Riviera Maya, Mexico

Etereo

Price per night from$552.67

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD552.67), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Keeping it ethereal

Setting

Mayan-Caribbean mangrove

Walkways float above dense mangrove forest, terraces cascade leafy tendrils, rooftops bristle with tropical grass… it's easy to imagine that the Etereo hotel emerged fully formed out of its lush jungle setting. And what a setting it is, overlooking the powder-soft coral sands and cobalt turquoise waters that have put the Mayan Riviera firmly in ‘oh-my-god-where-is-that?’ territory. But there’s plenty of manmade beauty to gush over here, too, with artist-led decor and interiors crafted by top New York design talent. The hotel’s name means ‘ethereal’, and whether starfishing on a seafront cabana, healing at the spa or swaying in a poolside hamaca, you’ll appreciate this is a rarefied slice of paradise indeed. 

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

US$100 to spend on spa treatments

Facilities

Photos Etereo facilities

Need to know

Rooms

75, including 14 suites and four penthouses.

Check–Out

12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £507.77 ($641), including tax at 16 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional service charge of 16% per room per night on check-out and an additional room tax of 3% per room per night on check-out.

More details

Rates do not include breakfast, which costs around US$45 a person, but do include a welcome drink (with or without mezcal). You'll also have a personal Guia, who's on-call at all times to help with anything you might need.

Also

Accessible guest rooms include mobility features and widened doorways.

At the hotel

Free WiFi throughout, gardens, spa, yoga classes, library, concierge, boutique, private beach, fitness room, kids’ club, golf and tennis courts nearby. In rooms: Minibar with free soft drinks, safe, air conditioning, private terrace, satellite TV, blackout curtains.

Our favourite rooms

When you’ve such spectacular surroundings to gaze out upon, you want to be as high up as possible. That’s why we particularly loved the Ocean Suite with Sky Deck, with its guaranteed elevated vantage point and rooftop terrace to make the most of the cinematic vistas. Soak them up in the plunge pool during the day, and by night stargaze around your own fire pit. You have a butler on call, too, to whip up a restorative tequila cocktail while the sun dips over the cinematic horizon.

Poolside

At the adults-only pool grown-ups can keep cool in peace on in-pool loungers and enjoy poolside pampering in wooden cabanas (for a daily fee which includes drinks). A family-friendly pool includes a hot tub for parents, and both are surrounded by cushioned loungers and Yucatecan hammocks.

Spa

Sana Spa's emphasis on wellness taps a rich vein of Mayan tradition, with many treatments based on ancient techniques and practices. Choose from honey wraps to crystal healing to cacao scrubs, as well as a good old-fashioned pummelling. but treatments aren't all that's on offer here, there's also a sauna, clay room, sound room and outdoor plunge pool. You're also welcome to book an ariel yoga, chromatic breathing or reiki circles class.

Packing tips

Leave your ego at home; you’ll want to lose yourself here.

Also

A pared-down spa menu is available for in-room beauty treatments.

Pet‐friendly

The hotel accommodates pets in all rooms for a fee (Studios: US$150, Suites: US$200). There’s a maximum of two pets a room, and each must be less than 18kg. You get a free kit for your fur baby at check-in, too, which includes a bed, water and food dish. See more pet-friendly hotels in Riviera Maya.

Children

Cots are available on request; there’s a children’s menu and a kids club open daily from 9am to 5pm. Babysitting is $25 an hour, plus a $40 transportation fee.

Best for

Over fours.

Recommended rooms

Two- and three-bedroom suites have connecting options.

Crèche

Chavito’s Kids’ Club for children aged four to 11 with daily-changing themes and activities. Half-days are available, or a full day (between 9am to 5pm). There's also a special evening programme available between 6pm and 8.45pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (requires 24-hour advance booking).

Activities

Nature walks on the beach and above the mangroves, alebrije (Mexican spirit animal) crafting, scuba introduction, paddleboarding, kayaking and more.

Swimming pool

Shallow children’s pool and splash pad next to the kids' club.

Meals

Highchairs, kids’ menu, kitchen happy to adapt dishes.  

Babysitting

Childcare is available by the hour or overnight. Minimum of three hours; $25 an hour.

No need to pack

Baby monitors are offered free at the hotel.

Also

Welcome and birthday amenities are tailored to kids.

Sustainability efforts

Close relationships with local farmers, fishermen and food suppliers make for locavore-friendly dining. A commitment to supporting the local environment includes a team of in-house botanists to help care for and conserve the protected area and its biodiversity. All activities and experiences are also geared towards being non-disruptive to the surrounding ecosystem.

Food and Drink

Photos Etereo food and drink

Top Table

Sunken walkways lead to the centre of a pool and a squishy couch encircling a fire pit, where specific menus are prepared and served. The edge of the surrounding pool segues into the mangrove canopy and ocean beyond, to dramatic effect.

Dress Code

Sarong-over-swimwear is acceptable attire for lingering lunches; dinner demands something a little dressier.

