Lifestyle hotels continue to be the must-have item in the hospitality industry.
Copy my trip: Hotel Xcaret México in Playa del Carmen
01.06.2024 - 14:19 / lonelyplanet.com
Lonely Planet destination editor Melissa Yeager recently traveled to Playa del Carmen to take in the relaxing natural beauty of one of its ecoresorts. Here, she shares some tips and insights for anyone planning a similar trip.
Inevitably there are destinations and hotels you come across that you immediately think, in the words of Liz Lemon: “I want to go to there.”
That feeling washed over me when I first saw the images of the Hotel Xcaret swirling on social media several years ago. I combed through dozens of prospective dates, but it was booked solid and I had to let the dream of swimming through the turquoise waters of Xcaret’s stalactite-gilded underground rivers drift from my mind.
The first Xcaret (pronounced Ish-cah-ret) opened as a natural eco-park in 1990 in Playa del Carmen, a little more than an hour's drive from Cancun International Airport. Architect Miguel Quintana Pali originally intended to build his dream home on the property, but as he started clearing the land for construction, he discovered cenotes, underground rivers and Mayan ruins on the site. Instead of keeping it for himself, he developed it into Mexico’s first eco-park and a tribute to his country and culture.
In recent years, the popular Grupo Xcaret’s portfolio has grown to include five theme parks and three luxury all-inclusive resorts that provide not only all your food, drink and activities on the property but also theme park entrance as well.
So when Xcaret invited me to check out the property, it was an immediate yes. But I wondered: would it live up to the hype? Would the theme parks be natural wonders or “Disney-fied” versions of the real thing? Here’s what I experienced.
I stayed in the original Hotel Xcaret México resort – the largest of the properties with 900 rooms sprawled over five buildings, all recessed delicately among the lush river and beachfront landscape.
With that many rooms, you would think the resort would feel crowded. And it does in the lobby, where you get a sense of just how many people are staying at this resort. However, the frenetic movement of people checking in and baggage delivery is confined to that area. Once you enter the stunning greenery and waterways of the resort, you often forget that this is a large place. It has a chic atmosphere and plenty of quiet places to relax.
The resort tries to match its guests to appropriate rooms by looking at the ages of people staying in the room. Often, they’ll group families with smaller children near each other and in places with activities suitable for those ages (there’s a wading pool with a nearby kid-friendly buffet and a bar with a view of the pool for parents). Meanwhile, they have an adults-only building (along with their adults-only
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