The daily lives of celebrities are not half bad, and you should see where they are vacationing. Truly celebrities have got it easy when it comes to planning vacations. Top earning stars like Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Paul McCartney, and Leonardo Dicaprio can afford any accommodations they desire and can literally go wherever they want as often as they want, and usually do, by private jet or chartered yacht.
Most celebrities have at least 7- 8 vacations annually built into their existing work contracts and their travel itineraries focus on only the most beautiful places and best hotels in the world. Their full-time travel assistants scourer the Earth searching for the most exquisite destinations and latest hot spots. Some may not care that much about the day-to-day lives of celebrities, but most would like to know about the wonderful places they are staying.One such place celebrities have honed in on is a spectacular, pristine-patch of white-sand beach along Mexico’s Caribbean coast, known as the Riviera Maya. Here, the Turquoise waters are crystalline clear and bath-tub warm year round. These tree-lined, jungle beaches are the home of the world famous Corona commercials and recently lauded by Condé Nast Traveler as “The Most Beautiful Beaches in the World”. Exactly how celebrities discovered this Mayan Eden is unclear, but one thing’s certain, they are coming in droves.
In the last month alone, A-list celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Adam Sandler, Javier Bardem, The Rock, Jackie Chan, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Salma Hayek were all spotted hanging out in this emerging Hollywood hideaway. Along with their family and friends, celebrities arrive on private planes and are quickly whisked away to luxury hotel diggs or haute palapa huts in black-windowed limousines or jet-powered helicopters, virtually invisible to the public at large.
The come here to visit world class hotels and resorts and palm-roofed, eco-chic yoga spas. The Riviera Maya’s Moroma Resort and Spa, an Orient-Express hotel, regularly sees the likes of Tom Cruise, Celine Dion, Elton John, Robert Plant, Tony Blair, Sean Penn, Cameron Diaz, Sharon Stone, and Robert Redford, they all favor the same room (number 23). Tom Cruise visits so often that they owners constructed a special suite for Tom, Katie and the kids.
The 5-star Tides Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen, hidden deep in the tropical jungle, has been the favorite hideaway for Leonardo Dicaprio and entertainment billionaire Mary-Kate Olson. Nearby Esencia, which began as the vacation villa of an italian duchess, frequently attracts Hollywood luminaries including Gwyneth Paltrow and Uma Thurman , who are welcomed into the Mayan thatched-roof abode with a fresh pot of black beans simmering over an open fire. They usually request “Rosa’s Suite”, the white bedroom where the duchess herself slept.
Tulum, the jewel of the Riviera Maya, is a home away from home for show business moguls like Mick Jagger, Drew Barrymore, Fergie, Jude Law, Eva Longoria, Sienna Miller and was the favorite vacation get-away for the late Jerry Garcia.
What’s drawing this red carpet crowd to the 80-mile swath of beaches just South of the Border? For one, it’s convenient, only a hop, skip and a jump by plane from most American airports. Secondly, the culture here is extremely diverse with over 47 countries represented including Americans, Italians, Canadians, Argentineans, Spanish, British, Swiss, Germans, and French. Perhaps no other beach front community in the world boast so much diversity and culture in one place, like visiting Europe but in Mexico. One can only imagine the gourmet, culinary cuisine such a cultural mix delightfully brings to the distinguished palate.
Oh yeah, there’s also world class shopping, 7th Wonder ruins, and the best rated spas and yoga retreats in the world. All this in one place and yet the prices here, compared to other celebrity diggs, are still surprisingly affordable.
Celebrities do indeed live better lives than most. They can afford to travel anywhere and seemingly spend as much as they want. If you are lucky enough to visit one of the places they frequent, like Riviera Maya, you are likely not to be disappointed. Usually the only set back to living the celebrity lifestyle is that you need a celebrity’s bank account.
The good news is, that in this sacred part of Mexico’s Caribbean coast, almost everybody can still afford to enjoy the same beaches, resorts, spas, restaurants and shopping that Tom Cruise and his cronies know all too well.
