Beachcombing

Deseo, Mexico

They call it the Riviera Maya, a 230-mile-long ribbon of perfect white sand that stretches from Cancun on the easternmost point of the Yucatan peninsula to the border with Belize. About a third of the way down lie the ruins of Tulum, once a major base of Mayan civilisation.

Less than 20 years ago, Playa del Carmen was a small fishing town 30 minutes from Tulum. It had a beautiful broad stretch of beach and no tourists, yet was under an hour from Cancun's airport. It was discovered by Italians and accordingly came to be developed more in the mould of Positano than Cancun. Playa today is not exactly a small fishing village, but neither is it the Las Vegas-style high-rise strip that Cancun has become. In short, it's a happening little town with lots of energy. The beach is never more than a block away, and the streets (pedestrian traffic only) are chock-a-block with cafes, restaurants, bars and shops.

Playa del Carmen is fun and sexy, and it's easy to understand why it's still so popular with Italians. But what it didn't have until the arrival of Deseo was an architectural equivalent of its exuberant energy. Most of the buildings in town are funny hybrids - a bit of concrete, the odd colourfully painted wall, and the occasional roof of thatch. Deseo is the way it should all be: modern, fresh, but still unmistakably Mexican. Above all, it's completely in sync with the laid-back lifestyle of the Riviera Maya.

In the centre of town, yet only one block from the beach, Deseo is a smaller, gentler and more private version of the hotel-as-nightclub phenomenon kickstarted by Ian Schrager in places like LA and Miami. Arranged around a courtyard raised one storey above street level, the rooms are open-plan lofts painted ice blue, equipped with big frosted-glass doors which slide open to expose you to the bar, the pool and the outside beds that account for the "lounge" part of the full name, Deseo [Hotel + Lounge]. Guests can linger around the pool, order snacks from the small breakfast bar, and meet for drinks in the evening to listen to the DJs.

It's the art of lounging as perfected by the proprietors Carlos Couturier and Moises, Rafael and Jaime Micha.