Boca de Agua

Passing through the lush, emerald green jungle along a long, bumpy and slightly flooded dirt track, we finally emerge and glimpse a limestone, almost-pyramid-like structure with steps up to the reception and restaurant, and plants and trees woven around it. Arriving at Boca de Agua almost feels like turning up at another glorious Mayan archaeological site. Design-wise, it is unlike any other hotel I have ever seen.

While our eyes take in the majesty before us, our bags are slickly removed and taken to our room. Up the steps, we again soak in the architectural feast that surrounds us. Here there is no inside-outside divide. No block walls keeping the elements at bay. There is a covered roof, but otherwise it’s an open-air design, leaving you to feel fully immersed in the jungle. In addition to the ambitious design, we later discover Boca de Agua has also placed sustainability high up the agenda and so far, 90 per cent of the land purchased for the project has been left untouched.

We are shown to our room – a minimalist, treehouse-style concoction, lifted several metres from the ground, again in order to minimise the footprint, but also to submerge you fully into jungle life. The hotel has brought in natural fabrics, such cream linen curtains and sapodilla wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Try as you may, you won’t see a plastic bottle in sight. Instead, there’s a huge glass cylinder filled with drinking water in the room.

I could plonk myself in our treehouse and lull myself to sleep in the cream hammock or alternatively laze around in the pool. Yes, we even have our very own small pool to cool off in. Instead, I’m hankering after flopping about in the lagoon. I grab J — a Dutch woman I invited to join me after swapping details at the end of a walking tour in the colourful Yucatán city Mérida, and finding out she was also in Bacalar 10 days later (thanks, Instagram) — and we make our way down the lengthy wooden pier to the private deck facing out towards the swoon-worthy body of water, nicknamed the Lagoon of the Seven Colours. There are lots of gasps as we pull out our phones for photo opportunities, before we strip down to our swimwear and slip into the crystalline water. We’re in Mexican heaven as we lounge on the lagoon-edge day-beds and read our books.

Well, until the heavens open, that is. And so, with everything open to the elements (the downside to the design is it’s hard to escape the weather), we go inside and play boules before the heavy rain subsides. When it does, we head to one of Boca’s trump cards: its outdoor swimming pool, with bright green tiles, and more cream sofas and hammocks, all surrounded by the lushness of the jungle. It’s mesmerising. I secure one of the hammocks and gently sway away, reading my book.

Post-rest, I take a shower. I wouldn’t usually fan-girl over a shower, but this is not like any other shower you’ve ever taken. This is an outdoor shower framed with foliage, and, apart from the water trickling, the only sounds you hear are those belonging to owls, crickets, or perhaps spider monkeys; it feels exactly as exquisite and wild a shower in the jungle should.

At dinner, chef Carlos makes an impression, knocking out local Mexican gastronomy fused with international cuisine. Admittedly there are no vegan options for me on the menu, but the supremo Carlos pays us a visit at our table and discusses the options, then whips me up one of the tastiest risottos I’ve ever devoured. We follow this up with a mezcal tasting. When in Mexico, right?

The next day, a member of staff called Cesar gives us a short tour of the jungle, pulling off leaves from a pepper tree and showing us medicinal plants. Afterwards, we head off with Hakuna Sailing for an educational four-hour trip (Boca de Agua also offers sailing on the lagoon), led by two biologists who help us understand the threat the luminous 26-mile-long lake is experiencing from over-development in the region. While in laidback Bacalar, we also visit restaurant/store/gallery space El Manatí, which offers a mainly vegetarian and vegan menu, and has a lush garden; tour its fortress, Fuerte de San Felipe de Bacalar, designed to defend the town from attacks by pirates; relax at beach club La Playita; and dine at no-frills vegan joint Mango y Chile.

Towards the end of our stay, we hear that apparently a Games of Thrones actor recently kipped at Boca de Agua and so did the super-cool singer Solange, who stayed in our room just the month before. On our last night, I have the best sleep I’ve had for a long time (and I say this as a raving insomniac). The next day, I leave feeling restored and genuinely sad to depart, because I don’t think I’ll ever stay anywhere as unique as Boca de Agua. A word of warning, though: don’t forget the mosquito spray.