We are pleased to recommend Esencia Hotel and Spa in Tulum, Mexico. This chic boutique hotel has been called “The best beachside resort in Mexico” by Conde Nast Traveller and “The most heavenly hotel on Earth” by The Sunday Times of London. Originally built as the private home of an Italian duchess, Hotel Esencia is a place where the traditions of the past come together with a cosmopolitan sense of how to live well today. This aristocratic oasis sits where the Yucatán jungle dissolves into the pristine sands of Xpu-ha, one of the only remaining undeveloped shores of the Mayan Riviera.

Esencia offers a bold, worldly outlook on how to savor paradise. The estate’s provenance as a place of leisure for nobility is the guiding inspiration for a modern reimagining. The Main House remains the hotel’s centerpiece, around which footpaths lead to only 29 white-washed villas and suites where guests enjoy genuine privacy and top flight hospitality. Ideally situated far from huge resorts and the roar of pleasure boats, the immaculate bay of Xpu-Ha is a natural haven where each year sea turtles make their nests. Hotel Esencia invites the happy few who know how rare it is to find a place that is truly unique, to make it their home in the tropics.

Esencia boasts a perfect slice of vanilla beach and a super sexy pool. For diversion, be spoiled in the organic spa, visit the Mayan ruins of Tulum, explore the mystical underwater rivers. For adventure, dive the 2nd largest reef in the world, snorkel, zip line, golf on a 27-hole Robert Trent Jones jungle course, ride horses, deep sea fish, kiteboard, and paddleboard. Or do nothing at all.

Dining at Hotel Esencia is at once a culinary voyage and a coming home. Meals taken at the Pool Restaurant or the Garden Restaurant are simple yet sophisticated, drawing as much from Mexico’s eclectic range of regional cuisines as from the well-loved comforts of Mediterranean cooking. What is not taken from Hotel Esencia’s own garden is sourced locally from farmers and artisans in Quintana Roo, or further afield from the places in Mexico known for exemplary delicacies—moles from Oaxaca, fruits from Yucatán, and wines from Baja. And there is a wide variety of restaurants close by plus bars and night clubs.

Even at capacity, one seldom notices other guests at Esencia. It’s the supremely intimate ambiance and the naturally serene environs that set you at ease and ultimately convince you that the place is all yours. Esencia is nothing short of perfect.

The hotel is a proud member of the prestigious Small Luxury Hotels of the World. See for yourself at http://www.hotelesencia.com.