Bacalar, Mexico

Kokoro Mio

Price per night from$202.26

Price information

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

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (MXN3,962.59), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Kokoro Mio Photos

Style

My oh Mayan

Setting

South of the lagoon

Explore

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Adults-only Kokoro Mio is a Mayan-minded retreat near the blue shores of Bacalar Lagoon. It’s a boutique stay that’s rooted in nature: intricate bamboo structures frame the resort, treehouse-inspired cabanas showcase reclaimed wood, and plants are left to grow as they please. Mexican heritage plays a leading role at the family-nodding restaurant, and spiritual connections are found at the holistic spa, yoga shala and temazcal (spirited ones are uncovered at the rum-pouring poolside bar or roastery-café). 

Smith Extra

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A half bottle of wine

Facilities

Photos Kokoro Mio facilities

Need to know

Rooms

13 suites.

Check–Out

11am. Check-in, 3pm; both are flexible, subject to availability.

More details

Rates at Kokoro Mio include buffet breakfast with fresh fruit, eggs, yogurt, cereal and homemade juices, plus gluten-free and vegan options.

Also

Unfortunately, this natural retreat isn’t suitable if you have reduced mobility. The paths around the resort are even and well-lit, but there are some low-hanging trees that have been left as nature intended, so mind your step (and head).

At the hotel

Art garden, charged laundry service and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: air-conditioning, tea- and coffee-making kit, minibar, free bottled water, bathrobes and organic bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Each treehouse-like cabana at Kokoro Mio showcases local handicraft and a respect for the surrounding natural environment: the intricate bamboo structures and bespoke wood furnishings are made by artisans and friends of the owners using reclaimed wood found from fallen trees. Coffee from the on-site roastery is replenished daily in your room to put a pep in your step, and your furnished balcony or ground-floor garden are primed for day-starting brews a casa. We like Cabaña Suite number seven for its romance-kindling love nest — a tree-top extension and homage to the owners’ marriage — where secluded rendezvous are soundtracked by birdsong.

Poolside

The outdoor frijol-shaped pool is hugged by lush jungle, which provides the all-natural soundtrack to your sunbathing sessions and salty swims. It’s flanked by sunloungers on one side and faces a fire pit area with deckchairs and hammocks that’s primed for post-dip drinks. If you’d rather splash about away from prying eyes, each cabana comes with its own Mayan soaking tub in the garden.

Spa

There are whispers of spirituality across the resort, but it’s most palpable at the open-air spa, where offerings harmonize Mayan rituals and modern frills. Couples massages take place in the crystal-dotted cabana; there are alfresco tubs for traditional cacao baths and herbal body scrubs. But the jewel in the spa’s crown is its temazcal, an ancient lodge set to sauna-like temperatures that’s designed to cleanse mind, body and spirit.

Packing tips

Lean into Mayan mysticism with some chakra-cleansing crystals and a journal for jotting down your temazcal epiphanies.

Also

The domed yoga shala — an architectural feat of woven natural materials — is adorned with elaborate bamboo details and hand-painted murals: it’s the magical setting for cacao ceremonies, sound baths and gentle movement.

Pet‐friendly

Pooches are welcome in any of the cabanas for US$50 a stay. The owners have a couple of labradors of their own, so your dog will be in good company roaming around the resort. See more pet-friendly hotels in Bacalar.

Children

This spiritual stay is for adults only.

Sustainability efforts

Your Earth-kind hosts follow a ‘nature first’ ethos, and so you’ll find jungle-respecting initiatives throughout. Trees are left as they are — as the handmade signs remind you, they were here first — so you might have to duck occasionally when walking around; if anything, staff have planted more shrubs to add verdant life where trees have naturally fallen. Low-impact techniques were adopted when constructing the cabanas, and everything at the hotel is made from reclaimed wood and by local artisans. All waste is recycled or composted; organic bath products and water bottles are glass and reusable, and the restaurant spotlights seasonal, local produce.

Food and Drink

Photos Kokoro Mio food and drink

Top Table

Scale some steps to a private table under the canopy or bag the palapa-shaded banquette for intimate dinners.

Dress Code

Though your days are spent swinging through the jungle, you’ll want slightly more clothing than Tarzan and Jane (but take cues from their all-natural hues and untailored approach).

Hotel restaurant

The restaurant, Mami Cuy, is a tribute to the owner’s grandmother in name and spirit. Most of the recipes were passed down through the family, celebrating typical Mexican cuisine and home cooking. In keeping with this maternal memorial, Mother Nature is honored too: the verdant space is crowned by a decorative bamboo roof; fallen trees have been turned into orchards with younger shrubs planted in and around them, and a host of private-dining corners are backdropped by greenery.

