I had spotted Chablé Yucatán a while back, this property had opened in 2016 and is currently part of the Leading Hotels of the World portfolio; always a favourite go-to of mine for hotel choices. The stunning casitas throughout the resort all with private pools looked amazing, and they certainly did not disappoint in reality. I knew the resort also had a spa, but I had no idea in advance as to how special this would be surrounding the cenote. On further research on the Chablé (small) chain I then found the second property I will be visiting (Maroma on the Riviera Maya coast, about a four hour drive away), which opened two years later in 2018. As well as these two main properties, Casa Chablé will be opening in 2022 and Sea of Cortez in 2023. I actually had to Google this to find out where it was going to be, as the artistic impressions look absolutely incredible and definitely somewhere I’d like to visit in the future. It is going to be located in the desert landscape of Baja California Sur, a beachfront property just outside of La Paz, on the north Mexican coastline.

Why Book with Classic Travel and The Private Traveller

By booking through my affiliation with Classic Travel, I was able to secure a number of additional VIP benefits with their Virtuoso rates. These included:

• Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability

• Complimentary Full Breakfast daily for two per bedroom, served in restaurant

• $100 USD equivalent Resort/Hotel credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)

• Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability

• Complimentary Wi-Fi

Fast Facts for Chablé Yucatan

• Address - Tablaje #642, Chocholá, C.P. 97816, Yucatán, México

• Website - https://yucatan.chablehotels.com

• Group Website - https://chablehotels.com

• Contact - info@chablehotels.com

• Instagram - @chablehotels @chableyucatan

• Nearest airport - Merida International Airport (MID) - 34 km or 21 miles (about a 30 min drive)

• Opened - 2016

• Number of casitas/villas - 41 (all with private pools, including Family, Presidential, & Royal Villas)

• Number of floors - 1

• Bars - 2 (IXI’IM & Sikar Cigar Bar)

• Restaurants - 3 (IXI’IM & KI’OL - new from our visit, Casita Club)

• Wellbeing - Chablé Fitness Centre, Golf, Yoya, Water Pilates, Cenote Spa, & Swimming Pools

• Visited - February 2022

What about the Yucatan location?

Having arrived on an international British Airways flight into Mexico City before spending a few days in Puebla, we then flew internally with AeroMexico from Mexico City to Merida; a flight taking just over an hour. We picked up a rental car from Avis, and in less than 30 minutes we were driving into the secluded grounds of Chablé Yucatán. Merida airport seemed to be well serviced by various airlines and we had the option of several flights, choosing one mid-day so that we would arrive early afternoon at the resort.

As soon as we arrived at the main imposing gates, we were welcomed by the gatehouse staff and directed through the resort to the main reception building. Here we were met by the reception staff, our luggage whisked off to the casita and our car taken away by valet parking to the on-site car park. The grounds are absolutely stunning and so beautiful to either get around on the bikes provided or on foot.

Hotel Accommodation at Chablé Yucatan Mexico

With only 41 casitas in total spread throughout the vast grounds, it feels like you’re in your own private Mexican hideaway. A casita is a small cottage or self-contained dwelling, so technically does describe what the accommodation here entails, but these casitas really do have the wow factor. All individually named, there are 37 single/double with 2 family villas, a Presidential villa and a Royal villa. 

After what has to be said wasn’t the smoothest of check-ins (American Express machine wasn’t working correctly) we’re whisked away in a golf buggy to be shown the highlights of the resort, and taken along the palm foliage lined pathways (excellent for cycling we would find out later) to initially casita #25. At the entrance there is a rope which can close off your property completely so that no one disturbs, albeit leaving it open service was unobtrusive but attentive.

Down a path surrounded on all sides with luscious green foliage, you first find a parking spot for the bicycles provided for each guest. As easy as it is to walk around the large property, it’s also good to cycle as the paths are near flat and perfect for bikes too. There are then a few steps up to your private terrace, housing on one side a heated pool (ask the concierge to change the temperature remotely if you wish) with sun loungers, large parasol and an overwater hammock. On the other side is a shaded seating/lounging area with both a large padded outdoor sofa as well as a table and chairs where morning tea is served. A really nice surprise on our first morning to wake up to tea and pastries provided on the deck.

As soon as you step into the villa/casita through large wooden doors (fully glazed but also with wooden internal shutters) you’ll be amazed at the space and design. Think natural stone walls, marble tiled flooring and natural woods. Furniture is big and bold in natural colours and wood, but high ceilings (and perfectly air-conditioned through a simple on the wall controller) just give an overall sense of space. Although this can be closed off separately, there is a large walk-in closet with ample wardrobe space and drawers and a separate (absolutely stunning) walk-through shower suite.

First off in the middle you go through double glass doors into a his and his (or his and hers) huge rain showers (one each) before going through another set of glass doors onto an open air (but secluded and private) wooden deck with a further shower. Toiletries are provided in sustainable reusable (large) bottles - shower gel, conditioner and shampoo. Inside there is a huge vanity unit with what looks like a floating mirror, double sinks and so much storage for all your bathroom accessories, pristine white towels, etc. From there, on the other side of the shower area is a seating alcove before a separate WC. Light streams in from all sides from floor to ceiling glass walls. As with everything in the resort, cleanliness is paramount and every aspect of the suite gleams.

As well as the huge (super comfortable) superking size bed, there is more storage bedside as well as a large armoire below a huge LCD TV, which hosts a (free replenished daily) minibar with Coke, Diet Coke, coconut water and beer, tea and coffee making facilities, again replenished daily as much mineral water as you can drink. On a large coffee table in front of a large sofa are daily apples and a traditional tea making set with a choice of green teas, all perfectly proportioned in containers for that super-healthy cup of antioxidant-rich green tea.

