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Aqua Cancun’s eight oceanside pools parallel the gorgeous Caribbean sea and white sandy beach.
Aqua Cancun: Yucatan’s most stylish resort hotel
By Charles Greenfield
cdgpm@bellsouth.net
Like a great curvilinear glass castle with a gaping square in its center the Aqua Cancun hotel and resort possesses the dazzling chic of a contemporary art object. A steep driveway rises to a porte-cochere where two gleaming white Bentleys seem almost dwarfed by the imposing scale of the 371-room beachfront property operated by Grupo Posadas, one of Mexico’s best know brands with hotels also in Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Under the “square” entrance lies a rectangular pool of water and lavender-eucalyptus-mint aromas float through the air. At reception a staff member with hands across the heart welcomes you with the Mayan greeting In Laákech (“Your wish is my desire”). Design features exude a stunning confidence – sinuous public spaces with gigantic glass windows of the Caribbean Sea, a gorgeous 50-meter cobalt blue lap pool, and seven mosaic columns of Mexican celebrities (Frida Kahlo). It seems the perfect stylization of a tropical resort with a futuristic imprint that still maintains roots in the Yucatan peninsula.
Since Hurricane Wilma in 2005 blew out most of the hotel’s windows, its re-opening in February has transformed the property into a sleek assemblage of three restaurants, cocktail lounge, club, eight pools, spa, and fitness and business centers. According to its interior designer/architect Francisco Hanhausen, a wool tablecloth created by Frank Lloyd Wright for a house he built in Wisconsin inspired Aqua Cancun. “When I saw the table cloth, I said, ‘That’s how I am going to do the pool for Aqua, from those very straight lines invaded by circles.’ From there came the straight line, which in this case isn’t exactly straight, it is a very wide arc. That is the main pool, which is surrounded by circles.” In fact, the symmetry works seamlessly as the hotel’s impressive façade is beautifully complemented by the playful curves of the pool and cabana area.
With 18,000 square meters of public space Hanhausen insists that style and function can intermingle. “Each center of activity has its own theme, from a fun bar (Egos) with a touch of extravagance to contemporary rooms decorated with neutral colors and the delicate textures of tropical woods and clear marble.” In fact, the 417 sq. ft. guest rooms create a clean, uncluttered ambiance that reminds one of a streamlined urban loft with a balcony focused always on the azure waters of the Caribbean. Amenities include: a Bose home theater system, DVD/CD/MP3 player, i-home system, high-speed internet access, oversized jetted bathtubs, aromatherapy kits and Molton Brown toiletries. The 36 suites, from 762 to 4,109 sq. ft., come furnished with spacious terraces with lounge and dining areas, outdoor showers, spa treatment rooms, private sundecks and Jacuzzis surrounded with firelight. For self-abandonment their Sol or Luna Suite displays two bedrooms, a gym, walk-in closet, living and dining rooms, bar, ocean from terrace with chairs, pool and Jacuzzi, and pillow menu with seven sleep options.
Besides courteous and efficient concierge service off the entrance and the fifth floor private Aqua Club with multiple food offerings, drinks, lounge and registration desk, Aqua Cancun’s two celebrity female chefs move heads and satisfy stomachs. No stranger to South Florida foodies, Michelle Bernstein (Michy’s in Miami) has just won the 2008 Best Chef of the Year in the South region by the James Beard Foundation. Born in Argentina, the former professional ballerina supervises her eponymous MB Restaurant with an eclectic mix of Latin, Mediterranean and Asian spices, fresh fish and hearty meat dishes in a sophisticated dark-hued space with open kitchen. Appetizers are visually pleasing and tasty like Greek style watermelon salad, her popular crispy croquettes with Gruyere cheese, Serrano ham and fig marmalade, and napoleon of foie gras. I particularly enjoyed the local caught snook in a red gazpacho sauce with fennel and the braised short ribs and creamy polenta.
