"Arriving at Etéreo, Auberge Resorts Collection, you are greeted—quite literally—by the spirit of Mayan tradition. When I pulled up to the retreat, a man dressed in white linen dramatically blew a conch shell as I exited my airport transfer. “Welcome to Etéreo,” said my personal guia. He then offered me a fresh-squeezed juice and asked if I wanted to receive an ancient blessing. I said yes to both. This ritual, I was told, signaled that I was leaving the mundane world behind me and entering the ethereal (which, incidentally, translates to etéreo in Spanish). And indeed, though the property is just a 40-minute drive from the Cancún airport, as I toured it I felt as though I was passing through to the other side. The 75-room resort, which opened in December, sits atop a sprawling mangrove forest that billows out onto nine acres of white sand beaches. When I visited in mid-February, the shore was so pristine it looked like it had been freshly vacuumed. (There is also a palatial pool area—lined with swinging hammocks and a few floating fire pits—for some man-made beauty.)" - Jessie Heyman