Hotel bar

There’s a hint of The Jungle Book at poolside Bar Gran Balam: tropical trees envelop the space, and ‘balam’ is the Mayan word for jaguar, which is depicted in an enchanting mural along the bar. Your bare necessities here might include house-distilled rum, freshly baked pizzas and mixologist-made cocktails… At trinket- and tile-clad Kokoro Café, regional cacao and coffee beans are roasted and ground each day to deliver barista-style brews. The house coffee is replenished daily in your room or pop down to the café to get closer to the caffeine-fuelled action. 

Last orders

At Mami Cuy, breakfast is from 9am to 11am; lunch is served between 2pm and 4pm, and for dinner, it's 7pm to 9pm. The bar pours from 11am to 11pm; the café brews from 7am to 6pm.

Room service

Take your breakfast in bed or order dishes from a dedicated menu between 6am and 10pm.

Location

Photos Kokoro Mio location
Address
Kokoro Mio
Privada de los Sueños 4. Col. Xul-ha
Chetumal
77963
Mexico

You’ll find leafy Kokoro Mio near the southern tip of Mexico’s oh-so-blue Bacalar Lagoon, near Chetumal in Quintana Roo.

Planes

Chetumal International Airport is a 30-minute drive away; Tulum International Airport is closer to three hours away by road. Staff can arrange transfers from Chetumal from US$50; pick-ups from Tulum can be booked on request.

Trains

Tren Maya runs scenic rail routes around the Yucatán and calls at Bacalar’s train station, which is a 25-minute drive from Kokoro Mio; hotel-organized transfers are US$50 each way.

Automobiles

Put someone else in the driving seat: taxis and transfers are easily arranged. If you decide to hire your own set of wheels, there’s free parking at the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

Once you’ve had your fill of greens at jungly Kokoro Mio — perhaps from the lookout tower or in the art garden with its turtle-dotted pond — drink up strikingly blue views at nearby Bacalar Lagoon, whose southern tip is a short stroll away. The hotel’s intimate Laguna Club is a waterside perch with a bar and sunloungers; the lake is primed for swimming and staff can arrange kayaking trips or boat charters to shipwrecks, underwater cenotes and wildlife-spotting corners. Take in every-shade-of-blue shallows at Los Rápidos de Bacalar, where you can float down gentle currents and wander along nature-wrapped walkways. Bacalar town, a protected pueblo mágico, is further up the shores and you’ll find restaurants, bars and a lagoon-surveying fort, Fuerte de San Felipe de Bacalar, in the convivial main square. 

Local restaurants

Generous portions of lagoon views are your appetizer at shorefront La Playita, and fresh fish tostadas and tangy ceviche are your main courses alongside Argentinian-beef empanadas. Tuck into seafood plates and Tajín-trimmed cocktails on Hijos del Cocho’s fairy-lit terrace, which is framed by hammocks and foliage. Hibiscus-pink Tierra Ixim celebrates Mexico’s favorite ingredient, corn. Traditional dishes center around different varieties and colors of the grain, and other produce is sourced as locally as possible.

Local cafés

Specialty coffees, such as a horchata latte, and iced brews accompany people-watching at Café Tito Bacalar, which sits in a shaded spot on the square. Yerbabuena is a hip hangout for plant-based breakfasts of cacao smoothies, rose-shaped avocado toast and too-pretty-to-eat smoothie bowls.

Local bars

Practice your pronunciation of salud: you’ll be chiming it a lot at Damajuana Mezcaleria Bacalar, where you can take your artisan spirit neat or in creative cocktails.

Reviews

Photos Kokoro Mio reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

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 adults-only hotel in Quintana Roo and unpacked their coffee beans and crystals, a full account of their holistic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Kokoro Mio in Bacalar…

Aluxes are sprites from Mayan mythology who are believed to be the protectors of the jungle, as well as those who visit it. At Kokoro Mio, you’ll find colorful shrines dedicated to these creatures dotted throughout the resort, taking residence in fallen trees and the boldly hued art garden.

As well as featuring folkloric figures, this jungle-swathed retreat nods to its Mayan roots through nature-respecting architecture — the bamboo cabanas are made from reclaimed and recycled wood — and holistic offerings. The mystic spa pairs house-roasted cacao baths with herbal body scrubs, and the transcendental temazcal experience encourages steamy spiritual awakenings.

But you’ll also find transcendence beyond the spa: a soul-stirring yoga shala hosts traditional rituals and body-balancing flows; meditative views from your treehouse balconies are blessed with greenery in abundance, and for coffee lovers, expert brews from the hotel’s café are a point of reverence. Just as the aluxes watch over the jungle, Kokoro Mio looks out for you.

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