When you book something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
While Mexico was once known for its mega resorts in tourist-heavy destinations like Cancun and Cabo San Lucas, the all-inclusive hotels of yesteryear are no longer what entice travelers to visit the country. Long gone are the days of glow-in-the-dark daiquiris consumed in Americanized bars (Señor Frog’s, anyone?). Now, it’s all about the country’s array of gorgeous boutique hotels, many of which are designed by Mexico’s most prolific architects and are based in natural sites that offer miles of untouched beachfront and sustainable design to mirror the setting.
Vogue’s Guide to Mexico’s Under-the-Radar Hotels:
- For a Solar-Powered Oasis: Hotel Terrestre
- For a Retreat in a Biosphere Reserve: Casa Chablé
- For Adventurous Couples: Club de Patos
- For Swimming and Hiking: Hotel San Cristóbal
- For a Restorative Retreat: Habitas Bacalar
- For a Healing Spa: Cala de Mar
From Bacalar to Todos Santos (and some even more off-the-grid locations, too), here are nine stunning spots perfect for a refined beach vacation.
Hotel Terrestre
Beyond the convivial charm of Puerto Escondido is Punta Pajaros, a private stretch of coastline host to projects built by some of the world’s leading architects. One such is Hotel Terrestre, a Grupo Habita property designed by the Mexican architect Alberto Kalach that operates completely off the grid by solely using solar power. Brutalist in style, the property features 15 brick suite-style compounds made of Oaxacan clay, each with its own second-story plunge pool that offers views of the Pacific Ocean. At the center of the property is an outdoor swimming pool and an open-air restaurant, both situated near a hexagonal spa structure containing a chilled water tub, steam room, and indoor-outdoor showers. Just down the road is Kakurega Omakase, a chef’s table dining experience, and El Papelillo, a contemporary sweat lodge designed by the Mexico City-based design studio Tezontle.
- Amenities: Open-air restaurant, spa, swimming pool
- Editor’s tip: The nonprofit Casa Wabi arts center, designed by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi, is within walking distance and can be accessed by pre-booking a tour.
- Address: Carretera Salina Cruz- Pinotepa, 71983 Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
Casa Chablé
Located beyond the hustle-and-bustle of Tulum’s beach road and deep into the protected Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is Casa Chablé. (The reserve became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.) First built as a private home in the 1990s by a Mexican family who grew palm trees to harvest coconuts, the property was purchased by Chablé Hotels when it went up for auction and is now one of the only hotels in the reserve. About 22 miles south of Tulum, the hidden sanctuary is located in an otherwise untouched stretch of Quintana Roo’s Caribbean coast and is best accessed by boat. The property’s main villa offers five rooms, each with private balconies. Just beyond the villa’s plunge pool, a central area shaded by palms is a sand pathway that leads to five oceanfront bungalows: standalone suites with indoor-outdoor showers and terraces.
- Amenities: Swimming pool, spa, restaurant, bar, private dock
- Editor’s tip: Using the property’s bikes, guests can cycle to nearby Maya monuments.
- Address: Sian Ka’an Biosphere, Carretara Tulum-Punta Allen Km 34.5, Sian Kaan Biosphere Reserve, Punta Allen, QROO, 77780
Club de Patos
This former hunting lodge is now a conservation project with sustainability and community development at its core. Located about an hour north of Merida in the seaside town of Sisal, Club de Patos is a nine-room boutique hotel set on the Gulf of Mexico. As a sanctuary to over 70 bird species, it’s easy to get lost on long walks throughout the property. While there, guests can learn about the history of the Sisal community, which was once one of the most popular ports of Yucatán during the henequen trade. Now, the sleepy fisherman’s village is where the hotel sources its catch of the day to make delicious ceviches and fish tacos.
- Amenities: Complimentary breakfast, seafood restaurant, adventure activities
- Editor’s tip: During a stay, guests can bike, kayak, kite surf, or scuba dive in the area.
- Address: C. 21 S/N, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, 97356 Sisal, Yucatán
Hotel San Cristóbal
In the dusty desert town of Todos Santos in Baja California Sur, a drive down a dirt road can lead to all sorts of wonders, from organic restaurants to boutique hotels like Hotel San Cristóbal. The 32-room property is situated around a central courtyard draped in vibrant textiles produced in Guadalajara and a swimming pool and two hot tubs made elemental with washed sand finishing. As one of the area’s only oceanfront hotels, most rooms offer floor-to-ceiling ocean or mountain views, including some with private saltwater plunge pools and shaded seating for an intimate atmosphere to unwind and connect with nature. The hotel also hosts two restaurants: Benno, an oceanfront concept inspired by the flavors of Baja with a Mediterranean touch, and Cosecha, a garden-to-table dining experience located in the hotel’s huerto, or vegetable garden.
- Amenities: Jacuzzi, swimming pool, spa, chapel, boutique shop
- Editor’s tip: Adjacent to the hotel and accessible by walking is the Punta Lobos trailhead, one of the area’s best hikes that offers clifftop views of the Pacific Ocean. Sightings of whales and seals are common!
