This year is the year of weddings for me – and honestly probably will be for the next 3-4 years of my life. Because of this, I have a number of exciting trips planned for this year – number one being my cousin Monica’s bachelorette to tropical Playa Del Carmen, Mexico! I believe before I get into this post, I should tell you that her maiden name is Flores (like flower in spanish) so her hashtag #FiestaDeFlores pretty much followed and dictated everything on this trip. 😀
Day one – Arrival
I’d also love to say that I knew what “Mexico” was like from my brief visits to Cancun and via exposure on the internet, but to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting the modernity that Playa Del Carmen provided. Yes, we flew into Cancun airport, but the hour and a half drive over to our vacation rental felt like a drive down through Miami – with a few tropical birds mixed in. 🙂 When we arrived, we were met by a car service coordinated by our lovely airbnb host who was as friendly as can be, a nice relief from the mediocre flight experience via Spirit Airlines. Bleh.
Travel can make anyone a hangry fool, so we asked our adorable driver if she had any taco recommendations near by – to which she replied by pulling off the next exit, making a series of turns and ending up at a small taco shop off the highway. Immediate reaction? Sketch. But the second we spoke with the locals and received our tacos, it was worth it. And best part, our driver waited for us and was such a sweetheart!!
Upon arriving at our Airbnb, we were happily surprised to find that the house was in a fully gated community, with a golf course to boot. Check out how insta-worthy this place is. Can you say swoon?!
The rest of the group had already arrived and dipped into the cocktail reserves so it was our turn to catch up and soak up some rays in the backyard.
But….what kind of vacation/bridal celebration would this be if I didn’t showcase a little bit of my hand lettering!? These bachelorette welcome bags, customized with each girl’s names were the perfect gift. Included in each bag was a floral straw, pineapple cup (for margaritas of course) and an emergency kit, which included gum, band-aids, a granola bar and Emergen-c (the necessities!). The bride’s came special with a last name straw ordered from etsy!
The first night, we decided upon tacos at the house (to enjoy a little bit of our airbnb) and then out at night to the well-known downtown area, Avenida 5. This street is filled with adorable shops, high end/well-known designer brands, restaurants and bars. We wore white while our bride who floral!
Drink suggestion of the night at La No. 20 – Muddled mojito or Guanabana/Gin spritzer made only by request (not on the menu!). In case you don’t know, Guanabana or Sour sop is in the same family as a sugar apple, but tastes like pineapple cotton candy and is native to tropical regions. Soooooo this drink was basically the bomb.com. (#tbt)
Day two – Mamitas
For our first full day of bachelorette-ing, if that’s a word lol, we headed to the downtown area and a bit north to a beach club called Mamitas Beach Club, which is a daytime pool and beach club with cabanas right on the sand. For a seriously affordable price we were able to put in $40 a person down on a cabana and that went toward our food and drink!
When we arrived we were a bit upset to see clouds, but nothing a little sun dance can’t fix. 😉
Cocktail recommendation of the day: The Flamingo – featuring fresh grapefruit, gin, simple syrup and rosemary or “Romero” (which we found out is the Spanish word for rosemary and happens to be the brides married name). Funny coincidink
Once the sun, some snacks and selfie sticks (and by selfie sticks I mean JR-the groom’s- head on a stick) came out, the day had reached peak enjoyment. 😀
#ModelLyfe
Our amazing waiter Roberto who by the end of the day had his name created into a song and was our best friend. Poor guy, he even held our french fries as we ate them. 🙂 Save to say he didn’t mind.
Day three – Coralina Beach Club
Sooooo…. by now you can tell that the biggest thing to do around here during the day is go to beach clubs. If we were there for a little longer we probably would’ve taken a trip over to Tulum or inland for some more adventures, which is only 1-1.5 hours away from Playa del Carmen, but for the purpose of this trip, the beach clubs were definitely our go to.
Our group got these matching one pieces from ASOS, for only $35 each and used some florals from the backyard at our airbnb as a cute accessory.
Some pretty shots from our neighborhood…
We have arrived….
