Maroma Resort & Spa

This Tulum-area resort gained renown for its 7,000-square-foot spa, fleet of waterfront beds (picturesque perches for sipping mango-and-cilantro margaritas), and 65 thatch-roof bungalows with handwoven hammocks and rugs. In 2010, Orient Express upped the ante with a tequila-centric lounge and a stellar new head chef for its Mexican tapas restaurant. But unparalleled luxury facilities are only part of the resort's appeal: what makes the Maroma experience truly exceptional is its embrace of regional traditions. The charming staff—from the women who scatter bougainvillea blossoms on the beds at turndown to the waiters who prepare guacamole tableside—is mostly of Mayan descent, and the indigenous influence is reflected in both the Yucatec dishes interspersed on chef Juan Pablo Loza's menu (baked suckling pig with local spices and platano purée) and the architecture of the Kinan Spa.