A unique wellness hotel on the oceanfront, surrounded by 400 hectares of virgin jungle in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. Join a like-minded community of eco-entrepreneurs, spiritual seekers, and wellness enthusiasts at one of the finest Playa del Carmen hotels. Discover how effortlessly every aspect of your health and well-being unfolds at this tranquil retreat. Your dream vacation at one of the best all-inclusive hotels in Playa del Carmen is within reach.
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AïA\Wellness was Inspired by the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiche Maya People. In these texts, brothers travel unto the underworld leaning spirituality through different “houses”. AïA\Wellness aims to achieve the same goal with four houses that complete our retreat experience. Specializing in transformational Wellness, we offer a safe space where you can experiment at your own rhythm, always supported by the community, guides and other guests. Our system is designed to create awareness that leads to transformation, and through integration; renewal.
We call it The Gifting Lifestyle because that’s what it is. Palmaïa is our gift to the world, so we can heal together. Palmaïa exists because of your support, which is why we prefer not to create stress about money while you are here. We have a one-rate system (all-inclusive) at our eco hotel, where you pay once, and everything is included*. You don’t need to worry about being short-changed here; no all-inclusive hotels in Playa del Carmen include as much as we do.
Our greatest hope is for you to take what you learn at Palmaïa and gift it to others. We hope that like so many others, when you come here, you are also inspired to gift your skills and knowledge and contribute to the community. Only by working together do we make the magic of Palmaïa possible.
What is included in the rate?
Our resort embraces a culture shaped by deeply-held values and beliefs, guiding us towards a collective awareness mission and fostering a holistic wellbeing lifestyle.
Alex Ferri
In early 2017 I started the foundations for a new resort—one that was not yet Palmaïa. Previous to that, I had spent more than three years changing the environmental permits to create higher buildings to occupy less land. The original project—which by then was almost fifteen years old—included a plan for fourteen buildings. That meant that the land would have to be leveled, eradicating all the organic nature with typical resort-style grass and palm trees. Let me point out that once a hotel is built, people forget what the original landscape looked like—we lose the authenticity of the land. I didn’t want that to happen. Needless to say, my changes with the permit meant I could build seven buildings that would be taller, but occupy less land mass, just 35% of the expanse. My goal was to build something that would respect local ecosystems, and I’m proud to say we achieved it. Once the entire project is complete with the next two phases, we will only have occupied maximum 5% of the land.
The project was under way, and all buildings had their cement foundations when something happened. I got a call that my architect, mentor and friend, Carlos had suffered an accident and was in a coma. It seemed impossible: we had done so many projects together over the past ten years. We had had so many laughs and incredible moments. I believed he would get better—and wanted to wait to carry on after his recovery. Sadly, nine months later Carlos passed away, leaving a void and a sense of grief and disbelief. At first, I didn’t know what to do. I had created resorts alone before, but with Carlos by my side, it was always better and more fun.
As reality sunk in, I began to see a vision of something different. It was mid-2018 by then. Time was running out. I needed to finish within a year. The easiest and less risky option would have been to complete the classic project that had been planned. But I couldn’t let go of the idea that I wanted to do something for the world that reflected my ethics and the lessons I had learned so far in my life. I wanted to do something that would lead guests to live a healthier lifestyle. I wasn’t completely sure of how it would work, but I had a name— Palmaïa—and it would be something like a luxury sustainable resort—only my way. Since the word sustainable has been so overused and has become cliche in a way, I did want to use it to describe something as authentic and unique as Palmaïa would be . This would be a retreat that would not only be as sustainable as possible but also a special gathering space, where people could live a new type of luxury, one defined by how we feel on the inside, rather than what we look like externally.
In my world travels, staying in many of the best places, I had noticed that despite incredible beauty, many resorts lacked soul. I wanted to create a place that would have a pulse, a vibrant resort, full of the gift of life.
I gathered my team, and communicated a vague vision and guidelines to activate the project. Over the next twelve months we cobbled together something totally unique: the wellness resort that is today’s Palmaïa. The process wasn’t linear or clean. During construction my team would ask me questions, and my answer would be a messy drawing on paper plans about where things would go and how they would look. Architects would draw out proper plans later to replace my terrible renderings. The project evolved. Through coincidences, travels and meeting certain people, it came to life.. I spent hours on end on the building side— directing the builders and artisans and explaining how I wanted things done. Sample after sample of finishings had to be tried to get the right texture and look. It was a great team effort that led to completion. It gave me enormous satisfaction to see this vision come to life. To this day, it is the most complex project I have done. Because of my unique background, I am one of the few people capable of improvising a hotel from an indistinct idea. I’ve always been good at taking things from generalities to specifics, starting with a hazy dream, and turning into something tangible. Still, those three months to completion were the toughest of my life. I hope to never have to do it like this again. Palmaïa is unique because the circumstances that lead to its creation are unique.
If you consider coming to Palmaïa, I urge you to have an open mind, be willing to experiment and be compassionate with yourself. We have created a resort meant to awaken something inside, offering a range of experiences to boost your health, help you form new habits and satisfy your curiosity. You just need to come and live the experience. We know it is not easy to change habits. Because we believe that restrictive systems don’t work, we offer you constraints here. Do you want to lose weight (for example)?. We are probably the only place in the world where you can eat as much as you wish and likely weigh less by the end of your stay (Note: we suggest you follow our AïA\Wellness guidelines, of course). There is really no place in the world where health is so effortless. Believe me. I’ve been around.
I hope you feel what many of us feel at Palmaïa. The energy here is certainly different and profound. I believe it has to do with the fact that we occupy sacred Mayan land, a place where three large underwater rivers join in the mangrove area at the back of the hotel. There, they flow into the ocean under the Rituals Deck, past the AïA sculpture, and into the ocean… a perfect metaphor for what I know will happen to you when you visit. Above all, I hope that you can come to Palmaïa and live a beautiful experience, while finding the path to your healing journey. The solution is not always near or easy, but the important thing is to find the beginning of the path. It feels like I have done so much work, yet the journey still goes on We seek never ending knowledge and learn—some say forever. I like to think that everything happens when it has to happen, because divinity loves us all and love is forever.
I have learned so much from all the people I have met while creating Palmaia—especially our guides. I have satisfied my own innate curiosity to pursue natural ways of healing in a constant effort to provide solutions for guests. Health does not need to be complicated. We want to empower you to not rely on third parties to dictate your health. I believe if we live a healthy lifestyle there is no reason why you would ever need to see a doctor or take a medication. Nature has the solution to everything. We just need to observe, learn and be respectful.
I look forward to seeing you at Palmaïa.
"AïA is our connection to the divine, the guide in our journey of transformation and healing.”
Palmaïa - The House of AïA. P.º Xaman - Ha, Playacar, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Q.R. Mexico. View directions 2024 - All images and designs appear with permission from their copyright holders. All Rights reserved.