Reviews of Al Cielo Hotel

Quién Magazine, Mexico, April 2008

Cumpleaños de Alejandro Manjarrez
Pau y Colate celebraron con Alex Manjarrez

Park Avenue Magazine, Germany, April 2008

Reisekolumne: Luxury for Less

by Anthony Lassman

... Den meisten Luxus für vergleichbar kleines Geld bekommt man auf dem amerikanischen Kontinent in Mexico. Mexico-City ist bekanntlich eine trendige Stadt und im nicht minder hippen Hotel Habita sind die Zimmer für etwa 200 Dollar zu bekommen. In Europa würde man vergeblich nach einem City-Hotel mit solchem Design und vergleichbaren Annehmlichkeiten suchen! Und auch an Mexicos Küste gibt es zahlreiche schicke Resorts, bei denen das viel zitierte Preis-Leistungsverhältnis stimmt. Besonders angesagt ist derzeit die Riviera Maya. Statt dort im neueröffneten Rosewood Mayakoba oder dem Mandarin Oriental abzusteigen (und dabei arm zu werden), empfiehlt mein Team das charmante Al Cielo. Für 160 Dollar pro Nacht wohnen Gäste in einem von vier entzückenden Zimmern unterm Strohdach, direkt am türkisfarbenem Wasser. Die Küche des Hauses ist hervorragend!

Cosmopolitan Bride Magazine, Australia, April 2008

Hi everyone! It's Breanne and Andrew from Australia. Hope everyone is well over there. I wanted to let you know that our wedding has been featured in two magazines and we are actually on the cover of Australian Cosmopolitan magazine. I think its hard for us to get anything to you via post so maybe we will scan you the photos!

We really miss Al Cielo and can't wait to get back there sometime in 2008.

Love bre and puds

WE WOMEN + ECONOMY, Germany
THE MAG TRAVEL: www.we-women.de
"YUCATAN Top Hotels – Women’s Favourites”
April 2008

WIE IM HIMMEL: AL CIELO HOTEL, XPU-HA

XPU-HA - wer hat schon davon gehört? Insider. Menschen, die auf eigene Faust etwas Einzigartiges suchen. Das Al Cielo Hotel ist ein solcher Ort, den Hausherr Andreas Oavarrieta Diaz hier geschaffen hat. Wer hier Platz findet in den 4 Zimmern, die nach den 4 Elementen Wasser, Luft, Erde und Feuer benannt sind, genießt Exklusivität, absolute Ruhe und ein außergewöhnliches Boutique-Hotel. Die strohbedeckten Palapas sind aus edlen Hölzern, die einen hautnah Wind, Luft und Meeresrauschen erfahren lassen.

Die Anlage liegt zwischen Cancun und Tulum in einer paradiesischen Bucht ohne große Hotels. Der Strand ist weiß, breit und lang gestreckt. Das Meer präsentiert sich in den schillerndsten Farben. Ideal ist auch das Strandrestaurant, das mit wunderbaren Frühstücks, Snacks, frischesten Fischen aufwartet und die kleine Beachbar, die leckere Cocktails zaubert.

Zaubern ist auch die Spezialität von Hausherr Andreas, der unermüdlich mit Blumen und Gegenständen dekoriert. So sitzt man auch am Strand nicht einfach nur unter einem Palmblatt-Sonnenschirm, sondern er hat darunter noch Stoffbahnen in den schönsten Farben gespannt, die Wind abhalten, aber wiederum Exklusivität schaffen.

Kein Wunder, dass man sich hier gerne für Fotoschootings einrichtet. Trend: Hochzeiten am Strand. Sicher ist, diese werden in der traumhaften Location zu einem Erlebnis, das einen lebenslänglich begleitet.

Facts

AL CIELO
Cabanas en la Playa, Restaurant Lounge, Stand-Club
Kontaktdaten:
Carretera Federal Cancun, Tulum km 118 Bahia
Xpu-Ha Riviera Maya
Quintana Roo, Mexico
Web: http://www.alcielohotel.com

WEEKEND FT: If flights were rationed . . .

by Claire Wrathall,published in the Financial Times
Jan 19, 2008

"Anyone who can leave the Yucatán with indifference has never been an artist and will never be a scholar," wrote the French explorer Désiré Charnay on leaving the southern Mexican peninsula in 1886, having rediscovered the ruined Mayan city of Ek Balam.

It's a sentiment that's easy to identify with, for this is one of the most intriguing, most inspiring places I know and, if there came a time when flights were rationed, this would be the place I would save my carbon credits for.

As a holiday destination, the state of Yucatán and its neighbour Quintana Roo have it all: a turquoise Caribbean coast and a cerulean Gulf one; proximity to a coral reef second only in size to Australia's Great Barrier; more Mayan ruins than you'll ever have time to visit; and abundant wildlife.

And then there are the hotels. Since I first came here, I've stayed high-end (Maroma and Ikal del Mar, both agreeable, if expensive) and in basic beach cabañas , but I may have found perfection somewhere between the two.

Calling a place Al Cielo - "to heaven" - may smack of hubris but the hotel on the beach at Xpu-Ha lives up to its name: right down to the fact that the journey was purgatory, a 90-minute night drive south from Cancún airport on a fast, unlit road.

Al Cielo has just four plain rooms in a thatched wooden structure on the beach . Each contains a large bed swathed in muslin, a hammock (there was another on the balcony), and just enough built-in furniture to have somewhere to stow your things. Not that this was a place to linger indoors. For Al Cielo's raisons d'être are its restaurant and its beach location.

On previous trips, the downside of this coast had been the food, but breakfast (included in the room rate) at Al Cielo was superb. Lunch - we stuck to salads - was good too and, for dinner, the grouper cooked in a salt crust was outstanding.

We spent four heavenly days at Al Cielo, mostly on the beach or basking in the clear warm water, passing the time of day with the other guests, mostly well-heeled Mexicans, and straying only in the early evening because the rival Café del Mar, a 10-minute walk down the beach, served better margaritas. There are no facilities beyond a small no-frills spa and nothing much to do. But isn't that the point? The whirr of the neighbouring hotel's generator notwithstanding, I've rarely felt closer to paradise. "

Beach Clubs

Published by Tectum Publishers

We are proud to announce Al Cielo's inclusion in Tectum Publishers’ newest book, Beach Clubs, a 252-page trilingual publication (French, English, Dutch) which focuses on the world’s most attractive beach clubs.This inspiring photography-driven book lists Al Cielo in its glossy pages along with 40 fantastic beach clubs selected worldwide.

The Bazaar Travel Guide

Published by Explora

"On Xpu-ha bay, a ridiculously perfect stretch of immaculate Caribbean coastline between to cool party town of Playa del carmen and the hippie ruins of Tulum...There are 4 simple rooms in cabanas on the beach with hammocks on the balconies and glorious sea views. Snorkeling is divine, straight off the shoreline. Massges are an offer, but the restaurant and little bar are the main attraction."