I Visited This Idyllic Beachfront Mexican Resort to Be taught What Conrad’s ’12 months of the Resort’ Was All About

Conrad Tulum is one in all three resorts the Hilton-owned luxurious model opened in 2022, together with three metropolis inns.

On a very relaxed Friday in August, I spent the morning with my two finest mates within the Tulum jungle, splashing round what I am fairly positive is the world’s most entertaining pool. We had been on the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya Resort’s spa pool, which comes tricked out with thriller buttons across the perimeter, every setting off quite a lot of jets, waterfalls, and even a surge of bubbles bursting out from a lounger submerged a foot under the water’s floor.

Shaded by a thatched roof, we bounced — and I imply bounced with precise glee — from one button to the subsequent, guessing the shape wherein water would spout, gurgle, or foam out at us. Then, we hit the spa’s hydrotherapy circuit, and after a short (okay, very temporary) chilly plunge, we settled in a classy concrete sizzling tub, the place the spa supervisor served us mango-flavored popsicles.

“Luxurious would not need to be critical,” stated Dino Michael, senior vice chairman and international class head for Hilton’s luxurious manufacturers, after I informed him about my women’ journey at Conrad Tulum.

My keep was proof of that very sentiment. My two days at Conrad Tulum, full of dawn soaks in our alfresco tub overlooking the ocean, mezcal Negronis at Ultramar pool bar, and visits to the build-your-own chilaquiles station at Arbolea restaurant every morning, was pure, luxurious resort enjoyable. And all of it confirmed off precisely what I went to analyze: Conrad’s dedication to the resort life.

Whereas the Hilton-owned luxurious model does have a couple of standout resorts, like Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, celebrated for its game-changing underwater suite, I affiliate it largely with big-city inns — like Conrad Los Angeles, which opened in the summertime of 2022 with three eating places and a bar by Jose Andrés.

However in 2022, Conrad went laborious on the resort narrative, spurred by the profitable Conrad de Punta Mita opening in 2020. That property is why I used to be eager to take a look at the 349-room beachfront lodging in Tulum, which opened in January 2022. It’s connected to the brand new Hilton Tulum Resort, the brand’s first (and incredibly well-received) foray into all-inclusives.

Conrad’s brand-new Sardinian and Moroccan inns additionally got here on-line in 2022, each taking cues from the Tulum resort, which totally immerses company within the pure atmosphere, with a secluded seaside and laidback, bohemian design by HBA.

Modern, envelope-pushing interiors are a spotlight for Conrad, Michael shared, describing the “Conrad trendy design aesthetic” as “daring and impactful.” He supplied the instance of Conrad Kuala Lumpur, coming in 2024: “It’s very dramatic in design, the [food and beverage offerings] are off-the-chart dynamic. KL has quite a lot of traditional luxurious; a barely extra formal atmosphere. However this [hotel] is way more daring and better vitality.”

The Conrad Tulum design lives as much as all these adjectives and extra. I entered by hovering picket doorways, to a lounge with hanging chairs, water options, and macrame-draped lighting fixtures. Connecting the entry with the remainder of the resort is an enormous reflecting pool that’s quick changing into some of the Instagrammable spots on the Riviera Maya.

As rooms go, the resorts have a tendency to supply more room; Whereas a metropolis resort has entry-level suites with at the very least 350 sq. ft of area, most resorts will supply beginning rooms with 450 sq. ft, Michael defined. “It’s the interaction [of] how a lot time you spend inside and outside: your balcony, your patio, your plunge pool. At Conrad Tulum, each one in all our rooms has these small, two-person plunge swimming pools,” he stated. The aim, Michael added, is to supply sufficient area for company to take pleasure in Champagne and room service with a view at each Conrad resort.

On Sardinia’s Chia Bay, the first Conrad in Italy brings an analogous Champagne-in-the-room ethos to its 107 lodging throughout 4 flooring. And in Morocco, Conrad didn’t select a skyscraper in Casablanca to courtroom enterprise vacationers, nor an outpost in Marrakesh, the place luxurious inns abound, however opened in the coastal city of Rabat in December 2022 — with a putting Atlantic beachfront and a top-tier suite with a waterfront infinity pool.

In selecting resort places, Michael is dedicated to not solely following the journey tendencies however exposing Conrad’s clientele to lesser-known destinations.

“Sardinia is having a second once more; it was our first entrance into Italy. Tulum should have been on each prime journey record. And North Africa is having an actual renaissance, I feel,” he stated. “Folks have at all times gone to Marrakesh, however I feel as you go slightly bit farther out, there’s that actual push towards discovering North Africa a bit extra. I feel folks had a slim view of what Morocco is.”

After an enormous 2022 — with six resort openings, together with the Morocco, Sardinia, and Tulum resorts — Conrad reveals no indicators of slowing down. 4 extra new inns are coming this yr, essentially the most resort-centric of which might be Conrad Orlando. (“There’s an excellent golf course and an excellent crystal lagoon,” Michael stated. “Ya know, you are in Florida!”) It is even constructed so that almost all rooms have views of Disney World’s nightly fireworks.

Whereas I am all for trying forward — and this luxurious model’s progress is price watching, particularly coming off the 12 months of the Resort — I am unable to assist however look again, too. And that is as a result of all I really need is to return to that Tulum spa pool. Did I point out they serve fresh-fruit skewers by the pool? Iconic.

For extra Journey & Leisure information, make certain to sign up for our newsletter!

Learn the unique article on Travel & Leisure.