I Visited This Idyllic Beachfront Mexican Hotel to Learn What Conrad's 'Year of the Resort' Was All About

05.08.2024 - 21:11 / travelandleisure.com / Conrad Maldives

On a particularly relaxed Friday in August, I spent the morning with my two best friends in the Tulum jungle, splashing around what I'm quite sure is the world's most entertaining pool. We were at the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya Resort's spa pool, which comes tricked out with mystery buttons around the perimeter, each setting off a variety of jets, waterfalls, and even a surge of bubbles bursting out from a lounger submerged a foot below the water's surface. 

Shaded by a thatched roof, we bounced — and I mean bounced with actual glee — from one button to the next, guessing the form in which water would spout, gurgle, or foam out at us. Then, we hit the spa's hydrotherapy circuit, and after a brief (ok, very brief) cold plunge, we settled in a chic concrete hot tub, where the spa manager served us mango-flavored popsicles. 

«Luxury doesn't have to be serious,» said Dino Michael, senior vice president and global category head for Hilton's luxury brands, when I told him about my girls' trip at Conrad Tulum.

My stay was proof of that very sentiment. My two days at Conrad Tulum, filled with sunrise soaks in our alfresco tub overlooking the ocean, mezcal Negronis at Ultramar pool bar, and visits to the build-your-own chilaquiles station at Arbolea restaurant each morning, was pure, luxurious resort fun. And it all showed off exactly what I went to investigate: Conrad’s commitment to the resort life. 

While the Hilton-owned luxury brand does have a few standout resorts, like Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, celebrated for its game-changing underwater suite, I associate it mostly with big-city hotels — like Conrad Los Angeles, which opened in the summer of 2022 with three restaurants and a bar by Jose Andrés. 

But in 2022, Conrad went hard on the resort narrative, spurred by the successful Conrad Punta de Mita opening in 2020. That property is why I was keen to check out the 349-room beachfront accommodation in Tulum, which opened in January 2022. It’s attached to the new Hilton Tulum Resort, the brand’s first (and incredibly well-received) foray into all-inclusives.

Conrad’s brand-new Sardinian and Moroccan hotels also came online in 2022, both taking cues from the Tulum hotel, which fully immerses guests in the natural environment, with a secluded beach and laidback, bohemian design by HBA. 

Contemporary, envelope-pushing interiors are a focus for Conrad, Michael shared, describing the “Conrad modern design aesthetic” as “bold and impactful.” He offered the example of Conrad Kuala Lumpur, coming in 2024: “It’s very dramatic in design, the [food and beverage offerings] are off-the-chart dynamic. KL has a lot of classic luxury; a slightly more formal environment. But this [hotel] is much more bold and higher