Tucked away on a secluded beach in Playa de Carmen, Mexico, you’ll find Palmaïa The House of Aïa. You’ll be greeted by a ‘guide’ who will help you check in offer you a non-alcoholic welcome drink and show you to your room. Should you need any assistance throughout your stay, you’ll communicate with your guide on WhatsApp and you’ll spend the days eating healthy plant-forward food and sipping low octane margaritas. If you’re into yoga and rituals, you’ll participate in some of the ‘healings’, which include but aren’t limited to: transpersonal astrology, Tibetan bowls, Vinyasa yoga, talk with a Shaman, and mind control. If you’re like us, you’ll feel like it’s a bit ‘Midsommar’ but you’ll sort of appreciate that vibe in a weird, unexpected way.
Here’s what you need to know before you go
- The rooms are very spacious and lovely. If you’re traveling with children, you can book a family suite; the attached kids room has its own bathroom, adorable desk and bunk beds.
- The property is vegan and very focused on locally source plant forward foods. However, if you eat meat and cheese, you can certainly modify the dishes and they’ll happily accommodate. As a meat/cheese eater, it was a bit annoying to have to modify every single dish but it’s probably a welcome change for vegans and vegetarians.
- The beach is gorgeous! And dotted with cushiony loungers. When we went over Memorial Day weekend 2021, there was a ton of seaweed which prevented us from playing at the beach with the kids so we mostly hung by the pool but hopefully you’ll have better luck with the seaweed than we did.
- If you’re traveling without kids, be sure to head to the adults only pool. Otherwise, families will rejoice in finding a killer kids pool. The water is shallow enough for little ones to wade, there are several slides and a waterfall tree that my children loved playing under.
- The swim up bars are great and there are several on property. A few times, we found them unattended and had to shout for a bartender who whipped up some delicious cocktails once he arrived.
- The jungle spa looked lovely but we did not have time to go. Same with all the ‘healings’ – since we were there with our kids we didn’t sign up for any of their offerings but the list is long and eclectic so hopefully there is something for you!
