While a dreary late February rain hits the windows of my Manhattan apartment, I’m vicariously visiting the Coqui Coqui Coba Residence & Spa on the Yucatan Peninsula, in the Mayan village of Coba.
We also admire the luxe interiors (see Mexican Luxury: Coqui Coqui on the Yucatan Peninsula), but of particular interest to me is the aerie out-of-doors, where sunken plunge pools and winding stone stairways feel as though they’re one with the Mayan ruins. I imagine that the fragrance of lime and mint—which grow wild on the property, and which inspired the Coqui Coqui perfumery’s Coba scent—wafts over the pools and down the walled pathways. Armchair travelers, join us for a look:
Photography by Eduardo Cerruti and Stephanie Draime of Cerruti Draime.
As the story goes, hundreds of years ago Franciscan monks made perfumes from the tropical flowers and botanicals of the Yucatan peninsula, which were then sold—and prized—throughout the Spanish Empire.
Argentina native Nicolas Malleville—who, together with Francesca Bonato, is the landscape architect, model, perfumer, and hotelier behind Coqui Coqui’s boutique resorts—was inspired by the scents of the Yucatan catalogued at Le Jardin de Bagatelle in Paris, the Hanbury Botanical Gardens in Italy, and Kew Gardens in the UK.
Coqui Coqui Perfumeria’s scents, bottled with history in mind, feature lime and mint in particular.
The story goes that, hundreds of years ago, Franciscan monks crafted perfumes from the tropical flowers and botanicals of the Yucatan Peninsula, which were then sold—and prized—throughout the Spanish Empire. Argentina native Nicolas Malleville—who, together with Francesca Bonato, is the landscape architect, model, perfumer, and now hotelier behind Coqui Coqui‘s boutique resorts—was inspired by the scents of the Yucatan catalogued at Le Jardin de Bagatelle in Paris, the Hanbury Botanical Gardens in Italy, and Kew Gardens in the UK, and founded Coqui Coqui Perfumeria with this ancient tradition in mind. Now, the perfumery bottles the lush botanicals and flora that grow near Coba—lime and mint in particular.
Time for a tropical escape? More in Mexico: