Welcome to Palmaïa - The House of AïA

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.