In the Yucatan Peninsula, where debaucherous all-inclusive resorts reign over Cancun and Playa del Carmen, intrepid-minded travelers are increasingly heading west to find a piece of the region’s former solitude. The new Chablé Resort & Spa delivers it in spades. Tucked into the Mexican jungle, less than a 30-minute drive from the historic town of Mérida, the hotel occupies a 750-acre resurrected hacienda from the 19th century. The 38 contemporary casitas are lined in dark woods, with freestanding stone tubs and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out to private, lantern-lit plunge pools. Each structure is choked by tropical flora, a theme that translates to other open-air spaces, like chef Jorge Vallejo’s restaurant inside the manor house. His menu celebrates regional cuisine with ingredients sourced from the on-site garden, where a horticulturist harvests produce and herbs using traditional Mayan techniques. Organic living is a mantra at Chablé, and the driving force behind raw food dishes and fresh-fish aguachiles (a cousin to ceviche). It’s a tangible theme at the resort’s anchor, a natural cenote that provides the foundation for the world-class spa. Treatments embrace a set of indigenous rituals that range from volcanic clay wraps to floatation therapy to a traditional Temazcal sweat chamber. But this is Mexico, after all. So the world’s largest tequila collection is at the ready. – Kayla Renshaw
Follow Us