Fodor's Expert Review Playa Azul

Editor's Note: This location is no longer in operation.

This beachfront confection brings together the best of Tulum's rapidly changing worlds, a solar-powered art-filled compound with killer margaritas and style to spare. Barcelona artist Tony Roixes gives the place a tropical-minimalist feel—polished-concrete floors, funky bamboo plumbing fixtures—enhanced by original art, giant blown-up photo collages, and folk pieces from all over Mexico. Airy, unfussy rooms in small adobe-style buildings topped with towering palapas are connected by wooden gangways and narrow sandy paths, all of which lead to a stretch of Tulum's gorgeous beach.

The best views are from the new rooms atop the second-floor beachfront restaurant, but you'll find privacy at a bargain in the palapa villas, set off to one side of the main compound.

Should you ever want to leave, the front desk rents bicycles. Book well in advance.