It was a full moon night. Under the bright moonlight, the swaying trees are reflected in the wild vegetation of the tropical rainforest in Quintana Roo, Mexico. We followed the guide through the dense forest in the night, and walked forward in small steps to avoid vines and rocks, with light hands and feet, for fear of disturbing the Mayan patron saint we encountered along the way. According to Mayan cultural tradition, before entering an underground cave, we need to obtain permission from the gods. The local master of ceremonies held an incense burner and whispered prayers in Mayan. We put our hands on our chests and thanked: "Yu'um bootik." Walking in the aisles and stairs lit by faint candlelight, the mysterious underground world is slowly revealed Open the veil. The stalagmites and stalactites formed over hundreds of millions of years are of different shapes and layers. Diving about 20 meters into the ground, the original cave scene actually has a gorgeous red carpet and waiters in suits and champagne. Under the light, the ancient limestone cave presents a romantic and beautiful color. Hundreds of candles surrounded the stage, and the string players played the first notes together…
It's like something that only happens in a dream, right? In fact, this is the first event of the "Beyond LIMITS" limited experience series planned and organized by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and brand loyalty program ALL – Accor Live Limitless – "Symphony in a Cenote" underground cave music meeting. Experience a concert in the depths of a cave formed by trillions of years of chemical action. The notes of contemporary pop music float in the space that was once regarded as a sacred place by the Mayans. Ancient civilization and modern art span time and space, creating a certain connection . Such an unprecedented experience is indeed too fantastical to be true, and it can only be believed if you experience it with your eyes and ears. However, challenging tradition and breaking the boundaries of imagination is the main purpose of Fairmont's "Beyond LIMITS" experience – through luxury and privacy A unique experience that leads travelers on a journey of discovery, discovering the unknown in destinations, hotels and themselves.
The Yucatan Peninsula, where the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel is located, has more than six thousand underground limestone caves (cenotes). The natural source of fresh water is also regarded by the ancient Mayans as a sacred passage to the underground world. The "Symphony in a Cenote" experience is only open to reservations for guests staying at the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel. In order to design an exclusive experience tailored to local conditions, Fairmont chose the Rio Secreto natural cave not far from the hotel as the stage for "Symphony in a Cenote". Meaning "mysterious river" in Chinese, Rio Secreto is a huge cave system and one of the most fascinating nature reserves in Mexico. Just as no one has ever thought of holding a concert in an underground cave, the repertoire of "Symphony in a Cenote" is also unexpected. High-end concerts are often associated with classical music, but Fairmont took a different approach, choosing familiar pop songs such as Rolling in the Deep and Shape of You. Appreciate the contemporary pop performed by the string band between cups and glasses, and the familiar melody hovers in the strange and primitive fantasy cave scene. Such a contrasting sensory experience is destined to be deeply engraved in the mind.
Spend a time in the "Symphony in a Cenote" cave concert that seems to be out of reality. When we arrive at the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel in an exclusive car, we return to the modern life that reveals the word "luxury" in every detail . Mexico's Riviera Maya is known for its extreme Caribbean sea views, stretching sandy beaches and high-end resorts gathered here. The AAA5 Diamond Fairmont Mayakoba is located right in Mayakoba, a private area of the Riviera Maya. Translated into Chinese as "Water City", Mayakoba is the only closed private resort in the Riviera Maya with a waterway system. The waterway, which took four years to open, connects lagoons, mangroves, white sandy beaches, and related facilities such as private residences, resort hotels, and golf courses in the area. With high privacy and security, you can enjoy a wide variety of leisure activities even without stepping out of the resort. I think Mayakoba meets the definition of most contemporary people for a luxury leisure vacation. But what is even more rare is that it creates a possibility to balance natural protection and luxurious lifestyle.
I took a cruise ship specially prepared for the guests of the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel to explore the rich natural beauty of Mayakoba. The clear freshwater lagoon is emerald-like in color and the fish in the water are clearly visible. The guide and captain is very interested in introducing the creatures encountered along the way-weird birds, lizards, turtles, or crocodiles hiding in the shallows-everything is rare. He proudly told me that Mayakoba is a self-sustaining ecosystem, and the biological species in the area even nearly doubled after the area was built. Humans and untouched nature live in harmony here, which helped Mayakoba win the Ulysses Award for Responsible Tourism Development from the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Mayakoba has proved that sustainable luxury tourism is not a fantasy. Hotel guests can not only enjoy vacations, but also give back and invest in the development of local communities and ecosystems in a certain sense.
The Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel, which opened in 2006, will complete the renovation of most of the space in the area in 2022. The single-family wooden houses with Mexican appearance are distributed in the resort's lagoon and tropical jungle, each with a private entrance. The sea view suite is surrounded by a wide landscape of the Caribbean Sea, with a private infinity pool on the terrace. Staying in the Signature Casita wooden house, open the floor-to-ceiling windows and be in nature, your eyes are filled with green, and occasionally you can see the cruise ships passing by the waterway outside the window. The extremely spacious marble bathroom and the Rose 31 aromatherapy products prepared by Le Labo, these Fairmont's "signature" elements are all expected and needless to say. The log design elements and elegant low-saturated colors used in the living area of Fairmont Mayakoba make it more organically integrated with the nature outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. The crisp sound of birdsong in the morning is nature's alarm clock – but it's never boring. Having breakfast on the balcony of the room, curious birds landed on the balcony railing in twos and threes. This kind of company made the daily activity of breakfast very interesting. Of course, we chose not to disturb each other in the end.
Since the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel covers a variety of ecosystems, when you go to various places in the hotel, the scene in front of you is always switching, from the manicured garden in the center of the hotel, to the wild growth, lush native jungle, mangrove, and finally Arriving at the Caribbean beach, the water light meets the sky, and the white sand beach exudes a faint golden light under the sun… It seems that every minute and every second makes people curious to explore, and they are reluctant to be distracted for a moment. Today, when electronic devices seem to be the second pair of eyes of human beings, Fairmont Mayakoba's modern and natural environment seems to always remind us to live in the present. Perhaps because of being surrounded by such sunny, warm weather and a vibrant environment every day, every employee I met at the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel exudes positivity and optimism from the inside out, whether it is driving a shuttle bus The driver, the guide who took me to explore the natural surroundings of the hotel, or the local who taught Mexican cuisine in the small town of El Pueblito in the heart of the Mayakoba campus. Their enthusiasm warms me like the Caribbean sun.
The ancient Mayan civilization still influences every aspect of daily life in Mexico today. This culture believes that by showing love and reverence to the gods, people will be rewarded with good fortune in different areas of life. To pay tribute to the local Mayan culture, the newly opened Maykana Beach Club of the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel in 2022 is inspired by the four classical elements of fire, water, earth and wind to create a variety of gourmet experiences. Feugo, which means "fire" in Spanish, is a charcoal barbecue-themed restaurant located on the white sand beach of Maykana Beach Club. Fresh organic fish caught locally are grilled over an open fire, and only seasoned with spices such as jalapeños, which instead highlights the original umami of the ingredients, allowing the taste buds to feel the enthusiasm of Mexico. The juicy fresh pineapple is roasted at high temperature, and its sweetness is more obvious. It is paired with rum raisin ice cream mixed with cinnamon powder and caramel, sprinkled with crispy grains to enhance the taste level, and brings an experience of ice and fire. There is something addictive about plain char-grilled pineapple. Brisas' Mexican specialty enchilada (Enchilada) loaded with crab meat gives the illusion of being too solid at first glance. In fact, the soft and tender Mexican tortillas are paired with fresh and plump crab meat, and the sweet and sour, slightly citrus-flavored Mexican specialty tomatillo (Tomatillo) sauce. The sea breeze blows, refreshing and warm.
Spend your leisure time by the infinity pool at Maykana Beach Club, with the breeze rustling palm tree leaves. Not far away, the waves of the turquoise Caribbean Sea patted the beach, and the white sails on the sea floated up and down as lightly as feathers, and my body seemed to float along with it, feeling a tingling sensation, and my mood was immersed in peace and extremely relaxed—— —This can probably be called ASMR in a certain sense.
During the few days I stayed in Fairmont Mayakoba, I naturally entered into a very lazy life. But on the day I left, I was determined to get up early to catch the sunrise. At six o'clock in the morning, the sun gradually rises from the sea level. The sky became brighter, and the golden sunlight dyed part of the sky golden, reflecting the endless Caribbean Sea. Between wonderful sunrises and sunsets, the sea is still the sea, the sky is still the sky, and only life is passing by. All we have is today. I think that if you embrace all kinds of experiences in a limited life, maybe your life will become infinitely broad.
Fairmont Group's "Beyond LIMITS" project will launch nearly 10 exclusive and first-of-its-kind experiences at selected Fairmont hotels and ALL – Accor Live Limitless hotels across North and Central America, and will last until March this year. In addition to the "Symphony in a Cenote" cave concert provided by the Fairmont Mayakoba Hotel as mentioned in the article, guests of the Fairmont Orchid Hotel in Hawaii will have the opportunity to dive into the magical underwater world, experience the "Pauoa Bay Underwater Ballet", and enjoy the fascinating underwater ballet Performance. The "Haute O2" experience customized by the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff National Park, Canada, creates a private oxygen bar on the edge of a 7,000-foot cliff, for only 8 guests. From the moment of connection, it stimulates participation through a mysterious multi-sensory experience body and soul of the recipient. "Symphony in a Cenote" will perform its final performance in early January.
