Hotel Morgana

Each of the twenty rooms here has its own name and design, so you're not booking a room so much as picking a character. This family-owned boutique hotel in Playa del Carmen keeps things small and personal, with colorful tilework, soft neutrals, and unpretentious furniture that skews modernist. Some rooms have balconies, others private Jacuzzis. Fifth Avenue is steps away, which means the chaos of the tourist strip is close, but at least you have somewhere quiet to retreat from it.