Chablé Yucatán

Style

Historic hacienda

Setting

Mérida jungle

Hedonistic hacienda Chablé Yucatán has a few tricks up its sleeves: a trio of pre-Hispanic-style temazcals (saunas), meditation lawns lit by fireflies so you can follow the path to bed each night in fairy-tale fashion and a cenote (pool) where you can enjoy the gentle trickle of water as you submit to a spa treatment. The restored 19th-century estate has been painstakingly nursed back to life and given a mod-Mexican look, so that wellness-seekers can bed down amid 750 acres of steamy Yucatán jungle.

Facilities

Rooms

Forty, including two villas.

Checkout

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates usually include an à la carte breakfast of fresh fruit, granola, yogurt and fresh omelettes with Yucatán-style spicy sauces; coffee delivered to your room each morning; one daily activity; and use of the spa and gym.

Also

The hotel has recruited a local resident with a particular flair for Yucatecan cuisine to teach cooking lessons on-site. Ask the concierge to book you in and you could learn how to make home-made tortillas, tamales and salsas the traditional way.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Pet Friendly

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Spa, gym, car parking, free WiFi. In rooms: Pool, hammock, sun terrace, Jacuzzi bath tub, TV, minibar, free bottled water.

Our Favourite Rooms

If we were trying to impress, we’d book the Presidential or Royal villas. Both are pretty swish, but the former is a restful space complete with a bath tub hewn from polished rock; the latter is designed for laid-back parties. We’d bring our most attractive friends for a week of lounging around the pool, taking a dip in the Jacuzzi and kicking back with a film in the media room. The one-bedroom Casitas are also beautifully designed with their own pool, hammock and alfresco shower.

Poolside

The freeform pool is dotted with islands, fountains and sunbathing decks. There are plenty of sunloungers to go round, plus a poolside bar so you’re never far from your next icy cerveza.

Spa

Chablé is home to one of the only spas in the world with its own cenote. There’s a menu of Maya-inspired spoiling – we’re keen on the hypnotic three-hour ‘signature ritual’ starting in the flotarium and ending with a restorative, herbal-salt exfoliation and a lymphatic-flow massage. There are more modern treasures too, including a brand spanking new gym and detox programmes from spa-savvy therapists. Choose from chakra therapy, Mayan rebirth massage, reiki, sound cleansing and spiritual guidance from a local shaman, or pick one of three temazcals (a sort-of traditional Mexican heated lodge) and just sweat it out.

Packing Tips

Pack light: a tasselled kimono here, a pom-pom sandal there; swimwear is optional – your pool is blissfully private.

Also

The hotel has the world’s largest private tequila collection, with over 1,000 bottles in all shapes and sizes; some are more than 100 years old.

Children

All ages are welcome. Baby cots can be added to the Casitas and Villas. Babysitting is available for US$20 an hour with one day’s notice.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Get in quick to bag the private table on the restaurant’s elevated terrace. It has its own fire pit and panoramic views of the grounds.

Dress Code

Mexi-casual. Light linens, floral prints and a short-brimmed sombrero.

Hotel Restaurant

Chablé’s three restaurants are presided over by Jorge Vallejo of Mexico City (the world’s 12th best chef), and his right-hand man Luis Ronzón looks after the day-to-day operations. Menus are light and inventive: Ixi’im Restaurant serves venison tartare with sour orange and habanero chilli, or coriander cake with soursop sorbet and chargrilled pineapple, in an Asian-inspired setting overlooking the gardens. Casual poolside restaurant Ki’ol is reserved for guests only and does a mean line in Mexican classics, while the Spa Restaurant has a healthy vegetarian-only menu and freshly-pressed juices.

Hotel Bar

There are two to choose from: a library in the main building, where the bar itself is carved out of an enormous tree-trunk, and a tequila-tasting bar inside the hacienda where you’ll find the hotel’s impressive array of aged local spirits. The bar staff are well-versed in modern mixology, fixing all manner of mezcal- and tequila-based cocktails using local fruit, herbs and spices. There’s also a wine cellar which can be reserved for intimate dinners and private tastings.

Last Orders

Ixi’im is open for dinner only (and closed Mondays); book your table between 6pm and 10:30pm. Ki’ol serves food from 7am until 10:30pm. The Spa Restaurant is open for lunch only.

Room Service

Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be taken in your room. Choose from a scaled-down menu of Ki’ol’s classics.

Planes

Mérida's Manuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport is around 30 minutes’ drive from the hotel and has limited flights from the US and domestic flights from Mexico City. Flights from Europe stopover in the Mexican capital. Another option is to fly into Cancún International Airport, the main gateway for the Yucatán peninsula, and then can catch a connecting flight to Mérida, before completing the 30-minute journey by road. Call the Smith24 team to arrange flights and transfers, which start at US$160.

Automobiles

A car will help you to explore the Yucatán Peninsula’s wilds and Mérida’s monuments. Hire a car at the airport; the hotel has free on-site parking.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Without a doubt the spa should take up a decent portion of your time here: where else can you roll out of bed, wander down to your cenote and partake in Mayan therapies in the entrance to the sacred underworld? As well as the signature treatments we’d recommend speaking to the concierge about the many activities on offer: Ayurvedic yoga, walking meditation, qi gong and t’ai chi to name but a few. This part of the Yucatán Peninsula is deep in jungle, but you can reach the coast in around an hour. Progreso Beach is on the Gulf of Mexico, while Celestún is located on its eponymous Biosphere Reserve. The area is dotted with Mayan ruins, and the hotel can help to arrange self-guided or escorted trips to the pyramid complexes at Uxmal and Chichen Itza. Spend a day in state capital, Mérida, and while away a few hours exploring the city’s museums. The Anthropology and History Museum offers a glimpse into the life of local residents over the years; art lovers will enjoy the contemporary Fernando Garcia Ponce-Macay Museum.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .