With its rich history, nature, and coveted weather, Mexico has always been a vacation hotspot.

Visitors throng to the likes of Tulum, Mexico City, and Cabo San Lucas for their beaches and relaxation, but other beach towns and cultural cities—such as Oaxaca, Riviera Nayarit, and San Miguel de Allende—are fast catching up. It’s no surprise that brands and developers are doubling down on Mexico.

A rendering of a tranquil guestroom at the Waldorf Astoria San Miguel de Allende, opening later this year inside a palatial new build designed by Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos

In 2024, the country hit a tourism record of $33 billion in foreign exchange earnings, reports the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, a 7.4 percent increase compared to the previous year. Occupancy rates are also soaring, with numbers reaching nearly 70 percent in beach destinations between January and July 2024, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism. Overall, hotel occupancy across all tourist centers monitored by DataTur reached 60 percent, showing post-pandemic recovery in the tourism sector.

Here is a glimpse into some of the properties invigorating Mexico’s hospitality scene—from urban retreats to refreshing resorts.

Yucatán Peninsula

Bungalow, the kid-friendly poolside restaurant at the SLS Playa Mujeres

According to Lodging Econometrics, the Yucatán Peninsula, home to the Riviera Maya, comprises 11 hotels with 1,027 guestrooms in the pipeline. Indeed, the once sleepy beach town is surging with tourists, and the arrival of lifestyle brands only escalates the allure. For instance, the 182-key Riviera Maya EDITION at Kanai, designed by Ian Schrager Company in collaboration with New York’s Rockwell Group and architecture firm Edmonds International, opened in 2024 as a contemporary ode to Mayan tradition.

Such name recognition is also helping to redefine the region’s all-inclusive resorts. SLS Playa Mujeres, the brand’s first offering of the kind, also made its debut in 2024. Situated in a private gated waterfront community, the resort, brought to life by Ennismore’s in-house design team, balances 498 guestrooms with 18 restaurants and bars.

IHG will present another memorable all-inclusive experience when the Kimpton Tres Rios, a 355-room renovation of the Hacienda Tres Rios, opens in 2025. Operated by Playa Hotels & Resorts, it mingles jungle, mangrove forest, and coastal dunes across 326 acres.

“A harmonious balance between the area’s past and present is woven throughout the property with architectural designs that nod to Mayan stone façades and warm, natural interiors that speak to the lush environment,” says Ave Bradley, vice president of design and creative, luxury and lifestyle brands, at IHG Hotels & Resorts. “It provides an opportunity to let the breathtaking surroundings of the Tres Rios Natural Park serve as center stage and craft a design aesthetic that celebrates this natural wonderland.”

Mexico City

Aquiles, Casona Roma Norte’s earthy signature restaurant from chef Aquiles Chávez

Mexico’s capital is a thrilling cultural metropolis, and the hotels popping up in Mexico City—there are 24 with 2,908 guestrooms planned—capture that contagious energy. Part of the Hamak Hotels and Preferred Hotels & Resorts collections, the 50-key Volga, for example, debuted in Colonia Cuauhtémoc in 2023, and passersby are lured in by local firm JSa’s Brutalist exterior before exploring interiors layered with lava and brass. Another Hamak Hotels venture, the 32-room Casona Roma Norte, is the transformation of a 1920s mansion by local studios Colonnier Arquitectos and Simple Arquitectura adorned with artwork and Art Nouveau-inspired motifs.

Familiar brands are taking this approach, too. Local architecture and design firm Sordo Madaleno is behind the 133-room Rosewood slated to open in the mixed-use development Antara in 2026, and IHG introduced the Kimpton Virgilio in 2024. Arquitectura de Interiores Studio’s design is “derived from the poets and writers who brought the bohemian culture of cafés and social gatherings to Polanquito,” says Bradley. “The spirit of the city comes to life through handcrafted touches ranging from antique shower tiles to Mexican artwork inspired by all forms of literati to locally woven rugs.”

Greenery will dress the façade of the forthcoming Pendry Mexico City, shown in a rendering

Pendry Hotels & Resorts is also entering the Mexico City market with a 114-room hotel and 20 residences planned for Roma Norte in 2026 (a Punta Mita resort with sister brand Montage is on the boards for the same year). AvroKO will tackle the interiors alongside local firms Central de Arquitectura and IZ Arquitectos, and Nick Solomon, principal and chief creative officer of the New York office, says the property’s furniture and art will revel in Mexican craftsmanship. In the lobby, for instance, “a geometric pattern of natural stone reflects Mexican textiles throughout the floor, while plaster and carved wood accents bring a warm, handmade touch to the space,” he adds. “Sixteen-foot-high doors pivot to create a continuously flowing space between the entrance, F&B, and the lush patio out back.”

Baja California Peninsula

Luxury properties line the Baja California Peninsula in northwestern Mexico, and the market is growing ever more competitive. Indeed, 29 projects promising 5,857 guestrooms are under development in Baja California and Baja Sur.

The Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo Del Sol opened in 2024 as a reimagined hacienda by architect Robert C. Glazier with 96 guestrooms and suites and 61 residences, villas, and estates. Global design firm Meyer Davis forged a dialogue between indoors and out across the lobby, spa, and guestrooms, a calming counterpoint to the F&B spaces animated with local crafts courtesy of EDG’s Novato, California office.

