Meagan Drillinger
Playa del Carmen is arguably the more sophisticated older sibling to Cancun. This one-time fishing village about an hour south of Cancun, along the coast of the Caribbean Sea, is now one of the hottest destinations in Mexico, popular with a young and sexy, jet-setting crowd.
Swinging Fifth Avenue is flanked with boutiques, bars and restaurants, while a block over the beach is lined with an array of beach clubs and lounges. At night the city comes alive as the sounds of reggae, rock and salsa spill out into the street.
Every January Playa del Carmen plays host to the BPM Music Festival, one of the most popular electronic music festivals in the world. Playa del Carmen is also the spot from which you can grab the ferry to Cozumel. It's a world unto itself, and often a popular spot for tourists staying at nearby resorts to come out and join the world.
But for travelers who want to be in the heart of the action, there are two new hotels in Playa del Carmen that provide both prime real estate, steps from the party, but also a quiet reprieve for when the call of the beach or private pool is just too strong.
Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen
Opened in June 2015, Grand Hyatt Playa del Carmen is a sexy, chic hotel with a minimalist, open-air design that lets the destination speak for itself. Guests enter an expansive lobby that shows off a wide-angle view of the sea. A private promenade, lined with kiosks that sell everything from coffee to tacos to sushi, leads down to the infinity pool area and the beach.
The hotel has 314 guestrooms, including 36 suites. Certain rooms have their own plunge pools or swim-up pools. Those staying in Grand Club rooms have access to the Grand Club Lounge, which provides a daily breakfast buffet and evening cocktails and small bites. Onsite dining options include the kiosks along the El Paseo promenade, the Grill at 1-26 and La Cocina.
A dinner at the Grill is an absolute must for its charcoal-grilled meats and fish, which can be paired with a long list of creative cocktails whipped up by resident mixologist, or a Mexican wine. The Grill just recently began hosting monthly Full Moon dinners, with tables set up poolside for dinner with a side of moon-viewing. Another must is lunch at the raw bar kiosk.
Order the ceviche and tuna tostada. But the jewel in the crown of the Grand Hyatt is most definitely its Cenote Spa, at the center of which is an architectural version of a natural cenote. This pool is surrounded in a volcanic-like cone with an opening at the top, reminiscent of a cenote found all along the Yucatan. A dip in the glowing blue water is a must before or after a treatment. Guests can also arrange for private yoga sessions in the cenote. The hotel is just steps from Fifth Avenue, putting guests in the center of all that the party street has to offer.
Lat20 by Live Aqua
Right around the corner from the Grand Hyatt is another new, adults-only boutique hotel from Grupo Posadas. Lat20 by Live Aqua is a rare all-inclusive city hotel that combines resort living with the city beat.
The rooftop pool at Lat20 by Live Aqua. Photo Credit: Meagan Drillinger
The first aspect to strike you upon entering the lofty lobby are the pieces of art that seem to pop from every corner. In the main atrium, where you can find the restaurant, is a brilliantly colored mural that spans the entire wall, evocative of the murals painted in Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Each pocket of the hotel is carefully colored with a custom piece of art.
The most coveted piece of real estate at the hotel is the rooftop terrace, with an infinity pool, sushi restaurant, bar and lounge, all of which overlook the rooftops of Playa del Carmen and the sea in the background. By day couples and friends lounge in daybeds sipping flirty cocktails or swinging in the hanging pod-like swings, but by night the terrace joins its Fifth Avenue neighbors in becoming a sexy party spot.
Other amenities to round out the hotel include a small spa and fitness center, as well as restaurant Dai that serves Asian fusion cuisine.