Hotel Bardo

The difficult balance for Tulum’s boutique hotels is how to balance deep immersion in this location’s inimitable atmosphere and unique environment with the high-end comforts modern travelers have grown accustomed to. Hotel Bardo, set on the lush, forested west side of town, walks precisely this line: its minimal-modern concrete-clad villas open onto private jungle gardens with hammocks and little plunge pools, and while air conditioning and wi-fi are present, you’re gently encouraged to go without. At 645 square feet they’re comfortably spacious, and the semi-outdoor rain shower is a particularly welcome touch.

You could hardly ask for a more atmospheric restaurant than Milum, with its thatched roof and stone carvings serving as a backdrop to some fine contemporary Yucatán fare. Meanwhile, the adjoining Kinky Room is more wholesome than it sounds, and promises the best cocktails in town.

As the name might suggest, there’s a Buddhist influence at work as well as a local one. The hotel’s spa and “healing center” offers therapies drawn from both eastern and Maya traditions — there’s yoga, there’s “sound therapy” incorporating Tibetan signing bowls, and there’s a Temazcal sweat-lodge experience led by a local shaman.