Barefoot Luxury Meets Environmental Sustainability At Habitas Bacalar

This is a tale as old as time. Set amid the lush jungle of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula just minutes from Belize, the story of Habitas Bacalar—one of the brand’s newest hotels—starts with stromatolites. These microbial reefs found in Bacalar’s lagoon are the oldest evidence of life on earth. If you’re wondering what stromatolites have to do with a hotel, the answer is, well, everything. These living rock-like structures that sit steps from Habitas Bacalar are said to be responsible for life as we know it. Roughly 2 billion years ago, photosynthesising stromatolites began releasing oxygen into the oceans. When the waters became saturated, oxygen then seeped into the air, and life was able to blossom.

Surrounded by the crystalline waters that hold these stromatolites, Habitas Bacalar honors the nature that makes the hotel such a sought-after destination. The lagoon’s seven hues of blue flow for 26-miles through the jungle, bringing tales of Mayan origins to your doorstep. Under a shaded umbrella at the hotel’s Tree Bar, I was privy to legends of Mayan culture from Marcelino. In between the many delicious Baja El Sol cocktails he would bring me, this member of the Habitas Bacalar family generously lent insight into his culture. I sat in awe as he recounted the story behind the name Yucatán. It is said that when Spaniards first came to the region and asked Mayan inhabitants what it was called, they would respond with the phrase “uh yu ka t’ann,” which in Mayan means “listen to how they talk.” The Spaniards understood the phrase as Yucatán, and thus the name you know today was born. It is this sense of depth and knowledge for their home that makes Habitas Bacalar stand apart in a world of locally-rooted hotels. 

Having just opened in October, the hotel’s 34 rooms, spa, yoga shala, restaurant, and bar blend in seamlessly with the jungle. As the first global hospitality group to open in Bacalar, they have set the tone for those who will surely follow. Here, every single thing you’ll taste, touch, see, and feel exists in harmony with nature. Their holistic oasis is constructed in a way that may draw inspiration from the environment, but gives back to it in equal measure. Like everything on the property, not a single living thing was harmed in the making of their breezy A-frame tented rooms. Even as I washed away the quick 2-hour flight from Mexico City to Chetumal in my lush outdoor shower, I found natural products made from coconut oil and honey harvested sustainably in the region. 

Leaving my room that very first day would be the last time I wore shoes at Habitas Bacalar. Unlike the buttoned-up luxury we’ve grown accustomed to from five-star accomodations, the kind you’ll find here isn’t stuffy. It has an air that begs you to come as you are. Let those bare feet walk the wooden planks that will lead you into that candy-colored lagoon. Habitas a world where in their words, “the only luxury we need is the kind that feeds our souls and expands our minds, preferably over a candle-lit dinner.” The rules you’ll find here aren’t ones of dress codes and etiquette, they exist purely in honor of the environment. A quick scan of a QR code found in your room will open up to a guide that seeks to help guests understand and preserve the natural world around them. It is only one of the many ways that Habitas Bacalar looks after the wellness of the environment as much as it does your own.

I quickly realized that to Habitas, wellness isn’t just a word. Nor is it a complicated choice you have to make. It’s everything you do from the moment you arrive. It’s the smoothie you have at sunrise. It’s the cocktail you have at sundown. It’s every swim and stretch you take in between. While you’re here, rest assured that Habitas will do the job of being mindful for you. In fact, it starts before you even get there. Their partnership with Cooperativo Ambio’s Scolel’te supports reforestation and offsets the carbon emissions from their live music sessions, screenings, and even your flight and ride to and from the airport.

Around the hotel, you’ll find guests embarking on their own unique wellness journey. Some will be practicing breathwork, meditation, and sound healing with the ever-talented Amalia in the yoga shala, others will be soaking up the sun on a see-through paddleboard in the lagoon. The hotel’s design seems to naturally facilitate community amongst guests. Together, you’ll feast on seasonal dishes like local long beans and freshly caught fish at the Siete restaurant. Overlooking the lagoon, the menu prepared by Roberto Garduno celebrates Mayan traditions, centered around the belief that food is medicine. Alone, you’ll nourish your body and mind with personalized spa treatments. The hotel’s spa is a place where you can walk through botanical gardens, learn about medicinal aromatic herbs, visit cacao and melipona honey huts, and so much more. Throughout your journey, the friendly Habitas staff will be there to remind you that “while you’re here, you’re home.”

The staff were right, it didn’t take long for me to feel at home at Habitas Bacalar. So as the sun went down on the last day of my stay and a full moon glimmered on the lagoon below, I felt the kind of peace you can only feel when you’re full. Full of love, full of appreciation for the world around you, full of hope for the future of our planet. When it was time to leave the only thing left to say was a phrase Marcelino had taught me on my first day. In Mayan, “tú je kin,” in English, “see you next time.”