Hotel restaurant

As you enter the hotel’s main restaurant, Itzam, for breakfast you’re met with the earthy aroma of freshly cooked tortillas and maize, fire-roasted on a huge circular comal grill. Much of the morning menu follows this pre-Hispanic theme – mole eggs, fried chilaquiles, and exotic juices – while also offering more familiar breakfast favourites. The restaurant opens again for dinner, with dishes that dig deeper into ancient Mayan recipes and with a focus on super-fresh local ingredients that borders on the fanatical (they say all produce travels no more than an hour to the kitchen). Che Che restaurant offers a more casual dining experience, taking Japanese flavours and giving them a Latino twist – the seaweed-taco sushi pretty much sums it up. Completing the trio, El Changarro epitomises laidback toes-in-the-sand, dining with simple Mexican classics. Does it get better than ceviche on the beach?

Hotel bar

Most remarkable about the hotel’s bar is its commitment to Mexico-made drinks. And we’re not just talking about tequila and mezcal here, but also Mexican vodka and gin (even Mexican sake is served in the Che Che restaurant). El Carrito café-bar also opens early for morning coffee and warm churros. Later, grab a zingy margarita here on your way to the terrace in time for sundown. 

Last orders

Dinner service ends at 11pm.

Room service

In-room dining is available around the clock, just call up your Guia to order.

Location

Photos Etereo location
Address
Etereo
Paseo Kanai 16
Quintana Roo
77730
Mexico

The hotel overlooks the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, about 15km north of the resort of Playa del Carmen.

Planes

Cancun International Airport is a 45- to 50-minute drive from Etereo; the hotel provides an airport transfer service to and from the airport (US$198 one way for up to five guests).

Automobiles

If you’re keen to explore the area, car hire is by far the best option. Arrange it through the hotel or pick up a deal at the airport. Valet parking is available at the hotel free of charge.

Worth getting out of bed for

We understand you could happily spend your whole stay shuffling between sunlounger and spa, but this corner of Mexico has more to do than you can shake a (shaman) stick at. The surrounding sites of the ancient Maya, with their superbly restored temples and carved stone effigies, should top anyone’s list. The ruins at Tulum are worth a visit for their dramatic clifftop setting, but a couple hours inland Coba impresses with its soaring pyramids and cooling subterranean cenotes. More watery-adventures can be had at nearby Xcaret, a cross-between eco-theme park and archaeological site. Alternatively, grab a paddleboard or kayak, and head out to the barrier reef a few hundred metres from shore for kaleidoscopic snorkelling. If you'd rather someone else do the organising, your personal Guia can help put together an activities programme for you that can include cooking classes, a traditional cacao ceremony, jewelry-making workshops, tarot readings and a bespoke healing ritual (to name a few).

Local restaurants

Besides those belonging to the other resort hotels scattered along the coast, you won’t find any eateries until you get to Playa del Carmen – but it’s definitely worth the short (20-minute) drive. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone with a bad word for ​​La Cueva del Chango, found in the quieter and leafier part of town. A secluded jungly environment sets the mood for abuela-approved Mexican cooking. If you like fresh-from-the-net seafood that is flamed-cooked to perfection, seek out Ictio Fish House. This unpretentious street-corner eatery takes its mariscos seriously, with a pared-down menu featuring oysters, shrimp, and whatever has been pulled from the deep that morning. A little further down the coast, and along a bumpy trail, is perennially popular The Traveler's Table. It’s a five-course ‘dining experience’ showcasing ancient Mayan flavours through gastronomic theatrics, storytelling and tequila.  

Reviews

Photos Etereo reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this eco-deluxe hotel in the Mexican Caribbean and unpacked their hunk of incense and carved mezcal cup, a full account of their Quintana Roo break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Etereo in the Maya Riviera…

It’s been over two decades since the infinitely more elegant ‘Mayan Riviera’ was dreamt up to replace the clunky ‘Cancun-Tulum corridor’ to describe this dreamy stretch of the Mexican Caribbean. And despite many hotels here weaving elements of the region’s ancient heritage into the experience, few do it with so much dedication and aplomb as Etereo. It starts upon arrival, with a trumpeting conch shell by your personal guía. Next an in-house shaman wields smoking copal incense – a ritual to help you leave one world behind and enter the ‘ethereal’, or etéreo in Spanish.  
 
On its physical plane, it’s part of the Kanai complex of over 400 sprawling acres of coastal mangrove forest, and the first of four hotels that will eventually occupy this protected area. Although this may sound incongruous, nature and the natural environment are paid utmost respect. Most of the hotel stands on elevated platforms above the jungle canopy and eco-sensitive policies are adhered to…well…religiously. Local materials like lava stone and tzalam wood add to a sense of integration with the unspoilt, swoon-worthy surroundings, complemented by works by revered Mexican artist, Manuel Felguérez, and a team of home-grown artisans. A spa offers a multitude of Maya-infused treatments too, and dining is a masterclass in innovative indigenous cooking. It all adds up to a bar-raising addition to the Mayan Riviera, and one worth conch-trumpeting about.

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Price per night from $552.67