HOTEL EXPERIENCES
Hotel Experience:
When the places you stay at are pivotal to your travel experience–be it by virtue of a uniquely artistic design, a special location, in-house events or unusual services that offer extra insight into the city or town you’re visiting
The Hotel Basico in Playa del Carmen Takes Adaptive Re-use to New Levels
By Shana Ting Lipton
Sometimes hip hurts…but in a good way. Like that vintage Rietveld chair that gives you chiropractic problems later in life. The Hotel Basico is located somewhere between painfully hip and fun; and in Playa del Carmen, Mexico to be exact.
It’s an industrial design boutique hotel in the Mexican resort town in the Mayan Riviera; and a sister property to the Hotel Deseo. Everyone incidentally swears by the latter as a cool place to get drinks while in Playa.
What the Basico may lack in comfort and privacy, it makes up for in cool. Fashioned by Central de Arquitectura/ José Sánchez and Moisés Ison, the design is a study in adaptive reuse. Tires, plastic and be warned (if you have a strong sense of smell), a whole lot of latex.
The accommodation cubes (i.e. rooms) all have glass faces and some not entirely effective (but again, hip) coverage via latex blinds. If you’re shy this may not be the place for you. But if you don’t mind a little spice and you’re even a bit exhibitionistic, the Basico is your spot.
In lieu of a pool, the Basico has giant metal industrial vats for your dipping pleasure (bigger than a jacuzzi, much smaller than a pool). Yes, I know, that sounds a bit Chernobyl. It is atypical; but I’m a lover of quirk and funkiness. If you’re not, be aware that the Basico has been known to give guests the green-light to swim at the Deseo. They also dispense passes to their private beach (which is usually stocked with DJs spinning nice house tunes).
The roof lounge is laid-back and swank with delicious fresh tasting Caipirinhas on the cocktail menu. The restaurant also serves incredible fresh ceviche. And because this is a resort town (and a hotel catering to a cosmo crowd), you can trust the water in salads and such.
Photo: Shana Ting Lipton and friend in a private eco-reserve near Playa del Carmen, Mexico
One of my favorite parts of staying at the Basico (besides the cool factor) is the friendly and helpful staff. They organized a driver to pick me up and take me to a nearby privately owned eco-preserve where I had the most enjoyable playa-side horseback ride of my life.
At a leisurely pace, on a white (feisty) horse, I trotted with my two guides along the beach of the private property. One of them even stopped at a coconut grove, grabbed a coconut, sliced it with a knife and gave it to me so I could drink the Ambrosia-like liquid. Ok, later when I thought about being alone on an equestrian tour with two guys, one of whom pulled out a knife, I had some more alarmist thoughts.
The Basico will also connect you to tour operators if that’s your thing. It’s generally not mine, but on this particular trip I did not rent a car and wanted desperately to see Chichen-Itza (three hours away) so the best solution was a mini-bus tour–on a bus loaded with Italians in my experience.
The interesting thing about Playa del Carmen is that–although it’s near the college-rowdy boozy town of Cancun (you fly into their airport), it tends to attract a European crowd rather than a traditional ‘American on a Tequila-fueled Mexico vacation’ tourist. That’s not to say that you’ll never see such travel pariahs. But in Playa, you have just as much of a chance of hearing Italian or French spoken as you do ‘Jersey’–especially if you stay at the Basico or Deseo.
Hotel Basico
4879 4448
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