Casa Xixim: World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals
About The Show
Casa Xixim is honored to be featured as The Eco-Friendly Luxury Villa on Netflix’s The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals. With an eye for every budget, three travelers visit vacation rentals around the globe and share their expert tips and tricks in this reality series. Each episode presents a budget, unique, and luxury property. In Season 2, Episode 6: “Eco-Friendly” the trio goes green without giving up great stays at a sustainable wonder in Tulum (Casa Xixim), a nature friendly lodge in Finland, and an earth home in Colorado.
Casa Xixim Voted Top Eco-Friendly Stay
During the episode the trio stays overnight at each property to get a hands-on perspective. As each episode wraps up, the hosts review their experiences and vote for their favorite property. Host, Luis Ortiz–known for Million Dollar Listing New York–voted Casa Xixim his favorite Eco-Friendly property from the episode. Muchas gracias, Luis! What a life!
Remarkable Eco-Friendly Luxury
Ortiz narrates the property layout and key elements of Casa Xixim at Soliman Bay Tulum, noting the remarkable combination of services of a boutique hotel with the luxury of a private villa, and the sustainable design intention of dissolving the outside with the inside to utilize the constant cooling sea breeze. Each of the hosts explore the villa and provide their perspective, especially enjoying the rooftop hammocks, the semi-private location of Soliman Bay Tulum, and Casa Xixim’s chef prepared gourmet meals.
A Story of Tulum
Host Jo Franco enjoyed a hands-on crafting session, and host Megan Batoon ran through what we call the “stacking functions” of the multipurpose rooftop and terrace design – solar, shade, pollinator gardens, rain water collection, hammocks, and seating. Of the interiors Batoon says “Casa Xixim is almost like a museum, where every item in the house tells the story of Tulum”.
It’s The Only Way to Travel
As Ortiz tours Casa Xixim’s beach and gear, he recalls that an amenity most often ignored in the luxury category is leisure, and Casa Xixim delivers on leisure. After dinner, Ortiz makes a point to say that the travel industry needs to change their game plan, because now that he’s experienced an eco-friendly luxury villa, it’s the only way to travel.
TLDR : Brief video snippet of the show
Shout Outs
While the show doesn’t name names, we love any opportunity to showcase who helps us make Casa Xixim truly shine:
ARCHITECT: From the start we collaborated with Specht Architects, and had Scott Specht visit our land and experience Soliman Bay first hand with us. We plotted out the sun’s path and extended overhangs to provide deep enough shade, we planned a cross breeze for every room, we built around the largest palms, transplanted when possible, and added green roofs as insulation and habitat. Tulum has a rich design aesthetic and our job was to hone in on the intersection of this clear aesthetic with today’s contemporary sustainability, and the timelessness of great modern architecture. Many people had a hand along the way yet it was Scott’s professionalism and expertise that kept us on track.
COFFEE: We consider coffee an artisanal delight, and Mexico produces some of the finest coffees in the world. We searched high and low for the prefect fit and finally fell into orbit with Santiago Sota of Drip Café Especial of Mexico City–who partners with small, local coffee growers. Beans are roasted by Santiago himself and are shipped fresh to Casa Xixim weekly. Sota’s roasting style highlights the natural qualities of the bean and subtleties of flavor. Santiago has been an invaluable partner over the years and a continual positive source of energy that feeds the soul of Casa Xixim.
FOOD: Through Santiago we enlisted renown Chef Joaquin Cardoso of Mexico City to create our menu and personally train our two in-house chefs. Our ‘family-style’ menu provides a range of options while featuring Cardoso’s guidance–shared main courses paired with hearty salads and small plates. Cardoso’s dishes are influenced by regional traditions, and reinvented with a touch of his signature magic. Our in-house chefs have been a dynamite duo from the start but under Cardoso’s ongoing guidance they have truly blossomed. Our guests continually rave about the food.
STAFF: We are a bit protective over the privacy of our on-site staff but we will take a moment to recognize and appreciate their dedication and hard work to keep Casa Xixim in tip top shape. Their loyal attention makes all of our guests feel at home. We are in daily contact over WhatsApp to ensure our staff feel supported, enabled, and proud of the work they do. Even the ones who have moved on in their careers have remained close colleagues (check out Enrique’s Máak’ An).
PRODUCERS: Over the years we’ve worked with exceptional artists, carpenters, craftspeople, designers and in-a-pinch-fixers. Each one has masterfully embraced the Xixim aesthetic and produced beautiful work for us. Much of the villa’s furnishings and decor is hand made by local artisan families, and for the adventurous much of it can be tracked down by visiting the roadside market stalls in the towns on the way to Coba. We highly recommend it!
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