Above: a rendering of the new Hotel Cacao

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A new boutique hotel is coming to Mexico’s Playa del Carmen.

The Hotel Cacao, the brainchild of hotel management firm Cornerstone, is set to open in September 2014, the first of a pair of new boutique hotels in Mexico. (The latter will open in 2015 in Mexico City).

Cornerstone was behind the boutique Hotel Matilda in San Miguel de Allende, which opened its doors in 2010.

The 60-room hotel will be located on Plaay del Carmen’s 5th Avenue.

“At art-and-culture-themed Hotel Matilda, we elevated hospitality to the level of an innovative work of art where guests are immersed in edgy luxury and cultural experiences,” said Bruce James, managing partner at Cornerstone. “While each hotel will have a distinctive individual personality, it is the shared Hotel Matilda lifestyle that defines the Cornerstone collection.”

The hotel will include a mixology experience by Chef Enrique Olvera at its rooftop bar, with the restaurant, Nibs, to be helmed by Olvera protege Alejandro Cuatepotzo.

The shops and restaurants on the hotel’s street level will include Maiz de Mar, a seafood restaurant also by Olvera.