You don't win Condé Nast Traveler's 2008 Reader's Choice Award for "Best Mexican Resort" without putting together an impressive package. This high-priced jewel in the swanky Riviera Maya is an all-villa resort that is jungle-posh, eco-friendly, über-sexy, and remote enough to be a lost paradise.

The Tides lies just outside the charming village of Xcalacoco, seven miles north of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It's also 40 miles south of Cancun,

You don't win Condé Nast Traveler's 2008 Reader's Choice Award for "Best Mexican Resort" without putting together an impressive package. This high-priced jewel in the swanky Riviera Maya is an all-villa resort that is jungle-posh, eco-friendly, über-sexy, and remote enough to be a lost paradise.

The Tides lies just outside the charming village of Xcalacoco, seven miles north of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It's also 40 miles south of Cancun, with convenient access to its international airport. Covering six mostly unspoiled acres of magnificent beachfront, the resort epitomizes the concept of rustic luxury, giving guests the best of both Mexican worlds—ancient, untouched Mayan jungle and seaside amid sumptuous, modern luxury.

When it comes to being indulged, you'll be hard-pressed to beat this place. Upon arrival, you are personally escorted through a lush maze of fern, palm, and guava trees to one of 30 bohíos, or villas. These stucco, thatched-roof, or palapa, huts were constructed by Mayan carpenters and are artfully tucked away around the resort to offer plenty of exclusivity.

They're also deceptively rustic. Earthy on the outside (and built using natural materials), they offer no-expense-spared luxury within, from outdoor living spaces with beach beds, hammocks, and private plunge pools to sink-into-sleep canopied beds with 500-thread-count sheets and down pillows. The bathrooms boast marble showers, double sinks and closets, and Molton Brown toiletries. Each villa also boasts an outdoor terrace with a hammock and stone dining table.

The villas are divided into three categories: luxury (of which there are 17), royal (12 units), and a palatial two-story presidential villa. Naturally, the fineries are kicked up a notch with each upgrade. Royal villa guests get an iPod with docking and DVD station, LCD TV, deluxe bedding and towels, and other amenities. Perhaps best of all, they also receive the resort's prized "Mayordomo" service—one of a team of butlers trained by Robert Watson, founder and president of "The Guild of Professional English Butlers."

If you choose the Presidential Villa, come time for check-out you might have to be dragged off at check-out by security staff. The first floor is your living, lounging, dining, and recreational space, while the second floor is dominated by the grand master bedroom (where you get an extra 100-count in your linens for good measure). Of course, the Mayordomo service is part of the package.

The Tides gives you the splendor of the jungle as well as the dazzling Riviera Maya shoreline. Because of the hotel's remoteness, you can enjoy the privacy of a secluded beachfront, especially if you manage to snag one of the oversized lounge chaises beneath a palapa roof facing the variegated blue waters of the Caribbean. Others might prefer the resort's lagoon pool; its serene, full-service Maya Spa (which features a traditional temazcal, or sweat lodge); or one of numerous sports and leisure activities coordinated by the staff. And when you're hungry, the Mediterranean-Mayan fusion cuisine at La Marea, which offers open-air dining overlooking the glittering sea, will tip you over the sensory edge.

has been writing about the best places to stay in North America since the day after graduating college in 1984. Since then she has written over 35 guidebooks and for countless websites and print publications. She is also the editorial director of a forthcoming website on the best places to stay and the travel acquisitions editor for Countryman Press.