- Address: N° Km 54+ 23300 800, México 19, 23300 Todos Santos, B.C.S.
Habitas Bacalar
Though it’s not located on the Caribbean Sea, Habitas Bacalar does have front-row access to one of the most serene water sources in the Yucatán Peninsula. Set directly on the Bacalar Lagoon, the 35-room property grants guests intimate access to the 26-mile freshwater lagoon, a body of water with living stromatolite formations (similar to coral) believed to be about 3.5 billion years old. Each of the wooden A-frame suites is identical in style, while some are situated lagoon-side and others with views of the mangroves or dense jungle canopy. When guests are not participating in yoga and sound healing sessions at the central palapa or dining on the vegetable-forward fare at the property’s restaurant, Siete, they can take one of the hotel’s complimentary paddle boards to explore the lagoon’s seven shades of blue.
- Amenities: Lagoon-front deck and bar, yoga palapa, restaurant, complimentary use of paddleboards
- Editor’s tip: The hotel has a private dock where catamarans can transport guests to adventures to further explore the Bacalar Lagoon.
- Address: Carretera Federal 307 Xul Ha, 77963 Bacalar, Quintana Roo
Cala de Mar
Engulfed by nature, the 59 suites of this intimate oceanfront retreat cascade down a cliffside, offering some of the most dramatic panoramic ocean views in the state of Guerrero. Located in Ixtapa, south of Zihuatanejo along the Pacific Coast, this refuge sits on the lush Sierra Madre cliff. As if the views weren’t enough, each of the suites offers spacious terraces and private heated plunge pools. The spa is not to be missed, which offers ancestral healing treatments like a temazcal sweat lodge ceremony or a massage with hot obsidian stones. During a stay, guests can enjoy dining at Las Rocas, an open-air poolside restaurant, or drinks at the hotel’s tequila room, a unique, iron-gated indoor exploration of 65 of the region’s best 100% agave single barrel and Añejo tequilas.
- Amenities: Three restaurants, a tequila and mezcal bar, yoga and meditation deck, temazcal, gym
- Editor’s tip: Guests can enjoy the intimacy and privacy of visiting the hotel’s secluded cove.
- Address: Paseo, Punta Ixtapa S/N, Zona Hotelera II, 40880 Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Guerrero
Las Alamandas
Located on Mexico’s Pacific Coast and equidistance between Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta—about two hours each way—is the stunning and intimate Las Alamandas. Nestled on 2,000 acres of unspoiled nature reserve, the beachfront hotel is all about laid-back luxury and is comprised of eight individual villas and 18 suites, each with bright and breezy décor. With a team that offers impeccable attention to service and detail, a stay here feels more like a visit to a friend’s private home than anything else. While there, enjoy horseback riding, kayaking, fishing, or biking around the property. Or just lounge in a hammock with a cocktail in hand.
- Amenities: Outdoor pool, spa, steam room, gym, kids club
- Editor’s tip: When guests arrive, they’re greeted with a welcome cocktail and a bouquet of fragrant flowers in their suite.
- Address: Carretera Federal 200, Km 83 Quemaro, 48850 Quemaro, Mexico
Hotel Esencia
Just south of Playa del Carmen, before you reach Tulum’s now-crowded hotel strip, you’ll find the under-the-radar Hotel Esencia. Previously the private escape of an Italian duchess, the property is now owned by the Hollywood producer and entrepreneur Kevin Wendle and features four expansive guest villas staffed with private butlers and 47 suites, each with private terraces and some with their own heated pool and solarium that look to the Caribbean. There’s plenty to do with cenotes and Maya ceremonial sites nearby, plus a turtle sanctuary reef just feet from the hotel’s beach. Guests won’t want to miss a paddleboard excursion in the nearby cenote, where a sighting of the resident manatee family is likely, or a shaman-led temazcal sweat lodge ceremony.
- Amenities: Yoga palapa, cafe, juice bar, three restaurants, outdoor swimming pool, temazcal
- Editor’s tip: The hotel recently debuted the Esencia Mansion, a four-bedroom villa with three swimming pools, a screening room with seating for 20, and a subterranean speakeasy.
- Address: 77734 Xpu Há, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Casa Las Tortugas
Located on the increasingly popular Isla Holbox, an island paradise just northwest of Cancun, this collectsion of 24 bohemian-chic rooms and casitas is decidedly the anti-resort. Accessible only by boat (and with no cars allowed on the island), Holbox feels a world away from the nearby mainland. Guests spend mornings kite surfing or (in the right season) swimming with whale sharks and afternoons lounging under palapas on the beach and indulging in the restaurant’s wildly fresh ceviche.
- Amenities: Three restaurants, spa, swimming pool
- Editor’s tip: Guests can enjoy daily yoga classes led by local practitioners.
- Address: Av. Damero, Centro, 77310 Isla Holbox, Q.R., Mexico
