Hotel Esencia
Xpu-Há, Mexico
★ Verified by our editors · September 2026
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The verdict
The private house of an Italian duchess on the bay of Xpu-Há, between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, now a hotel of 47 suites and four villas on a 50-acre estate of garden and forest. The Main House still stands at the centre, the rooms are white, bright and quietly done, and the beach is semi-private, with sea turtles nesting on it every year. It holds three MICHELIN Keys, the only hotel on the Mexican Caribbean coast with three.
A beach week with space, quiet and a spa that is worth the trip alone.
You want to be in town: Playa del Carmen and Tulum are a drive away, and the hotel is built for staying in.
Ask for a Master Beach Suite for the sea, or The Esencia Suite in the Main House for the history, and book the temazcal at the spa for an evening rather than a morning.
The rooms
Forty-seven suites and four villas across twelve categories, from Jungle Suites in the gardens — some with plunge pools — to Master Beach Suites on the sand, Rooftop Wellness Suites with their own pools and fitness studios, and The Esencia Suite in the Main House.
The setting
On Xpu-Há, one of the calmest bays of the Riviera Maya, with a white-sand beach, palms and forest behind. The estate covers 50 acres, and the spa sits at the east end of the gardens under palapa roofs — thatch of palm leaves.
The food
Three restaurants: Mistura, Mexican cooking with a Mediterranean touch; Taiyo, Japanese in the sushi tradition with a Mexican twist; and an outpost of Beefbar. There is also a coffee and juice bar, and a beach bar.
Getting there
About 30 minutes by car from Tulum airport and an hour from Cancún's. Playa del Carmen is some 20 minutes north, Tulum 25 minutes south.
Good to know
The spa has a temazcal — a Maya sweat lodge — steam rooms, a sauna, an ice chamber and a cold plunge, and makes its own products in an organic kitchen. There is a tennis court built to US Open standard.
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