One&Only Mandarina, Mexico Hotel

Mexico

It's unusual for a hotel to employ a resident prehispanic ceremonialist - but then One&Only Mandarina is one of those rare places that has torn up the rule book and written its own.

For example, you’d forgive a high-end destination for shouting about its impeccable décor and the luxurious fixtures it’s so heavily invested in. Yet there’s a humility surrounding all man-made design at One&Only; an awareness that even the most exquisite aesthetics pale into insignificance against the natural surrounds.

One&Only Mandarina is located in the outskirts of El Monteón – an inconspicuous village of fishermen, pineapple and corn farmers on the Nayarit Riviera. Out to sea, it’s all vast blue skies and yawning views across the Pacific, but it’s the coastal rainforest – dense, ancient, steaming – that summons a unique sense of magic.

‘An energetic environment crafted for reconnection’ is how the One & Only team describe it. What’s impressive is how genuine that connection is. We’re not talking ‘unwinding ’, but something more profound, rooted in history: age-old healing rituals involving volcanic clay from nearby mud grottos and sacred Wixárika purification treatments.

Naturally, the spa also has all the standard offerings. And here, by ‘standard’ we mean pedicures by world-renowned French podiatrist Bastien Gonzalez. That’s the thing – it’s easy to lose perspective. One of the hotel restaurants, for example, is headed up by Enrique Olvera, the godfather of modern Mexican cuisine, whose restaurant Pujol was impossible to get a table at after it was flung to global fame on Netflix’s Chef ’s Table. Yet here, guests can just stroll into his restaurant, Carao, for breakfast: squash blossom quesadilla or traditional sope (much like a tostada) served with pork chicharrón lard, beans and charred tatemada salsa.

It’s no surprise that a sense of exclusivity prevails. But it’s far from smugness – just a shared sense among guests of immense privilege to be experiencing something so authentic, unique and special.

Doubles from £710.

Words by Rachel Walker.

This article was taken from the Christmas 2024 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.