Tulum welcomes Xela: a Mexican coastal escape

From Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende, the Mexican hospitality group Namron is quietly making waves for its bijou collection of escapist resorts and restaurants. For now, all eyes are fixed on the mid-October debut of its fifth boutique hotel, a 12-room tropical Xanadu that’s parked on the edge of Tulum’s fabled beach.

Xela opens in Tulum

Flanked on the east by the unending horizon of the Caribbean and to the west by a thicket of jungle, Xela (pronounced ‘shell-ah’) takes its name from the echoing rush of the sea that’s heard when a shell is placed against the ear.

Originally a private residence built in 2015, the owners – a Belgian designer and a British artist – decided to turn their beachside bolthole into a hotel by adding a third floor and seven new rooms in 2019. A year later, they sold the property to a Texan couple who tapped a mutual friend, the local architect Carlos Larios, for a thoughtful nip and tuck in which rooms were reconfigured into communal spaces and bar, whilst two new buildings added guest rooms, spa rooms and a garden-fronting gym.

For Larios, principally a residential architect, Xelas was a chance to incorporate elements of a home into a hotel. ‘Designing a hotel presents unique challenges,’ he says, ‘but it is closely related to residential living on a different scale. Xela allowed us to create spaces where guests feel at home, whilst being immersed in the natural environment.’

Which explains the sophisticated rustic quality of the hotel, as Larios was at pains to incorporate feature-formed cement walls and floors, with furnishings made of indigenous hardwood found on the beach and nearby, with everything else –swathed in shades of orange and sandy hues – made by local artisans. 

Given Xela’s bucolic location, every attempt is made to blur the line between interior and exterior as guests are tempted from the al fresco living room and rooftop lounge with views of the sea over the tree-tops, out towards the two 8m lap pools – one set between the beach and the main house, and, for the indolent guest, one closer to the house, conveniently next to the bar. 

When guests aren’t traipsing to the sister property next door for its Mayan-inspired spa treatments, it’s likely they’ll be tucking into house chef Luis Aguilar’s farm-to-table menu, which includes a winning ceviche of local fish, and a taco layered with smoked pork, bitter orange, pickled red onion and axiote.  

xelatulum.com