktail culture.

This shop, down a tiny sunny alley off a sidestreet in Colonia Roma (Córdoba 67 interior 7), is like many other Mexico City’s shops that support women’s crafts collective, but it’s slightly different in that it carefully curates its inventory—made using the local traditional crafts of weaving, embroidery, jewelry-making—choosing only those pieces that complement a more modern lifestyle. Yes, that’s a traditional huipil, or pullover tunic, from Guerrero, but while this simple embroidered piece would work for your abuela, it would also look cool at your graphic design gig in LA. The shop has outlets at Hotel Condesa DF and its products are carried by stores in Puebla and Tulum.

The narrow Boca Paila highway runs down the edge of the Riviera Maya in Tulum, dividing the jungle from the sea. Tucked away at kilometer-marker 7.5 lies Casa Jaguar, a haven for the best of both worlds. The restaurant emphasizes Caribbean flavors, using fresh, local ingredients and prepared food and drink with Mexican flair. Try the grilled aguachile seafood cocktail, or the sea bass with corn masa, and wash it all down with a drink of copal mescal, the perfect foil for intense local heat. Beyond being a great restaurant, Casa Jaguar is famous for its “Dinner and Party” concept: there’s a jungle-focused celebration every Thursday with artists and alternative live music.

Hidden Xaman is a trip to the post-technology future, a mysterious, underground garden in the center of the urban jungle. Once you’re in—finding it takes some poking around—craft mixologists take the Mexican liquors you know and push them to the edge. The bartenders showcase rare ingredients like cempasúchil marigold, xoconostle prickly pear, and cacao, not to mention artisanal vinegars, spooky tinctures, and kombucha teas, presented in line with all-but-inscrutable pre-Hispanic names. Electro-shamanic beats from resident and guest DJs take you back to that lost weekend in Tulum. So hip it hurts but all are welcome.

Art spaces, wellness retreats, and fine restaurants await, along with 22 miles of trails to reward hikers and cyclists with stellar vistas of New Mexico’s legendary landscapes, including the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Rio Grande River. The city’s epicenter, known as the Plaza, offers dining, window shopping, and Americana treasures. Start your visit with our A Perfect Day in Santa Fe guide, and then go a little deeper with the following recommendations.

Hiking in this enchanted land is a must, with options varying from light to vigorous. Accessible all-season terrain is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts who relish canyon lands, peaks, and elevation inclines—not to mention pristine air and picturesque tableaux. Expect to see flawless aspen groves and wide panoramas of Santa Fe and the surrounding desert, and don’t forget to carry water.

Mexico City was host of the 1968 Olympic Games, and today, a number of the venues used during the Games remain open and accessible to the public, including the Alberca Olímpica. Renovated in 2009, the complex is best known for its Olympic-size pool, which is open to the public for a fee, though it also has spaces for a variety of other sports activities, including martial arts, yoga, tennis, speed skating, and capoeira.

Seminal American artist Georgia O’Keeffe drew inspiration from the lunar landscapes of New Mexico. Follow in her footsteps at some of her favorite painting spots—The White Place, The Black Place (part of Bisti Badlands), and the home of the “Lawrence tree”—or splurge on a 10-day art retreat at her remote studio getaway, Ghost Ranch. View her most famous works and her letters and journals at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, then stop by her adobe studio to see her paints, easel, and impeccable mid-century furniture. Grab a Georgia O’Keeffe biography at Bode’s, her favorite general store in the center of Abiquiu, then round off your art odyssey with “The O’Keeffe Table” at Eloisa: a five-course tasting menu that pays tribute to the foods O’Keeffe cooked at home. —By Edmund Vallance