CINCO DE MAYA

5 STYLISH BOUTIQUE HOTELS THAT PUT THE 'RIVIERA' IN THE RIVIERA MAYA

On the Mexican Riviera, a lot had changed since I'd driven south from Cancun to Tulum a dozen years ago, though the basic attraction remained intact: miles and miles of white-sand beaches edged by azure water and the world's second-longest coral reef. • But now the messy road I remembered had been transformed into a highway marked at regular intervals by monumental gateways announcing mega resorts, golf courses and condo complexes. Sleepy Playa del Carmen had become both a chic destination and the fastest-growing city in Mexico. I also knew that tucked amid the rampant coastal development there was a circuit of discreetly elegant boutique resorts that have gained acclaim for their spas, cuisine, decor and service. Most of them had taken advantage of a post-Hurricane Wilma hiatus to enhance their rooms and refur bish things in general. My "Mission Incredible" was to take a grand tour of five of the finest of these get aways — CT&L's Cinco de Maya. Of course, I chose to accept it.

ESENCIA

What's good enough for an Italian duchess is good enough for me, I always say. At least that's what I said when I arrived at Esencia, between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Once the nine-room seaside home of Rosa, Duchess of Ferrari, it's now the centerpiece of a 29-room hotel that opened in the spring of 2006.

The white stucco mansion is a graceful amalgamation of terraces, domed towers and staircases, filled with artful details at every turn. Most of the design ideas came from the duchess, said Abigail Rivera, the resort's vivacious general manager: "Take the room at the top, the one with the tower. That's where she put her guests who had been doubters about this house. She said, 'I'll make a room surrounded by glass. When you wake up, you'll see why I did it."

The hotel has now added 10 two-story gar den villas, two three-bedroom cottages and some up-to-date technology. My room, named Paradise, had white walls, a built-in settee and best of all, dark-wood louvered doors that opened to a private veranda. From there it was just a few steps down to the pools and the beach.

With the duchess's home as a focal point, Esencia had the atmosphere of a relaxed and casual house party. There was breakfast by the pool, reading in the living room, tea and cookies on the terrace. A long walk on quiet Xpu-Ha Beach took me past a few private houses built in obvious imitation of Esencia's architecture.

I headed for the Aroma Spa, which opened a year ago in a strikingly designed pavilion under a two-story palapa roof. Just outside, an organic garden provides the herbs for the spa's treatments. "We call them rituals," founding spa director Teresa Buitron told me. "A lemon ritual for energy, a honey ritual for relaxation, a chocolate ritual for stress-reduction. ..." There was no need for her to continue.

Later that day a massage therapist named Azucena, the granddaughter of Yucatecan curanderos (traditional healers), brushed my body with a sheaf of rosemary and other herbs, and then slathered it with a blend of oils, including cacao and vanilla. The deep, resuscitating and, yes, stress-reducing massage that followed began with the soles of my feet and extended to the very top of my head.

Dinner was a flavorful, gentrified version of tikin xic, a traditional Yucatecan dish of banana-wrapped fish in achiote sauce, at Sal y Fuego, Esencia's simple but elegant palapa- roofed dining room. Its menu is the creation of Alejandro Rojas, Esencia's handsome, animated Chilean chef, who took a moment to chat with me in the duchess's living room.

"I emphasize seafood and fish," he said, "and I want to serve not only local cuisine but dishes from the rest of Mexico." He'll buy the catch of local fishermen and fly in mushrooms from Puebla. "Sometimes we'll have a barbecue and dig a pib [an earth oven] to cook fish, turkeys and pig lets." But when the Italian duchess comes to stay, he prepares her favorite: "a lemon-scented risotto with shrimp and scal lops. She loves it."

Sounds good enough for me!

CT&L SAYS

Tempting as it may be to never leave the beach resort, it would be a mistake to miss nearby masterpieces of the Maya past. Tulum, a city from the Post Classic period (A.D. 1000-1521), has a spectacular seaside location at the south end of the Riviera Maya. The grander complex at Coba, dated from A.D. 800-1100, lies inland, evocatively shrouded by jungle about 30 miles northwest of Tulum.

GET WET

The Great Maya Reef is part of the second-longest barrier reef in the world, and its easily accessible coral gardens teem with marine creatures big and small. Snorkel spots are usually a few minutes away by boat, and primo dive sites abound. Even resorts without their own dive shops will be able to arrange a trip.

PLAYA TIME

For shopping, dining and dancing head to Playa del Carmen, where the crowds strolling Fifth Avenue have a chic European vibe. Have a drink at the Hotel Deseo's cool rooftop bar, dine on fine cuisine from Italian to Maya and watch as the fastest-growing city in Mexico gets going.

WHERE TO STAY

Esencia
Style: Mediterranean-Mexican
Location: Playa Xpu-Ha, 46 miles south of Cancun
Accommodations: 23 rooms and suites, including two two-bedroom villas with private plunge pools