Kymaia Hotel

Kymaia is a hotel project in Playa El Puertecito, twenty kilometers south of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, that celebrates its natural, historical, and cultural surroundings. Conceived as a narrative of contrasts, the hotel stages dialogues between nature and artifice, geometry and the organic, history and contemporaneity.

The project is the result of a close collaboration: interior design, landscaping, and visual identity by The Book of Wa, architecture by PRODUCTORA, and the culinary program by chef Lalo García. Located on a 1.5-hectare site formerly dedicated to hibiscus cultivation, Kymaia honors this legacy through the symbolic use of red, while transforming the farmland into a landscape of dunes, mangroves, cactus fields, and groves of palms and guayacans. This integration of natural elements extends to the interiors and brand identity, evoking both the essence and memory of the place.

Three conceptual axes define Kymaia’s interiors: pre-Hispanic ceremonial vestiges, Pacific flora, and solar iconography. These create an atmosphere of cultural ambiguity, grounded in craftsmanship and artisanal work. Materials such as charred and repurposed wood (ACOOCORO, Taller Batán), volcanic stone, pigmented resins, hammered copper, palm-fiber tapestries by Hiato and Arde Villano, woven tule, rattan, and wool rugs by DBÆ form a collection that transcends utility, serving as narrative pieces that connect visitors to the spirit of the site.

The hotel comprises 22 suites, distributed to ensure privacy and views of the Pacific. Compact earth berms—stepped, pyramidal structures inspired by pre-Hispanic vestiges—house service spaces while providing shade and thermal protection. These volumes create varied perspectives of the ocean, dunes, and arid gardens, establishing a dialogue between geometry and the organic landscape.

At its core is Septimus, the main restaurant led by chefs Lalo García and Gaby López. Elevated on dunes and sheltered beneath a ten-meter-high palapa, Septimus is conceived as a ceremonial ascent, culminating in a dining ritual that fuses local and global influences. The space supports dynamic uses—work, rest, celebration—responding to post-pandemic shifts in hospitality. Complementary offerings include La Cueva, a fine dining cellar in the cooler lower level of the complex, and Huauchinango Oasis Bar, where the pool nestles among Mexican fan palms.

Wellness is embodied in Azumi, a dry garden for yoga and contemplation with an observatory terrace for sunsets and stargazing. The Shala, another yoga space, features a square plan with a circular roof resting directly on the sand, generating shaded perimeters and reinforcing Kymaia’s ceremonial spirit.

Sustainability anchors the project: reclaimed materials, solar panels, constructed wetlands, evapotranspiration filters, and gardens of native vegetation restore and regenerate the site. The expansion of an existing mangrove enhances biodiversity and creates a microclimate, while a sinuous green concrete pool becomes a focal point within the landscape.

Kymaia thus emerges as a hotel deeply rooted in its context—an architectural, interior, and culinary journey that intertwines memory, nature, and ritual in the unique setting of the Oaxacan Pacific.

Design: The Book of Wa
Interior Design Team: Martin Diego Salido, Antonio Mendoza, Jaime Aramburu
Architecture: PRODUCTORA
Architecture Team: Carlos Bedoya, Víctor Jaime, Wonne Ickx, Abel Perles, Natalia Badía, Daniela Farfán, Erik Castañeda, Fidel Hernández, Osmar Montalvo
Construction: Salinas Construcción y Arquitectura
Photography: Onnis Luque