Genesis Eco-Oasis Ek Balam

It's going to be difficult for me to rein in my enthusiasm–I simply loved Genesis. For those who enjoy Mexico on a deep level, it's a dream. You get to stay in a cute, quiet village, in comfortable and beautiful accommodations, and have the opportunity to meet people who are graciously willing to share their culture and knowledge with you. Lee is such a helpful and thoughtful hostess, and her respect and love for Mexico and its people is evident. The staff are so kind, friendly and good at what they do—they absolutely add to the joys of staying here. As far as the practical things, go, Genesis nails all of that as well: nice hot showers, comfortable beds, plenty of potable water and everything spotless. The village dogs can be a bit vocal at night, so bringing earplugs is probably advisable for light sleepers. I usually put myself in that category, but I had no problem getting good rest! We took advantage of the opportunity to learn tortilla and chocolate making from Guadalupe (SO much fun and now I have some new skills) and Gilmer helped arrange a full-day birding expedition with expert guide and all-around wonderful guy Ismael. I sincerely hope we'll be able to visit again—and bring more people with us to enjoy the experience!

We loved staying at Genesis last month. I was traveling with my 4 yr old son and some friends. We found this eco-oasis online and we lucked out! It was a wonderful place to stay after several days on the beach. It’s only a few hours drive from Cancun airport and you are in beautiful and unique part of Mexico. Lee was welcoming and provided great suggestions for local sights and experiences. I slept well in the clean and comfortable room, and loved waking up to the birds. We ate delicious meals. I definitely recommend this to people looking for both chill/low key vacation and also cultural tourism. They are surrounded by beautiful cenotes and Mayan architecture but also give you an experience of meeting and learning from local people. Highly recommend!

A lovely place with rooms built around an incredibly lush garden in a rural village worlds away from the resort scene on the coast. Good food and kind people. We stayed for five nights. It was great for our toddler, who enjoyed splashing in the pool and exploring the garden paths.

We had such an awesome stay here while visiting the area. The host/owner Lee is so kind and has truly built such an amazing place and has some really awesome inspirational stories about how she found herself in the area and about the local village. I look forward to next time I am in the area and can stay again to learn more about the place and slowdown and experience it. Excellent food, great location for some very impressive Mayan ruins, loved the outdoor shower, the gardens, the pool, and great recommendations for spots in Vallodilid nearby.

We’ve had a great stay at Genesis. We stayed at the Bamboo hut, it was a large and nice room with a typical design who match with the surroundings. The people are so friendly; the ladies in de kitchen (good breakfast and diner!) Jelmer (bird watching) Guadaluppe (tortilla workshop) Lee and Monica. Especially Lee and Monica, it was nice to meet the ladies!
The garden is beautiful and you are accompanied by dogs, cats, birds, frogs, butterflies and more.
At Genesis you find silence, it’s located in a small village with a few streets. When you are searching for calmness, you have to go there!
The only suggestion I’ve had is to offer more places where you can relax, for example hammocks or sunbeds.

My partner and I visited Mexico for our anniversary. We wanted to go somewhere peaceful, in nature, around a new culture. We got exactly that!
We enjoyed the home-cooked meals, bird-watching tour, and private cooking lesson with a local Mayan woman- Doña Lupe. We also rented bikes and rode a scenic 15 minutes to the Ek Balam ruins and cenote.
We stayed in the beautiful bamboo room. The pool there was pretty chilly, but we still enjoyed it!
The staff was so welcoming and made us feel like family. A very special mention to Gilmer for being so accommodating, gracious in sharing his knowledge of the land, and showing us around the village.
The only thing to note is that you must be and animal and nature lover if you’re thinking of staying here! This is not the typical tourist spot. It is very remote, has loud insects and night, and cats and dogs on the property. All very sweet animals.
I HIGHLY recommend this hotel to anybody looking for unique experiences, a tranquil getaway, and lovely hospitality.

My girlfriend and I visited Mexico earlier in the year, travelling the Yucatan Peninsula. Genesis was without doubt one of the highlights of our trip. We had such rich experiences here - making hot chocolate and tortillas with the local village members should not be missed!

Lee has done an incredible job with the accomodation, it really is an oasis with an abundance of local flora and fauna to engage all of your senses! We loved learning about the local Melipona bees and seeing the hives.

The staff here were all very friendly and offered a perfect level of service. Gilmer was very tentative, providing lots of advice on what to do in the local area and helping us organise our day trips. He also taught us some of the Mayan language so we could engage with the locals which we were really grateful for.

This is a great base for visiting nearby attractions such as Ek Balam ruins, Chitzen Itza, Valladolid and there are also some amazing Cenotes close by!

Overall a magical experience and I couldn't recommend it enough!

Thank you Lee, Gilmer and the rest of the team.

Genesis Eco-Oasis is a miniature paradise in the village of Ek Balam with gracious and friendly hosts. My two friends and I stayed here for 2 nights. We had wonderful meals in the shaded but open-air dining room (note: they cost extra, but are totally worth it!), made chocolate with a local grandmother, made tortillas with another, visited the Ek Balam archeological site and local cenote, and made friends with other visitors staying at Eco-Oasis. The hosts truly go above and beyond to help you make your stay lively, connected, and memorable. I cannot recommend this place enough!!

