In the Riviera Maya, resorts sit shoulder to shoulder along the shore, vying for access to the sea. Set away from the fray, the reimagined Maroma, A Belmond Hotel, is cocooned by 200 acres of pristine jungle.
“The Maroma has an exceptional charm,” says Tara Bernerd, whose eponymous firm was tasked with revitalizing the legacy property. “What makes it unique is that it was built many years ago. There is a sort of chic, understated glamour about it that evokes the feeling of a beautiful home. We wanted to sew that narrative into Maroma’s DNA.”
First constructed as a private home in the 1970s by Mexican architect José Luis Moreno, Maroma began as a cottage on the former grounds of a coconut plantation along a swath of land 30 miles south of Cancún. The property soon began to expand, growing into a compound to host visiting friends. After a hurricane swept through in the 1980s, the architect rebuilt with hospitality in mind, transforming the property into a boutique hotel.
When it came time to refresh the iconic resort, since acquired by Belmond, the design team looked to what made it stand out. “We had an understanding that this is an estate,” Bernerd says, and aimed to retain the original character and sense of home while incorporating a contemporary elegance. “It was important to do something that was true to the local area and, at the same time, how you might live if you had a chic beach home.”
The team sought to blur the line between indoors and out, blending the surrounding nature with the 72-room property’s white stucco architecture. Additionally, there is a refreshed F&B program focused on highlighting Mexican gastronomy and a spa by Guerlain, the French maison’s first in Latin America, offering services designed around Mayan philosophies of wellness.
To honor its history, the design team sourced many of the property’s furnishings within Mexico (700,000 handpainted Jalisco clay tiles by ceramicist José Noé Suro can be found throughout, for example) and tapped local artisans “to build layer upon layer to create something that would be sensitive, tactile, textured, and authentic,” says Bernerd.