Sofas and cacti will animate a courtyard at the soon-to-open Amanvari on Baja’s East Cape, shown in a rendering

The first phase of sales for the Rosewood Residences Old Lighthouse in Los Cabos, the brand’s first standalone residential community, is also underway. Zapopan-based GVI Gomez Vazquez International and Los Angeles practice Studio Lifestyle designed the 550-acre site’s initial 144 homes to blend in with the surrounding cliffs and beaches.

There is more to come, too. Aman Resorts is opening Amanvari on Baja’s East Cape in late 2025, a soothing layout of 18 guest pavilions and inner courtyards designed by Athens firm Elastic Architects.

Deluxe suites at the Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol include terraces that overlook the ocean

Further, the Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol will arrive in the spring. For the 163-room property, Sordo Madaleno embraced native stone and wood and “local cultural artifacts and archetypes are woven into the design to provide an enriching perspective on the locale and regional artisans,” says Marisol Fisher, vice president of design services, Latin America and Caribbean, for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. “We set out to create a one-of-a kind beachside retreat, thoughtfully integrated with the natural landscape while embodying modern Mexican architecture.”

Riviera Nayarit

Rosewood Mandarina, designed by Bando x Seidel Meersseman, is slated to open in April

North of popular resort destination Puerto Vallarta is tourist-friendly newcomer Riviera Nayarit, and two forthcoming properties are cementing its luxurious reputation.

Joining Casa de Sierra Nevada in San Miguel de Allende and the Riviera Maya’s Maroma, revamped in 2023 by London-based Tara Bernerd & Partners, is Milaroca, Belmond’s 2025 foray onto Mexico’s Pacific Coast. Backdropped by jungle and beach, the property, comprising 57 guest pavilions, will fuse the design savvy of Los Angeles-based Waldo’s Designs and Clements Design, as well as fashion designer and hotel partner Rosetta Getty, who is serving as creative director. The interiors will brim with artwork and custom furniture from local artisans that reference the nearby towns of San Pancho and Sayulita.

Come April, Rosewood Mandarina will make its mark on Riviera Nayarit with 134 suites and villas designed by New York firm Bando x Seidel Meersseman that ground guests in nature and culture.

“Here, the use of traditional, regional materials like Cantera and Recinto volcanic stones and plaster ensures that the built spaces complement the landscape. Interior palettes are composed of subtle tones brought to life by dappled, filtered sunlight,” explains principal Caroline Meersseman.

Bespoke furniture is also informed by the indigenous Huichol and Cora peoples. Take the armchairs strewn throughout that nod to uweni, the Huichol shaman’s chair. “Retaining the construction methods of bent wood pieces tied together at the joints, our chair replaces Mexican bamboo with tropical wood, and the vegetable fibers and gum with thin leather straps,” says Christopher Mattiucci, team lead at the firm. “This modern reinterpretation pays homage to the shamanic heritage while introducing a tailored yet comfortable contemporary aesthetic.”

Oaxaca

A palette of natural materials defines the suites at Kymaia in Oaxaca

Folksy Oaxaca, capital of the southern Mexican state of the same name, has long attracted visitors with its blend of history, Spanish Colonial architecture, and food and drink culture. It’s the kind of city where boutique properties thrive.

Consider the newly opened Kymaia, designed by Ezequiel Ayarza Sforza, founder of Casona Sforza and Mexico City- and New York-based Productora. The earthy, sustainable addition to the scene is dedicated to landscape regeneration, which resulted in a quartet of gardens. They are juxtaposed with such materials as stucco and local wood and the 22 suites, many of them arranged as pre-Hispanic pyramids, further capture Oaxacan traditions.

Beyond Centro Histórico, beachy, nightlife-propelled Puerto Escondido, some three hours to the south, is catching on as a destination in its own right. In 2024, the eco-friendly Xiqué Boutique Hotel made its debut as an eight-room sanctuary that local firm Estudio Carroll crafted with pink chukum, palm bone, and clay tiles.

The restaurant at Otro Oaxaca seamlessly flows into the shady patio

Grupo Habita’s pioneering spirit first led to the area with the original Hotel Escondido in 2013. Then came the Escondido Oaxaca Hotel in 2019, followed by the 2022 opening of Hotel Terrestre. The 16-room Otro Oaxaca joined the roster in 2023 with a design by local practice RootStudio that comprises a rooftop pool and subterranean spa punctuated by a cenote.

Most recently, the 39-key Hotel Humano was added to the portfolio. Designed by architect Jorge Hernández de la Garza and Madrid’s Plantea Estudio, it draws from its location in the surfing community of La Punta Zicatela.

“The rooms are like modern surfer shacks—full of light with private gardens or balconies; easy to live and difficult to leave,” says Carlos Couturier, managing and founding partner of Grupo Habita, who adds that the hotel also features a bistro, rooftop, vintage-inspired pool, and outdoor spa. “The most radical aspect is the people inhabiting the surroundings,” he says, “special humans looking for a laidback life—never in a rush, moving bare feet from one place to another, riding waves, dining outdoors, and watching sunsets by a firepit.”

A permeable lattice exterior heightens the flow between inside and out at Hotel Humano

Photos and renderings by Cesar Bejar, Nestor Martinez, Edmund Sumner, Enrique Serrano, Joe Thomas, Zaickz and courtesy of Aman, Pendry, SLS, and Waldorf Astoria

This article originally appeared in HD’s February/March 2025 issue.