Private spa pool surrounded by palms and green foliage, bubbling water and two candle lanterns in wood either side of pool entrance

Having had to rearrange a trip to Palm Springs in California USA due to Covid, we decided to rebook for Modernism Week in 2022 but wanted to have a relaxing vacation somewhere else first. We therefore decided to opt for Mexico for two weeks, and I settled on a three-centre trip across Puebla (a UNESCO world heritage site) outside of Mexico City, then two Chablé Hotels on the Yucatan Peninsula. The first was outside of Merida (Chablé Yucatan - you can find the hotel review and my detailed spa review on the website) before we moved onto Chablé Maroma on the beach at Riviera Maya.

I’ll write up a full hotel review for the blog soon, but in the meantime here’s a review of an absolutely incredible spa treatment at Chablé Maroma, the blissful 3 hour Ya’axche Forest Awakening Ritual. It was hard to pick from such a great selection of treatments, but seeing something this long was music to my ears, and the facilities at the spa were so wonderful, to use pre and post treatment.

The details

Location | The Spa at Chablé Maroma, Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Treatment | Ya’axche Forest Awakening Ritual

Cost | MXN $13,300 - £515 - US $670

Time | 3 hours

Spa website | https://chablehotels.com/maroma/wellness/spa/

Hotel website | https://chablehotels.com/maroma/

Treatment selection

The spa menu is broken up into three different journeys or classes of treatments, these being:

Purification - Ocean
Balance - Tree
Transformation - Air

I love a long spa treatment, and often find even a 90 minute or two hour treatment could be longer. I was therefore really intrigued as soon as I spotted the 3 hour ‘Life Enhancing Signature Ritual’ of Ya’axche Forest Awakening Ritual. With being such a long treatment, it wasn’t available immediately but we were staying for quite a few days so it was something to look forward to later in our stay.

The facilities

As you walk into the spa area, there is the main reception and a shop, before reaching a covered waiting area with comfortable seats and tea/water. From each side are the male and female changing suites, and on from there a choice of three different jacuzzi pools, the largest at the end with swan neck jets and actually large enough to be able to have a (very) short swim. Around the pools, as well as all the occasional seating were a selection of loungers, some with parasols and some benefitting from the open sun. Separate to the spa was a well-appointed gym and fitness room.

SPA REVIEW: Chablé Maroma, Mexico - Redefining Wellness.jpg

SPA REVIEW: Chablé Maroma, Mexico - Redefining Wellness.jpgv

Changing facilities

After a great welcome at the Spa, and an introduction to Safari (the beautiful spa cat), there was a brief consultation form to complete before being shown to the male changing facilities. Not quite as expansive as Chablé Yucatán, but still great changing facilities with gleaming surfaces everywhere. First was a relaxation area with separate locker and changing facilities next, spacious toilet and sink area, then both a sauna and steam with ample showering facilities too.

The treatment room

Just off the main canopied but open air entrance, and the various temperature jacuzzi and spa pools, are the treatment pavilions. Mine was first on the left which actually backed onto the largest spa pool, so it meant (in a really good way) I could hear the sound of the running water throughout my treatment. The pavilion was dark and relaxed, the thatched room had subtle uplights and small candles placed throughout to add to ambience. It was deliciously cool after the hot Mexican sun, with a very comfortable massage table in the middle, a sink at the side with more candles, then a separate shower and WC off. Music was subtle but relaxing, and all wooden louvres on one side of the room were closed hiding what (suprise) was to come later.

The treatment itself

The treatment started with a welcome ritual before a full body scrub with rosemary and sea salt. Once complete, I was then invited to go into the en-suite shower to remove the scrub (loved the warmed towel for afterwards) before heading back into the main pavilion. What was an incredible surprise to come back out into what was quite dark, to find that one side of the pavilion had been opened up to reveal a private pool surrounded by luscious jungle foliage. I was then invited to sit over in the pool while I was anointed with essential oils of balsam fir, juniper and cypress trees.

Then it was another warmed towel to dry myself before back to the incredibly comfortable massage table for the final but longest part of the treatment - a full body deep connective tissue massage with essential oils before the signature Chablé crown chakra anointment of citrus and frankincense. The treatment was completed with the doors being opened again and a comfortable pad being placed by the pool for me to relax and absorb the forest experience, before being brought a glass of chilled champagne. I thought it was all over, being taken back to the main waiting area for some tea and water, but one final surprise was to be presented with a tray of huge chocolate covered strawberries, simply delicious!

The hotel

So different from our stay at Chablé Yucatán with Maroma being right on the beach, but after some initial problems with the front-desk check-in and villa allocation, we really did love the change of experience during our stay. We didn’t actually leave the resort for the best part of a week, so nice to have the expanse of private beach that the resort enjoys where yoga was on most mornings, relax by the pool or on the beach during the day, then have pre-dinner drinks and dinner in one of the three restaurant options. Much more on the resort itself to follow in a separate blog. My Chablé Yucatán blog can be found here.

This Man’s Journal top tips (any areas for improvement?):

Really nothing to add, I loved the treatment and the therapist was wonderful. Only very minor comment might have been that the combination of champagne and strawberries together would have been good.

This Man’s Journal absolute highlights:

The whole treatment experience, though expensive, was wow from start to finish. Loved the treatment pavilion set up with the private shaded pool being revealed mid-treatment.
Champagne and strawberries - what’s not to love?

Summary

Having the three-hour treatment was a wonderful experience, and it was executed so well in beautiful spa surroundings. Was such a real highlight of our stay at Maroma, and although the spa wasn’t as jaw-dropping as the sister property at Yucatán, it was certainly a world-class treatment in a spa that I really will remember.