Next door stands the AKA Bar, handcrafted by the mixologist and wine expert Steve Olson, who specializes in cocktails, 60 tequilas and five village mescals from producer Del Maguey in Oaxaca, also famous for its mozzarella-like cheese. Says Olson, “Artisanal tequilas are increasingly ‘hot’ in the U.S., but the mystic of mescal has always intrigued me. AKA Bar lends itself to the exploration of these interesting, smoky beverages.” The Añejo or “aged” mescal is fermented and distilled from agave cactus. AKA signature drinks include the Michy Bonita (Tanqueray #10, fresh grapefruit, orange, lime and a touch of chamomile) and the Watermelon Mojito (fresh watermelon crushed with yerba buena, cane syrup and Havana Club Platinum Rum).
The glamorous Martha Ortiz, Aqua Cancun’s other celebrity chef, runs the seven-column Siete, the hotel’s all-meal venue. Ortiz, owner of the fashionable Aquila y Sol restaurant in Mexico City and co-author of eight cookbooks on regional cooking, was awarded Best Mexican Chef 2007 by Bon Appétit magazine. Traditional artisan dishes are inflected with modern touches like fillet mignon in spicy chipotle butter with Creole pumpkin or hogfish with mango and chilmole sauce. Other surprising entrées are grouper tacos, duck flautas, venison enchiladas in mole, sautéed shrimp with lemon essence and an infusion of green chili pepper, and corn soup with salmon caviar. She even offers huitlacoche, the Mexican corn fungus delicacy that tastes like earthy mushrooms despite its somewhat disturbing appearance. It should be noted the bounteous breakfast buffet at Siete displays Mexican, American and Japanese dishes and offers terrific homemade pastries, breads and delectable cut fruits like papaya and pineapple.
As part of their sensory experience Spa Aqua features Mayan culture sprinkled with relaxation techniques from Europe, Polynesia, Africa and India. Director Jaime Martinez Austria explains: “Aqua breaks with the establishment. Here you succumb to a magic moment. Colors are part of leaving traditional time behind. We put in blues, dark browns, purples, lighting contrasts, and aromas of mint, eucalyptus, and soft touches of lavender that flow throughout.” Tropical treatments abound – chocolate, coffee, honey or avocado scrubs, ocean clay exfoliations, a pumpkin repair face mask, rose and orchid pedal baths, hydrotherapy, hot stone massage, and their outdoors temascal, a rounded Mayan sweat hut that purifies and rejuvenates through hot stones, herbs and native incense like copal. In homage to the hotel’s name Aqua Spa offers Watsu, a Japanese Shiatsu massage applied in water, and Le Siesté, a soaking treatment at a constant 97 degrees with seaweed, vitamins and mineral salt. Besides a sun salutation ritual from 7-8 am, couple’s and Ashtanga yoga and taichi (complimentary) are provided.
After a massage or water ritual try a light lunch of delicious ceviches or tapas from chef Franco Maddalozzo’s kitchen under the palapa roof oceanside at Azur. Across the main boulevard on the Cancun hotel strip you can shop or snack at the American-style Plaza la Isla Mall or walk a few blocks south to Plaza Kukulcan with its upscale boutiques and eateries. Better still hop in a taxi or take the R-1 bus (50 cents) and ride past the dozens of large hotel resorts to Downtown Cancun, a mirror opposite to the modern and often antiseptic row of American fast foods, souvenir shops, bars and supersized resorts on the hotel zone. At Mercado 23 on Avenue Tulum look past the untidy streets and saunter past foodstuffs like excellent Mexican cheeses, colorful candies, sacks of beans and lentils, a cave-like hardware store (metal rat traps!), hairdresser ($4 cuts), and some very decent fish restaurants at non-resort prices. Near their central plaza you can locate leather goods, t-shirts, sombreros, and some local crafts at Mercado 28. For decent Yucatan food stop at Labna (Margaritas 29) for their $10 lunch buffet of sopa de lima (lime soup), empanadas de cazon (baby shark), and cochinita pipil, the ubiquitous baby pork dish marinated in achiote (annato seed), sour orange juice, and spices.
