Photos by Samantha Jane Beatty
Styling by Kate Stukenberg
Grooming by Tonya Riner for Page Parkes Agency
Models Madison Johnston for Wallflower Management and Jake Atterberry for Page Parkes Agency
Photo assistance by John Lewis
Styling assistance by Molly Jodeit
Men’s styling consulting by Cody Sever
and Whitney Wiggins for M Penner
Shot on location at Hotel Alessandra in Downtown
Alira Med Spa Owner, World Travel Blogger, Influencer, Philanthropist
Travel Blogger & Influencer
I love traveling and learning from different cultures and people around the world. Through travel, I find myself constantly searching for my purpose. Experiencing spas around the world is very important to learn from others and be informed of the latest trends in the beauty industry. As a medical aesthetician, I care for people and I want to keep searching for the best tricks to help others. Follow me on my adventures at livespalife.com and on instagram @livespalife.
Philanthropist
In 2012, I founded the Alira Foundation and our Make-over Day Event. Alira Foundation provides a complimentary make-over day for those who have been touched by cancer. I felt the need to provide support to those people who are suffering from this disease. There are so many people who don’t get beat by cancer and teach us every day how to fight one smile at a time. For that reason at Alira Foundation, we want to share that smile with the world and help these warriors against cancer.
The pool at Zen
Thank goodness for the signs, and the shuttle between the three distinct but interlocking resorts that comprise Grand Velas. One resort is adults-only and quiet, the other very family-friendly, and the third — the Zen Grand, immersed in tropical foliage — is so sexy the Love Is Blind reality show filmed here.
There’s so much to do, with the Caribbean waters to the east — Cozumel isle’s out in the sea — and the mangroves of the Yucatan to your back. Iguanas, racoons and coatis (sleeker racoons) wander in from the jungle, leaving behind spider monkeys, capybaras and jaguars, which keep their distance.
Consider an eco tour. Glimpses of wildlife are assured, and the reports of the resort’s sustainability initiatives — artificial reefs, tree-transplanting efforts — are fascinating. So are the grounds’ cenotes, the deep freshwater pits formed by geothermal activity after that dinosaur-ending asteroid hit here 66 million years ago.
The tour ends with a honey tasting, pairing cheeses with honey from the property’s bees. The sweet stuff also turns up in Se Spa. As part of one treatment, it’s smeared all over you before you soak in a tub then get a massage. The spa, where treatments begin with a multi-stage “water ceremony” in which you rotate through hot and cold sauna-like stations, is among the largest on the continent, featuring immense pools and cavernous relaxation spaces.
If honey isn’t enough, try one of eight restaurants. Cocine de Autor, where the tasting menu amazes with polished little plates of bone marrow with caviar and cabbage with pistachios, has a Michelin star. But if you eat there every night, you’ll miss the grilled “drunken” octopus at Mexican Frida — and the blue cheese croissants at Vegas-y/Parisian-y Piaf, whose chandeliers drip red crystals and whose beautiful violinist plays classicalized pop songs like something out of Bridgerton.
The best meals may be in the vast daily lunch buffet — roasted duck and lamb, many varieties of ceviche and sushi, lobster tail and giant cracked crab legs. It’s daunting and easy to get turned around. But getting lost has rarely been so delicious.
Mexican morsels at Frida
The cavernous pool and relaxation space at Se Spa