CASA MALCA, Tulum, Mexico
WHAT MAKES IT HIP?
Feel like so far you’ve spent your summer looking at sundrenched photos of chintzy sofas artily placed on white sand, or velvet-covered chairs suspended in mid-air, or antique faded rugs against stone so bleached it looks filtered? Well, you were probably looking at the Instagram travel phenomenon that is Casa Malca. Located at one of the furthest points on Tulum’s buzzing beach strip, this hotel was famously drug baron Pablo Escobar’s
private residence – and you can see why. Sexy and secluded, with a unique atmosphere of calm and mischief, it’s the perfect fusion of stark, industrial-style buildings with period furniture and classic Mexican hospitality. Recline on a day bed facing the aquamarine sea, or pose on the rooftop bar and eat breakfast as pelicans swoop for fish in front of your eyes.
WHO GOES?
Pink-chino-wearing, sun-hat-sporting, string-bikini-flashing, moneyed jet-setters from across the globe. This part of Tulum can feel like everyone in the Hamptons got on a plane and set up camp, but really, just embrace it. These people like to party – and this is the perfect place for it. If you’re lucky, you might even get to crash a wedding, as Casa Malca plays host to a lot of them. Watch as the atrium is transformed with flowers and the beach fills with young, beautiful people in various shades of pastel linen. Yoga and wellness is also big in this part of the world (there are loads of places to drop in and take a class all along the beachside strip that Casa Malca is at the top of), so get in touch with your “spiritual” side and get involved.
DON’T MISS…
The opportunity to drink margaritas whenever it’s socially permissible (which, it turns out, is actually quite a lot of the time). Breakfast at Casa Malca is also something to behold. Forget everything you think you know about Mexican food back home, and relish the punch and colour of real huevos rancheros, eggs nestled in green and red salsa, home-made bitesize banana muffins and pancakes laden with tropical fruit. The sushi at the beach restaurant might set you back a month’s rent but… we reckon it’s worth it. Oh, and do not be ashamed about posing on the iconic pink sofa in the atrium. Everyone does. And it’s 100% worth it to get that shot.