Next door at #25, their upscale sister restaurant La Habichuela (“Green Bean”) serves moderate-to-expensive Caribbean Mexican food like their popular “cocobichuela,” a coconut shell filled with shrimp/lobster coconut curry in a garden setting.
Back in the tourist hotel zone I stopped at another Grupo Posadas property, the AAA five-diamond Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancun, with 602 oceanfront suites, a 1,000-foot beach, great views of Isla Mujeres, a complimentary Kid’s Club program, and La Joya, their intimate and elegant hacienda-style gourmet dining room. Certainly rewarding a daytrip to Isla Mujeres has convenient, inexpensive water taxi service and off the island you can snorkel their clear reefs, participate in Dolphin Discovery, rent a golf cart or bike, chow on fresh fish and tacos, sip a cerveza under a palapa hut, and visit some small Mayan ruins. Besides the excellent winter sailfishing off Isla Mujeres, try the reefs and trolling off Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancun before Playa del Carmen on highway 307. A great place to spend the weekend just off their nearby barrier reef park is the Hotel Marina El Cid Spa & Beach Resort. The all-suites, all-inclusive property boasts its own fishing marina, Mayan-style spa, platinum service (butler service!), kid’s club, pool with waterslides and cliff jump, and five restaurants (excellent breakfast buffet with fresh fruit smoothies).
After my excursion I returned to the Aqua Cancun for a swim in their magnificent azure lap pool. As I lifted my head and breathed I glanced at the equally dark blue waters of the Caribbean to my left and at each turn the glass arch of the hotel shimmered with sunlight. It seemed I was floating on top of the Yucatan world like some ancient Mayan deity.
Charles Greenfield is a Miami-based travel writer who has contributed to Travel & Leisure and regional magazines. As Travel Editor of the Coral Gables Gazette, he specializes in luxury travel on Europe, Asia/Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. He won the prestigious Cacique Award 2000 for International Consumer Travel Writing from the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. He also is Cultural Arts Contributor to WLRN 91.3 FM, South Florida’s NPR affiliate.
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If you go
ACCOMMODATIONS: Aqua Cancun, Boulevard Kukulcan Km 12.5, Zona Hotelera, Cancun 77500 Mexico, 1-888-782-9722 (www.feel-aqua.com), deluxe ocean view (through December 20), $319, “Fuel the Fire” 4 day-3 night package, airport-hotel transfers, deluxe ocean view room, welcome cocktail, breakfast for two in your room, romantic three course candlelight dinner on the beach, garden or room, special 25 minutes couple’s massage, special learn how to pamper your love one, turn down service on last night, $1,605; Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancun, Boulevard Kukulcan Km 9.5, Zona Hotelera, 1-800-343-7821 (www.fiestaamericana.com), junior suite double with partial beach views, $234 (Sept. & Oct.), taxes included, 25% discount on food, beverages and spa treatments; Hotel Marina El Cid Spa & Beach Resort, Boulevard El Cid Unidad 15 SMZA 03, Q. Roo, Puerto Morelos, 1-866-823-0099 (www.elcid.com), luxury room, $228 (Sept. & Oct.), Jr. Suite, $251, all-inclusive: daily meals (lobster meal with five night stay), domestic and imported beverages, 24-hour room service, taxes and gratuities, water sports (non-motorized), land sports – tennis, bikes, fitness center, sauna and steam room, kid’s club (4-11), pool activities, nightly entertainment/theme shows (excluded: airport transfers, spa treatments, tours, telephone and fax, business services, babysitting);
RESTUARANTS: MB Restaurant, Siete, Azur (Aqua Cancun), 1-888-782-9722 (www.feel-aqua.com), expensive; Labna, La Habichuela, Downtown Cancun, 52-998-884-3158 (www.lahabichuela.com), moderate-expensive;
TOURISM: Cancun Convention & Visitors Bureau, Boulevard Kukulcan Km 9, Zona Hotelera, Cancun Center, 1st Floor, 52-998-881-2758 (www.cancun.travel
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