RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico - It might prove daunting to pinpoint the exact instant when that "1 percenter" vibe hits you at Mayakoba, an eco-focused luxury resort that's home to three hotels on Mexico's frequently frenetic Caribbean shore.

At least it was for me.Was it the surprisingly stress-sapping drive along the forested lane from the front gate to the Banyan Tree hotel, tropical birds and the raccoonlike coati skittering into the undergrowth? Maybe that first glimpse of the three-room walled villa that I'd occupy, a large plunge pool in the leafy courtyard dividing an airy parlor from the expansive bed and bathrooms?Or perhaps the lunch of perfectly prepared Greek appetizers followed by sea bass and mussels in broth at the Rosewood Hotel's Casa del Lago?

No, my moment came 10 minutes into the "Balinese" rubdown in the Banyan Tree's large and trance-inducing spa, with a Thai-trained muscle master named Gerardo working the knots out of my grateful shoulder blades.

This decidedly is not your spring breakers' Riviera Maya, that of all-inclusive packages, sorry-I-did margaritas and cafeteria-quality food. It's a shame the other 99 percent of visitors to the Riviera Maya, on the coast below Cancun, are missing out.

"It's just great for quiet time," said Houstonian Jason Yong, 31, celebrating a fifth anniversary with wife Linda Lee after flying in from Boston, where both are finishing medical residencies. "Very Zen."

Tucked into a once-virgin coastline now too often defined by landscape-chewing mega hotels, Mayakoba was envisioned by its Spanish developer - the OHL Group - as a secure, nearly square-mile oasis of rain forest, mangroves and white sand fronting the turquoise sea.

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Source: Rosewoodhotels.com