Sarah Sleeps Around: Alila Mayakoba

I’ve checked into hundreds of hotels in my career, and been welcomed with cold towels, flower garlands and even costumed dancers. But my arrival at Mexico’s Alila Mayakoba marks the first time I’ve been asked to extend my hands for a massage with honey and clay. Featuring Melipona honey (from a variety of stingless bees native to the Yucatán Peninsula) and locally sourced clay, the brief ritual, I’m told, is designed to return me to “the sacred zero” – a state, the Maya believe, that brims with potential, presenting an opportunity to pause and reset.

I wrote about my experience at the newest resort in the Riviera Maya development Mayakoba for Travel + Leisure. Read the story here.