Hotel Esencia occupies a 50-acre estate on the bay of Xpu-Ha, midway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, on one of the few undeveloped shores left on the Riviera Maya. The main house was built as the private hideaway of an Italian duchess and later became a hotel, and a new chapter began in 2014 under a new owner, who reimagined the estate around its aristocratic past. The Main House is still the centrepiece, its salon and Master Suites furnished with mid-century pieces from Le Corbusier, Perriand and Picasso, and paths lead through palm gardens to suites and villas with plunge pools, roof terraces and views of the garden or the sea. Sea turtles nest on the beach each year. There are three restaurants: Mistura, a Mexican kitchen with a Mediterranean touch under a beachfront palapa; Taiyo, rooted in sushi tradition; and Beefbar, the steakhouse born in Monaco. The palapa-roofed spa is built around a Mayan organic kitchen where therapists blend local herbs, oils and honey into balms and scrubs, with a sweat lodge, an infrared sauna and a cold plunge. The Esencia Mansion is the grandest of the hotel's private villas.
- Nearest airport
- Cancún International Airport (CUN), 45 Miles / 73 Kilometres
- Rooms
- 51 rooms, suites and villas
Insider tip Book a table at Mistura, where Mexican seafood comes under a beachfront palapa with a wide view of the Caribbean.
Why I choose it A duchess's former beach house on an unspoilt Caribbean bay, with turtles on the sand and a spa that makes its own remedies.