Wifi through the casita, including the deck, in all restaurants, spa and to be honest most of the outside area was really decent, and the TV had a Netflix streaming which was great for catching up on some of our series. I did say we had casita #25 to begin with, but there was some construction work going on beyond the on-site golf course (on land not owned by Chablé) so we moved further away to casita #38 instead where the noise was far less obvious.

Food and Drink at Chablé Yucatan

There are three on-site restaurants (Ixi’im, Ki’ol and the spa cafe) with two bars (the Cigar Bar and a stunning bar as part of the Ixi’im restaurant). Ixi’im is the fine dining restaurant, beautifully designed as part of a traditional building, but crafting a modern glass extension and outdoor seated deck seamlessly blended. We were at Chablé on Valentine’s Day and the restaurant served a special meal. Food and service was fantastic, as was the location. Ki’ol is the main restaurant, located by the pool and all open-air (covered terrace too) where meals are served from breakfast through to dinner. This was more casual, but again had excellent food and service. In both restaurants, as a long-standing vegetarian, I was really pleased they had an expansive dedicated vegetarian menu, albeit lots of options on the standard menus too. All dietary requirements were taken care of, which has been asked about in advance of our arrival.

A particular favourite was the separate Cigar Bar, not because of the cigar aspect I must say, but this standalone mustard-yellow building was absolutely stunning at night. They served a great selection of drinks, lots of mezcal and tequila as you would expect being Mexico, but also my choice of gin too - Hendricks, Monkey 47 and Tanqueray. Drinks were served here either inside in the bar itself, a lounge off (we didn’t feel there was a need for a huge TV here showing sports) or on the outside terrace.

Facilities & Service at Mexico’s Chablé Yucatan

We were at Chablé Yucatán for 6 nights, and sometimes in a resort like this you can feel you want to go and explore outside to have a change. I must say it was a novelty for both of us to feel like there was no need to leave at all. As well as the excellent choice of dining options (I forgot to mention room service too above), there was an amazing spa (more on this next), a beauty salon, main swimming pool, the golf course, two tennis courts, an orchard and lots of different garden areas to walk through (including a lot of food and herb gardens for the restaurants), a deer sanctuary area and lots of activities that the resort could organise. Some were season dependent, like the bee-keeping experience we had hoped to do.

The resort was so well laid out, a perfect blend of traditional repurposed Mayan buildings (think strong, bold colours like reds, yellows and blues) with modern additions and the clean-cut modern-style casitas. All casitas were to one side, away from the restaurants and main pool area and reception entrance, and right in the middle of the resort was one of the best spas that I think I’ve been to. That’s saying something as I love a spa and will invariably visit a hotel or resort spa wherever we go, and I’ve been to some amazing ones across the Seychelles, Maldives, India and Europe as a selection.

I’ve written a detailed spa review and I will publish more content as part of my spa blog, but the spa was just phenomenal. There was a huge open-air reception, again all natural stone but designed with an architectural flair to stand up to any modernist scrutiny. It was visually stunning but welcoming too, artistic touches and colour introduced in tiles, seating, occasional tables and handicrafts. The main building housed the reception, dedicated hydrotherapy wellness areas for men and women (relaxed seating areas, rainfall showers, changing rooms, steam room, sauna, various jacuzzi pools in differing temperatures, outside drench showers and a floatation room like no other. I’d expected a floatation tank like I’ve tried before, but this was a dedicated room with a natural stone floatation pool. You don’t just visit this area and get left to your own devices, a dedicated spa butler was there to provide everything you might need like towels and scrub for the steam room, cold towels for the sauna, or chilled drinks and new towels for the outside jacuzzi area. 

In addition to seating within these dedicated wellness areas, there was another outside (mixed) large jacuzzi and seating area further away from the main building). Leading from the main spa building (also housing a water-side restaurant, gym, spin/fitness studio, shop, local handicrafts room, another pool and seated deck with a view of the cenote) were multiple wooden (what seemed like they were floating) cabanas all overlooking the central natural cenote. Though not for swimming (to respect Mayan culture) this huge cenote was a real focal point for the spa, where there was a yoga deck for early morning daily yoga or meditation classes throughout the day.

Highlights of our stay

There were so many highlights of the stay at the but here are just a few of the key points, which I hope you find a useful summary.

• Everything about the space and design of the casitas.

• The jungle feel but with luxury design and service.

• The spa - WOW; just WOW!

• The WhatsApp chat service direct with Concierge worked really well - immediate response for queries on restaurants, spa bookings etc. and just general resort info.

Areas for improvement

Wherever we stay, I do always like to look at the positives on any property we stay in, and airlines we fly with etc. but sometimes you can’t help but notice things that (for me, but I realise this is always personal) might have made for a better stay.

• As I said, check-in was a bit patchy, never before have I been asked when a card machine isn’t working to leave a cash deposit instead for incidentals. Also, when we raised the issue of the construction noise, reception were very slow to react or feel there was an issue, but thankfully the excellent manager Leonardo stepped in and everything was resolved satisfactorily.

• Very minor, but the sinks in the bathroom (though beautiful to look at) were positioned too far back on the vanity unit and very, very ‘splashy’.

Would I stay here again?

Yes for sure - absolutely amazing property, accommodation, spa, restaurants, location. A real WOW experience; definitely to be repeated.