Elite Traveler HRS 2023

etr li at ve eler HOTELS, RESORTS & SPAS 2023 52

Itzam serves up-to-date twists on family recipes

Etéreo, a 75-room beachfront resort

Flanked by fl ickering fi repits and swishing palm trees, the open-air Itzam is the main dining hub, taking inspiration from not only the Yucatán Mayans but the whole Mayan empire, which stretched into modern-day Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. Many of the dishes are up-to-date twists on family recipes sourced from the kitchen sta ff , many of whom are Mayan. The seasonal menu is genuinely exciting, and even the most seasoned of foodies may not be familiar with all the ingredients. Try the refreshing salad of shaved chayote (a green gourd) served with Ocosingo cheese, fl axseed crisps and mustard leaves, and the rich, salsa macha-drizzled lobster esquite — an upscale version of a corn street-food favorite — is a must. At the more casual poolside Che Che, the concept is Mexico-meets-Japan, with earthenware plates of crispy gyoza over fl owing with silky birria, an ancestral braised beef stew from Jalisco. Don’t miss the tasting of Mexican sake. selenite, glassy re fl ection pools and cleansing vibes — both of the new-age and age-old variety. The experience starts with a spiritual cleanse at the Mayan altar and then a corporal cleanse at the spa’s high-design interpretation of a cenote (a geological feature in the region), featuring steams and showers with cacao soap coated in reishi fungus, local honey and crystal-infused kaolin clays. Treatments range from the mindful to the mystical and include massages with sacred obsidian and jade stones; body veils of geranium, calendula and palo santo; and spirit-refreshing smoke smudges. There’s even a dedicated botanist to help curate these wellness experiences. By Nicole Trilivas From $1,000 per night. Contact +1 855 725 5333, aubergeresorts.com RELAX Etéreo’s Sana spa is adorned with luminescent

handmade textiles; carved parota wood panels by pioneering Mexican abstract artist Manuel Felguérez; and curated cultural tributes, like bedside terra-cotta fi gurines of the Mesoamerican Xoloitzcuintli dog, revered by the Mayans and Aztecs. STAY Etéreo’s 75 oceanview rooms are divided into 14 categories, though they can be loosely broken down into studios, suites and penthouses. The penthouses don’t necessarily denote location. For example, some are positioned on the main ‘ground’ level, which actually sits at the tree line of the mangrove. (Etéreo doesn’t have a back of house; instead, it has an ‘under house,’ as all the behind-the-scenes activity happens on the lowest level, which sits under the canopy of mangroves.) Penthouses — the largest of which spans 3,925 sq ft and includes three bedrooms — are spread over two fl oors and come with plunge pools, ping-pong tables and outdoor space. The generous sky decks and/or (still generous) balconies are perfect spots to watch the fuchsia-tinged sunrises set the sea on fi re and turn the pools to glass each morning. The high-design, beachy-boho aesthetic is similar throughout all rooms. Entryways are ornamented with a small altar of lustrous shells, painted clay ornaments and milky crystals as a tribute to the four elements, and doors are unlocked via bamboo bracelet (no plastic key card — or any plastic, for that matter — here.) Inside the rooms, the palette is all calming neutrals of sandy white and dusty charcoal, plus plenty of warm tzalam wood (aka Mayan walnut), polished lava stone and fi ery pops of gleaming copper. DINE At Etéreo, the culinary o ff ering is just as stylized as the surroundings. Executive chef Miguel Baltazar swaps the typical guac-and-margs fare for wood- fi red comal cooking with ancient roots, Japanese-in fl ected mash-ups and sustainably sourced seafood.

ETÉREO, AUBERGE RESORTS COLLECTION MAYAN RIVIERA, MEXICO The bar is set high for the ritzy resorts of Mexico’s Mayan Riviera, the tourism hot spot near Cancún, which extends roughly 100 miles down the sugar white Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Here, it takes something above and beyond to get your attention. Enter Etéreo, Auberge Resorts Collection. The 75-room beachfront Etéreo (meaning ‘ethereal’ in Spanish) opened in December 2021 as the fi rst hotel in the new, ultra-luxe, 680-acre Kanai complex, a Mayakoba-like resort development slated to include properties by St Regis and Edition. Cleverly crafted from pearly white coral stone and snaking wooden boardwalks, Etéreo looks as if it’s fl oating above a thick, verdant tangle of natural mangrove forest, which is protected under the Mexican government. The cool, earthy and almost brutalist aesthetic of Etéreo comes courtesy of Mexico City-based architects Migdal and landscape architects EDSA, whose portfolio includes properties by Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton and Rosewood. Interiors by Meyer Davis are dedicated to Mexican craftsmanship, fi tted with achingly on-trend

The sunken fi repit