Mexico, and particularly Tulum, has to be one of the top three places I’ve travelled to in my life so far. I discovered the area 20 years ago thanks to some friends from Mexico City. And it was love at first sight.
But then it’s hard not to fall in love with a place like Tulum. Especially when you stay at a place like Posada Margherita, a beautiful boutique hotel.
Tulum doesn’t have an international airport. So instead you fly to Cancun. From there you can hop on a bus. Or into a kind of communal taxi – a minibus that seats around eight people all heading to Tulum.
Alternatively, hiring a car is dirt cheap. And whilst it’s not a scenic route, I always drive the two hours from Cancun to Tulum myself. You can stop off at Playa Del Carmen to break up the journey. And the motorway is in pretty good condition.
But if you get to Tulum and decide that you’d like your own set of wheels to get around on, there are hire places in the town too. I’d probably avoid hiring a moped or motorcycle though – the roads can be pretty busy and it doesn’t seem like the safest option.
https://www.posadamargherita.com/
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A lush tropical courtyard. Coconut palms. A swinging hammock. What’s not to love?
Posada Margherita Boutique Hotel has just eight rooms. They’re all individually designed and decorated, positioned between the main road and the beach, and scattered around a kind of mini-jungle garden.
As you can see from the pictures, Posada Margherita embodies this rustic-luxe, shabby-chic vibe. Lots of reclaimed wood, second-hand furniture and ceramic vases. And little wooden signs that help you find your way around the place.
It might not be to everyone’s taste but I absolutely adore how they’ve put this place together. It’s wonderfully quirky and unique.
Two childhood friends from Genoa, Italy, came to Tulum, fell in love (much like I did!) and stayed to build Posada Margherita. They wanted to create a place based around tradition, nature, family and food.
There’s an Italian family feel to the place, for sure. As well as Italian hints in the design and most definitely in the food.
There’s actually no hotel reception here. You just walk up the restaurant and someone there will help you to your room. It’s so relaxed and easy. And they make sure every guest feels like a member of the Posada Margherita family for the duration of their stay.
The room you can see in these pictures is Room Seven. I’ve laid my hat in pretty much all the rooms at Posada Margherita now. So I can say with some experience that Room Seven is the most beautiful of them all.
All of the rooms are pretty special. Amazing wooden beams. Reclaimed wood. Vintage linens. Luxurious bedding and soft, airy window dressings. Every room has air-conditioning and you get your own pair of fluffy beach towels for heading down to the sand and surf.
But Room Seven is a cut above. I love that it’s on the first floor. You have a little terrace out front. And also a walled roof terrace that offers complete privacy and an incredible view of the sea.
To be honest, I’ve never really used the roof terrace that much. It’s been great for getting perfect sunrise and sunset shots. But when you’re just 15 metres the Caribbean Sea, those white sands and warm waters are just too tempting.
Posada Margherita is one of those places where any stress just falls away the moment you step through the door.
You arrive. Get your room key. Kick off you shoes. And you don’t have to put them on again until it’s time to leave.
A breath-taking, white, sandy beach. Crystal clear waters. Drifting off to the sound of the sea as you relax on a sun lounger right on the beach. Eating at the hotel restaurant. Everything and everyone here is chilled out and laid back. I always love becoming a barefoot, beach bum all over again.
As with everything here, Posada Margherita’s restaurant is no ordinary hotel restaurant. It’s probably the best Italian restaurant in Tulum. And it’s well-respected and loved by both locals and tourists.
The menu is simple but incredible. It hasn’t changed for over 12 years. Which might seem like a bad thing. Until you see how mouth-wateringly fresh everything is. Italian pastas and pizzas. Local seafood. And sweet treats like tiramisu.
The restaurant has a view of the sea. And it’s lit by candlelight in the evenings. It really couldn’t be more beautiful.
There’s also a little pizza bakery, which you can use as a takeaway throughout the day. (Pizza on the beach! Could life get any better?) And for drinks, there’s both a juice bar and a beach bar. The latter serves the must-try house mezcal.
Some guests have commented on the noise of people leaving the restaurant in the evening. They have to walk through the hotel garden to reach their car or taxi.
But in all honesty, in all the times I’ve stayed at Posada Margherita I’ve never found this to be an issue. The restaurant closes at 10.30pm and I think people are generally considerate. So unless you head to bed seriously early and sleep lightly, I can’t imagine this causing too much aggro.
For those who can bear to tear themselves away from their sun lounger, there are tons of activities to enjoy in Tulum and on the Yucatan peninsula.
Yoga and meditation sessions. Visits to Mayan ruins. Snorkelling around the coral reef or in one of Yucatan’s famous cenote natural pools. The hotel can give you some pointers if you’re looking for something to do.
And for the evening, restaurants in Tulum town are just a taxi ride away from the hotel. And there’s nightlife to be found along the beach road.
For me, often the most amazing thing about a stay at Posada Margherita is being so jet lagged. Yes, really!
It means, for the first few days, I’m up way before the sun is. I get to walk out on the beach. There’s usually nobody around apart from maybe a couple of people jogging along the shore. I pull up a sun lounger and watch the sunrise.
I’ve seen some of the most unforgettable sunrises of my life right in front of Posada Margherita.
Heaven. On. Earth. I couldn’t love this place more.
