by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

How do you . . . design an elegant hotel that capitalizes on its environment and country’s culture?

Summary: The AQUA Hotel & Resort on the Yucatan Peninsula in Cancun, Mexico, is a boutique resort located on the Caribbean Sea that touts itself as a place of “un-spring break” amenities. The 300,000 square-foot beachfront luxury resort, which targets families, couples, and singles, features amenities such as aromatherapy based on the local Mayan culture, pools, and views that take advantage of the Caribbean Sea, and music for every mood. The 10-story white concrete and glass exterior is curved to face the sea. Its sides angle inward, providing a winged shape, as the levels stagger downward towards the sea like a staircase, representing the steps of a Mayan pyramid. The hotel features an elegant interior design that incorporates Caribbean colors and Mayan cultural elements and architecture. The resort was designed by international hotel operator Grupo Posadas and opened under a different name for eight months before it was damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Grupo Posadas relaunched the structure and site last February as the AQUA Hotel & Resort.

The beachfront concrete and glass AQUA Hotel & Resort overlooks the Caribbean Sea. The wings of the structure have staggered levels, and at the center of the hotel is a large glass lobby canopy. The resort hotel focuses on high-end amenities with Caribbean views: pools, spas, three restaurants, cabanas, and 371 rooms. Mexico’s Mayan culture, considered to be centered in Cancun, is prominent in the interior design by Francisco Hanhausen of Mexico City-based Arquitectura y Diseño. Issac Abadi of Mexico City-based Studio Arquitectos was the hotel’s architect.

Elegant, Contemporary, Subtle
“We wanted to show the interior design to be contemporary, international, and very discreet,” says Hanhausen. “We tried to keep a subtle design, modern yet elegant, but I wouldn’t consider it chic. There is also a Mayan influence.” Elegant amenities, the environment, and the Mayan culture of relaxation and meditation all play a part. For example, airy interior spaces capture sea and lagoon views, natural light, and coastal sounds to promote tranquility. “The minute you enter you feel as if you are in a spa,” Hanhausen describes.

“The interior design combines the tranquil colors—blues and whites—of the Caribbean,” he says. ”We wanted the interior to be simple, subtle, and linear. The design is discreet, yet all the rooms, fixtures, textures, and furniture are high-end and represent the area and local Mayan culture.” AQUA’s interior design examples include plush beds with “pillow menus,” blue tiles, Peruvian wood, Spanish marble baths, and 40-foot-long oceanfront balconies. Small Mayan-style tables and natural Mayan-style handmade soap are in each room.

Fun in the sun (and under the moon); aromatherapy
There are eight pools in total, with free fruit and brownies. One pool has a swim-up bar, and one is a two-level, Olympic-sized Tiki pool featuring water bubbles that come up from the ground. Colors of blue and turquoise combine in the pools. Meanwhile, on the beach, there are canopied beds, gym and yoga classes, and unlimited beach towels. Back at the hotel, a soundtrack of more than 40,000 songs sets the mood at different locations and times throughout the hotel. Red parrots can fly to you on call, and at the end of the day there is a nightly blessing to the moon because the Mayan’s believed the moon brings strength and restoration. Aromatherapy spas are incorporated throughout the entire property, which entail spas that have mint, spearmint, eucalyptus, and lavender wafting through the space. Four types of aromatherapy oils are used that are intended to inspire energy, relaxation, romance, and tranquility. It is considered a multi-sensory treatment based in Mayan culture.

“The elements of the design make you feel as if you are in an elegant, contemporary, private home, but the scale of the whole complex gives it luxury,” says Hanhausen.