La Zebra review: beach chic, perfect tacos and secret cenotes

Many sandy miles from the hedonist's domain of Cancun lies the chilled town of Tulum, which is split across two zones – the "puebla" (the main town) and the "Zona Hotelera" (you guessed it, the hotel zone) right on the coast. It's in this calm, older feeling part that the family-friendly beach hotel La Zebra is located. You'll no doubt have heard of Tulum's beach clubs, but fear not, these are easily accessible but far enough away to not interrupt the peace. 

Why come here?

La Zebra is "beach chic": you’re taking your shoes off here and they aren't going back on till it's time to go. Villas and suites face the sea, decks leading straight down to the sand. It feels like it's carved out of the jungle, with plants growing up palm trunks and décor made from carved and stained wood, highlighted with the vivid colour palette typically associated with Mexico.

Rooms are generously sized (don't get me started on hotels with no clothing storage – nothing makes you feel more temporary), with huge double walk-in showers, day beds and bubbling plunge pools leading out to the sands and sea beyond. Subtle Mexican décor from the local area reminds you where you are.

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The flora is impressive, as with much of this part of the world, with towering, crawling greenery interspersed with the spiked sun shapes of the native thatch palm, favoured by the Mayan people for roofing material.

Eating and drinking

There is a fantastic restaurant and bar at the hotel's heart serving well considered and executed Mexican staples for breakfast. One of the top dishes of our trip was "huevo escondido", a heady mix of fried eggs in a corn panucho, lentils, local longaniza, green salsa, serrano pepper, cheese and sour cream. There was also a mix of western and Mexican dishes for lunch and themed dinners – the hotel's take on "taco Tuesday", breaking with the colloquial tradition and going all-in on Thursdays with authentic dishes like pit-roasted cochinita pibil.

The service throughout is friendly and efficient – from a smiling coffee delivery at breakfast to beers delivered to your cabana beach-side. It's a buzzy and fun hotel without descending into a noisy party. Drinks are tasteful, not garish and the sea provides plenty of calming white noise if you want to get lost in a book. It's both nice and good here – nice people, nice food, nice atmosphere. A hard balance.

Things to do

If you're into the food scene, an ideal day could be spent with breakfast by the sea at La Zebra, then a cab-ride up to Mi Amor, a sister hotel with only a handful of rooms, located in the national park near Tulum's Mayan Ruins. The menu was designed by famed Mexican-American chef José Luis Hinostroza whose mixed culinary upbringing sings in the food. A smash burger sits alongside prawn tacos, gussied up in all the right ways, while giant amaranth and mezcal tempura shrimp sit on house-made tacos with kimchi slaw and delicate picked herbs. Refreshments come in the form of a well-curated cocktail list with a pick and choose menu to suit your own palate. Hinostroza is also chef-owner of the nearby excellent and ultra cool ARCA, a bit of a "dining in the jungle" experience, with candles and torches setting the scene, sand on the floor and all the cooking done over live fire. 

Last stop on a culinary food tour around the area would be a stop-in at Mezzanine. It does great Thai food using locally sourced ingredients where possible. Pre-spice, opt in for a mezcal tasting; this traditional spirit, a smokier sister to tequila, has fiercely grown in popularity over the last decade seeing a boom in production. Unlike tequila, it's typically drunk straight, sometimes with a piece of citrus sprinkled with spicy "sal de gusano" – a blend of dried chilli, larvae and salt.

A must-do while staying anywhere in this peninsula is to head on a hidden cenote tour – the Yucatan is home to more than 6,000 of these sinkholes, all connected to each other and the sea by a vast underground river. Many of them, particularly the larger ones, are very popular. Hiring a guide from La Zebra means you'll go to some of the more interesting, diverse and quiet locations for a calming, more spiritual experience. 

Afterwards, a stop at Don Honorios is very necessary. This is the most famous taco spot in Tulum, the queue winds out of the door and for good reason – slow-cooked and flash grilled meats, veggies and pickles top perfectly sized round discs of corn – and prices haven't rocketed either since an appearance on Netflix's "Taco Chronicles".

William Leigh was a guest of La Zebra Beach Hotel & Restaurant. Carretera Tulum-Bocapaila Km. 8.2, Zona Costera, 77780 Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico; lazebratulum.com 

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