This Underrated Mexican Resort Town Has Gorgeous Beaches, Magical Sunsets, and One of the Best New Hotels in the World

Travel + Leisure

12-05-2025

The guest rooms at Hotel Humano blend privacy with indoor-outdoor living with tropical wood sliding doors that open to a view of the pool.
The hotel is an easy 20-minute drive from Puerto Escondido, Mexico's airport and in the thick of the buzzy La Punta neighborhood.
Tiered, ocean-facing benches along the perimeter of the rooftop bar—plus a small pool and firepits—are the perfect place to watch the sunset.
For a stretch of the short drive from the airport in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, to Hotel Humano, the road hugs an overlook of Zicatela Beach with a view of moored fishing boats, reminding newcomers of this boomtown's roots.
This part of the resort town—Mexico's La Punta Zicatela, located at the tail end of Zicatela Beach—has recently started attracting international travelers. Its cluster of streets remains half unpaved, filled with boutique beachwear shops and raw wood counter bars.
Featuring distinctive design elements, such as latticed brickwork and glossy tiles, the 39-room Hotel Humano, which opened in December 2024 and was just named to Travel + Leisure 's 2025 It List of best new hotels, is quickly evolving into a neighborhood hub. A day could flow seamlessly within the hotel's cool concrete walls: grab a coconut-lime-soursop smoothie for breakfast at the street-side lobby cafe, enjoy micheladas and your favorite read on a lounge chair by the palm- and cabana-lined pool, and finish with sun downers at the rooftop bar. The lobby and hotel coffee shop.
Edmund Sumner/Courtesy of Hotel Humano
During a recent stay, I started my first morning with a taste of what has put La Punta on so many travelers' lists: a surf lesson set up by the hotel on the beach's beginner-friendly waves. While the main Zicatela Beach to the north is a pro surfer's paradise, hosting international tournaments on its canyon-powered barrels, La Punta is an ideal spot for those learning the sport. My instructor, Angelo Donnanno of Art of Surfing, explained why: 'The angle of the beach is perfect for the south swells that are coming straight to the Oaxaca area," he said, his finger tracing a diagram in the sand.
That evening, back at the hotel, I joined a gaggle of guests gathered on the west-facing rooftop, five stories up, to enjoy the sunset as the horizon bloomed in bright coral.
Here, my full review of Hotel Humano.
My nearly 600-square-foot Ocean View Suite made for the coolest luxury crash pad. On a sun-drenched patio off my bedroom, I could work on my laptop and do stretches along the built-in banquette. The king-sized tiled plunge pool felt like the most high-class way to relax in a surf town. Madrid-based Plantea Estudio drew inspiration for the interiors from Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier's Cabanon de Cap-Martin in France—a simple beach shack featuring clean woodwork, pops of metal, and natural sunlight. 'It's a balance between a holiday home and the playful, festive, technical feel of a surfer's camper,' Luis Gil Guinea, a founding partner of Plantea Estudio, told Travel+Leisure.
Each of the hotel's 39 rooms, including eight suites, comes with a view of the lush pool courtyard. Most of the furnishings are custom-made by Mexican artisans: sturdy quilts from the Dushill studio in Oaxaca City, and cheeky ink drawings by Mexico City-based artist Lucio Muniain. The bathroom sinks—generous basins made from stainless steel—add a modernist edge to the otherwise earth-toned interiors. The bistro is the hotel's main restaurant.
Edmund Sumner/Courtesy of Hotel Humano
The port of Marseille, France, and Puerto Escondido may have little overlap in terms of aura, but chef Marion Chateau has found a delicious throughline, serving incredible fresh seafood. Chateau, formerly of Marseille's La Relève hotel and restaurant, is in charge of the dinner menu at Humano's Bistró, the stunning all-day restaurant set inside a soaring poolside palapa. Her cocinero, a local white fish similar to a sardine, crisped up on the grill with olive oil and cut with a zippy pico and lemon beurre blanc, was one of the best catches of the day I've had in a while. Hotel guests enjoying the sunset from the rooftop bar.
David Shortell/Travel + Leisure
Breakfast at Bistró features eggs—fried, scrambled, and poached in a variety of Mexican styles—alongside fresh juices. Lunch is a selection of the only dishes you'll want after a day of sun and seawater: guacamole, ceviche, and heaping fish tacos.
For a quick and light option, the lobby cafe offers a great list of tropical fruit smoothies and pastries. (Before my surf lesson, I got hopped up on antioxidants with an açai bowl) To unwind, the rooftop bar has cocktails and local beers that perfectly complement the sunset views. Try the primo spritz for a Mexico City cool kid spin on an Aperol spritz, though it is less sweet and with a more subtle, burnt orange hue.
The 46-foot courtyard pool, flanked by royal palm trees and maroon loungers that evoke a Moorish garden party, is the main attraction here. The rooftop bar is the best spot for mingling during sunset and into the night, with resident DJs setting a low-key dance vibe from Thursday to Sunday.
The reception team can arrange a surf lesson with The Art of Surfing, a local school run by brothers Alonso and Sasha. My session stretched almost two hours, including a half-hour theory overview on the dunes. By the end, I was popping up with confidence and gliding baby waves into shore.
The wellness spaces were not yet ready during my visit, so the hotel arranged an excellent massage in my suite. However, at the time of publication, the small spa, with massage rooms, a sauna, and two cold plunges, has opened.
Rooms at Hotel Humano are not ADA-certified.
Thoughtful architectural choices support Hotel Humano's sustainability initiatives. The hotel's layout, including the double-height ceilings, facilitates cross-ventilation, which, along with the use of concrete building material, helps maintain indoor temperatures low, Gil Guinea explained. Air conditioning in public spaces is powered by solar energy and is used sparingly, when heat and humidity are at their seasonal peaks. Exterior facade of Hotel Humano.
Edmund Sumner/Courtesy of Hotel Humano
The hotel runs for nearly half a block along the main paved road through La Punta, a prime spot in this neighborhood's small grid of streets. The walk to the beach takes less than five minutes—or less, if you take the hidden exit behind the pool that leads to a backroad shortcut. To get to the hotel, fly into Puerto Escondido Airport in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Hotel Humano is a member of Design Hotels, under the Marriott umbrella, and part of the Marriott Bonvoy program. Guests can earn points to redeem for complimentary nights and enjoy perks such as free Wi-Fi, late check-out, and more.
Nightly rates at Hotel Humano start from $191 for a garden-level guest room and $300 for an Ocean View Suite.
Every T+L hotel review is written by an editor or reporter who has stayed at the property, and each hotel selected aligns with our core values.