South of the border is welcoming new hotels, restaurants and other honeymoon-perfect experiences.
By: Karen Tina HarrisonWe perennially love Mexico for its endless golden coastlines, amazing hospitality and fantastic food. Mix in some great shopping, cool historic sights, spectacular spas and a splash or two of tequila and you’ve got an amazing honeymoon destination, no matter your preferred relaxation method. Not only that, Mexico is constantly adding, renovating and debuting fantastic amenities. Here’s the best of the 2013 crop.
New Hotspots
Querétaro
This church-spired, picture-perfect city is set a few hours from the capital, Mexico City. It’s even closer to the also-lovely colonial cities Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. Hop around Querétaro’s vintage plaza and its museums, cafés and cobblestoned pedestrian streets that are all lovingly preserved. The romantic La Casa del Atrio hotel offers designer rooms in an antique villa with a storybook garden (room rates for the two-night honeymoon package start at $550 and include accommodations, breakfast, dinner, a welcome bottle of champagne and more; lacasadelatrio.com).
Roma, Mexico City
In the vibrant capital that is known to locals as D.F. (pronounced day-ef-ay), Mexico City’s cool new hangout is the Roma neighborhood, abutting the glam Condesa district. The artsy scene includes vintage couture boutiques and designer collectives; homegrown restaurants (Maximo for hyperlocal cuisine, Belmondo for salads); and the groovy, modern Hotel Brick, with high-tech trappings and a service-centric attitude (room rates start at $220 a night; hotelbrick.com).
Photo Credit: MexicoBoutiqueHotels.com
Playa del Carmen
Although this one-time fishing village located about 30 minutes south of Cancun has been on the tourism radar for more than a decade, the recent boom in elegant boutique hotel hideaways and upscale eateries is the reason it makes our must-see list. In addition to sparkling nightlife (there’s an outpost of the mega-disco Coco Bongo here), the golden beach is lined with intimate resorts.
Among them: Hotel las Palapas, with seven cozy surfside bungalows (room rates start at $175 a night and include breakfast; laspalapas.com); Mahékal Beach Resort, with a super-private Aventura section (room rates start at $169 a night and include breakfast and dinner; mahekalbeachresort.com; and Acanto Boutique Hotel, a candlelit hacienda a mere block from the ocean (room rates start at $200
a night; acantohotels.com).
Photo Credit: Acanto
Also new in Playa: a culinary craze — check out Aldea Corazon, with a tiki-torched jungle patio; Ah Cacao Chocolate Café, for Mexico’s original sweet stuff, xocolatl; Oh Lala, a buzzy sidewalk spot; and El Fogon, a locals’ den for Yucatan cuisine. Work it off on the new bike path snaking through Playa del Carmen or strolling among the high-end shops.
