This publication started off the first quarter of this year on a high note: our luxury travel site just won a major “Best Travel Writing” award in the Luxury & Resort Travel category from a major travel writers organization.
We scored a Gold award for our detailed review of Casa de la Playa resort in the Riviera Maya, south of Playa del Carmen. It seems fitting since this was the most fabulous resort we stayed in all of last year, and that’s really saying something. This is possibly the best luxury all-inclusive resort in all of the Americas.
The award comes from the North American Travel Journalists Association, one of several we’re a member of, and this is no upstart awards competition: this was the 31st edition. We’ve placed a few times there in the past, but this is our first Gold award.
Who did we beat out to climb to the top of the podium? Well, we don’t really know who else submitted in the category but the Silver went to Scuba Diving magazine and the Bronze went to Condé Nast Traveler, so I’d say we held our own against some heavy hitters. Other category winners included Travel + Leisure, Porthole, Robb Report, National Geographic, and the New York Times.
We’re happy and proud to get this recognition for an article that really resonated with the judges. Perhaps our enthusiasm for the resort and the experience showed through because this is no routine all-inclusive hotel on the coast. There are so many superlatives that we had trouble fitting them all into a review, whether it was the celebrity chef restaurants, the extensive spa, the high-end liquor selection, the artisanal chocolate room, or one of the most amazing “standard” hotel rooms I’ve ever walked into. Who else has a jellyfish aquarium in every room?
The outdoor terrace of our room was almost as big as the indoor part and it had a plunge pool with a hammock over it, a lounge chair, and a day bed. The big soaking tub looked out over the plunge pool, outdoor space flowing into the bathroom. The best included minibar I’ve ever seen was part of it, with Champagne, Mexican craft beer, wine, and four bottles of top-shelf liquor including Cosmico Cristalino tequila.
Since we couldn’t fit everything into the review, we did a separate blog post called 27 Things We Loved About Casa de la Playa. Since that still doesn’t tell the whole story, there’s a video tour we shot for YouTube embedded in the post as well.
Going back and reading the review and post made me salivate thinking about the meals we had there. If I could beam the two of us somewhere for dinner tonight in Mexico, I’d have a hard time thinking of some place I’d rather be than the Tuch de Luna restaurant by Martha Ortiz. It was delightful in every way.
Anyway, we’re gratified to get this recognition for our luxury travel site after cranking out hotel reviews, travel stories, and real estate round-ups since we fully launched in 2008. It has been a great 15 years thanks to the support of you our readers. If you want to hear from us on a monthly basis, get onto our newsletter list and you’ll receive a free report on how to get a hotel upgrade on your next vacation.
Article by Timothy
Timothy Scott is the founder and editor of Luxury Latin America and has been covering the region as a travel journalist since the mid-2000s. He has visited each country we cover multiple times and is based in a UNESCO World Heritage city in central Mexico, where he owns a home. See contact information here.