Now, this beach club was a mix of like a LIV (if you know pop culture and/or are from Miami) in a pool setting, complete with overly “extra” tourists, girls that probably should be wearing more clothing and champagne showers that cost more than $5,000 a pop. (haha literally).
For about $100 each we did get a great daybed right in the center, in the sun and had an amazing waitress who’s name was actually “Love” lol. This went toward our drinks and food as well.
After a long day of sun and cocktails we made our way to the last dinner of the trip. I had spent a little time looking on opentable to try and find a reservation for a party as large as ours as a lot of the authentic restaurants are very small. We settled on this Mediterranean place called NAU. Don’t be fooled though, no hummus was eaten in the making of this dinner. This Mediterranean meal was focused more on fresh fish and savory dishes. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but my food was delicious so I really couldn’t complain.
Ahi
Lobster risotto.
My steak and wild rice – delish.
This isn’t the restaurant we went to, but we really needed a photo so these steps were a prime setting – thanks Sonora Grill.
My beauty shot in front of some of the Wynwood style murals on Avenida 5.
Day three – The last day
Vacation is over, but not before a little shopping 😉
Look how beautiful the embroidery is – a few nights before I had seen a small clutch that had this embroidery on it and before my flight I had to go back for it.
One of the Avenidas – so cute.
The place I almost bought my clutch at but the man didn’t want to haggle. lol
They rolled cigars here and the whole ceiling had tabacco leaves hanging from it to dry.
This final pic could not be a better culmination of our weekend getaway – in tacos we trusted and tacos we enjoyed. Thank you Playa del Carmen for an amazing trip and so happy/excited to celebrate the bride to be!! Love you Monica!
If you’re looking to have some favors or welcome gifts personalized for your wedding, party or bachelorette, send me a message! I’d be happy to recreate these bags for you and your gals!
<3
Monica Flores says
I love this post and I love you! Best trip!! <3 xoxox
Krisitn says
Hello ! Do you have the link to the air bnb y’all stayed at ? It would be perfect for the party I am planning this year!
Olivia says
Hi! So sorry, my friend is the one that booked so I didn’t have the link on hand. Here it is! It was great. 🙂 https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/14784241?location=Playa%20del%20Carmen%2C%20Mexico&guests=1&adults=10&s=QHKlxmhE
Anything in the Playacar neighborhood was really nice and a gated community. 🙂
Nitz says
Hi Olivia!
Perfect article & ideas for a bachelorette in Playa!
Could I get your advice on something… I have a bachelorette in Playa soon as well, we are 8 girls and and are deciding between a hotel and an Airbnb. On one hand it’d be nice to be all under one roof, but we also want to be able to just step outside and go party!
The hotel is a block from 12th & 5th (party central as I’m sure you know), it’s brand new, cute and affordable. The Airbnb would be farther and require an uber.
My question is.. Did you feel that it was necessary to be together in an Airbnb? We have plans everyday from pool, beach clubs, going out, restaurants, Tulum, Xplore, etc. Did you really spend a lot of time in the house and/or the part of getting ready or going to sleep felt nicer to be together?
I would love to hear your thoughts!
Thank you <3
Nitzan
Olivia says
Hi Nitzan!
Thanks so much for your words. 😀
I would say that the airbnb was the best for being able to congregate all in one place and feel like you’re a part of a group. We didn’t do a hotel 1. because it’s definitely more expensive (specifically if you do an all-inclusive, it feels like a deal but it can still add up) and 2. because we were 10-11 girls so we wanted to make sure that people didn’t get cliquey. (if that makes sense!)
Also, if you get a home in the Playacar area, it’s like a 2 min cab ride (I don’t suggest uber) and it’s a gated community so it definitely feels safe! We spent a good amount of time getting ready in the house and we did a dinner all together at the home one evening. It also had a pool.
All in all I would say they both have their pros and the determining factor for us was definitely the price for what we got.
I hope that I was helpful! You’re going to have so much fun. 🙂
Nitzan says
Thank you Olivia! I appreciate it!!! Can’t wait 🙂