Mexico

Movie stars & Mayan ruins

Once-upon-a-time Mexico was synonymous with low-budget movies and high-octane cocktails. Yes, Acapulco always had a certain glamour to it and Richard Burton used to take Liz Taylor to Puerto Vallarta, but when it came to travel most of us preferred to stick with the Caribbean and the Côte d'Azur, later turning our attention to Mauritius and the Maldives. Yet nowadays Mexico is right up there with those other A-list destinations. World-class hotel companies like One&Only, Orient-Express and Rosewood Hotels have been operating there for several years now; most of them offering the kind of exemplary service levels demanded by the 'do-you-know-who-I-am?' kind of movie star. But the place is not just for jet-setters with a penchant for personal butlers and a compulsion for choosing the thread count of their bed linens.