We visited with our two young children (3 and 5) and had the most wonderful time. My only regret is we didn’t stay longer.

The garden is beautiful. We switched off and just took in the nature and calming experience of the place. The visit to Guadalupe’s house to make chocolate and tortilla was wonderful for our children and for us. I was worried it would feel strange or like we were taking advantage but genesis feels part of the traditional Mayan village by genuinely befriending and becoming part of the community it seemed to us. So we felt comfortable ourselves and welcome.

The garden is beautiful and the hospitality is so warm and genuine.

Monica in particular made us feel so welcome. She was wonderful with our children showing them the animals and opening coconuts they found in the garden. My daughter fell in love with her and wants to return tomorrow if possible to see her again! Monica’s kind warm presence really made the experience for us. She’s a really special person.

The food was also wonderful.

All in all we can’t wait to return.

Off the beaten path Ek Balam blew our mind. Finishing our day at Genesis kept the magic going and going. Stunning beautiful chill accommodation near ruins. Lee and staff were great. Extended stay to bask between it and Jaguar Ruins.

So I will start by saying we loved this place. I will definitely say you have to have a sense of adventure, think out side the box. You walk into this place and it’s like paradise, at least it was for us. Even though you are kind of in the middle of nowhere, there is plenty to do. Our mistake was not renting a vehicle to get here, with that said we were able to make friends here and ended up doing something completely unplanned. We loved the staff and our stay here…..This truly was a highlight of our trip to Mexico.

Lovely, peaceful little paradise near the Maya ruins of Ek Balam and beautiful cenotes. Lush green garden, nicely decorated rooms with good beds, cute pets, great owner and staff, good food. You wake up with the sound of birds. Loved it!!!

Lee and her team accommodated my family and me for an atypical 1-night stay on Christmas Eve. There are so many reasons to choose to stay here:

- sustainable, comfortable lodging in nature
- delicious, freshly cooked food
- Mayan staff and community
- proximity to EkBalam archeological site (climbable structures without the crowds of Chichen Itza)
- kind, involved owner who takes the time to sit and speak with her guests

If you're fortunate enough to stay here during Christmas time, there is a tradition of driving around the village and tossing candy to the children (and quite a few adults) in town. Don't miss it. Their smiles and laughter were the highlight of our stay.

Stayed there for the first leg of our honeymoon while we visited Chichen Itza and the ruins at Ek Balam, and Lee (the owner) was so welcoming—in fact—the staff as a whole brought a wonderful warmth to the whole experience. Our bed, which hung from the ceiling of our room(!!!), was comfy and rocked us to sleep. So fun. There were tons of wonders to see nearby, and Lee or other staff will help you arrange anything for which you might need additional transportation. This place is truly a sustainable, community effort, and you feel it when you stay here! Oh, and the ingredients of the meals they serve are farm fresh, and the meals themselves are provided at a budget friendly price point. If you’re looking for a unique and comfortable place to stay while seeing the Mayan archeological sites around the Yucatán, Genesis is a great choice. The trip there from the airport can be accomplished mostly by ADO (Cancun airport—>Cancun center—>Viadolide then a short taxi to Genisis, which would take about 3-4hrs total depending on traffic) and puts you in a much more comfortable position to see the sights than doing tours starting out from Cancun or Tulum.

Gorgeous hideaway in the Mayan jungle. It felt like home, without having to cook my own meals or do my own dishes.

Lee has done an amazing job building and caring for this place. The details!! The layout!! Amazing.

Monica was so welcoming, so thoughtful in her tips of things to do and such a great cook!! I enjoyed the Birdhouse thoroughly, doing yoga on the deck, having my cold showers outside (there is hot water too), the hanging bed…and also just chilling out in/near the lobby. Playing with the cats, the dogs, reading a book.

Life is great here.

I stayed at this magical place with my parents for 4 nights. I recommend you staying for at least 4 nights to take advantage of all the fun things you get to do around Ek Balam. Here’s our itinerary: Day 1 Valladolid; Day 2 Ek Balam Ruins, cenote, and chocolate and tortilla making with Guadalupe (a lovely local Mayan lady). We bought hammocks from her too. Day 3, Rio Lagartos to see flamingos (highly recommend! The guide they help you book with is excellent); Day 4, Chichen Itza + Izamal, and we arrive in Merida for the night. I love that they keep and rescue animals here. They have birds, cats, ducks, even Mayan bees. The tropical garden in the middle is so beautiful. Food is very delicious but a little bit on the pricey side for us. This is not a resort experience, it can be a bit rustic at times, but if you love nature you will definitely love it here! Tips on rooms, I stayed at Cielo and Bird House. Bird House is pretty with hammocks and a cute attic bonus room, and it comes with compost toilet and a shower that takes time to heat up. The bed there is a hanging bed. Cielo has a normal flushing toilet and an amazing outdoor shower that I loved. Next time if I visit again I likely will choose Cielo. My favorite part of staying here is the staff. Alice (front desk) and Monica (chef) are truly amazing people and we connected right away. The itinerary I wrote above was actually suggested by them.

This is a very tardy review but we LOVED our stay at Genesis in December 2021. They had recently reopened after the forced pandemic shutdown, so one might have expected things would be a little less than organized, but on the contrary, everything was perfect. The setting is amazing, set right in an indigenous village, and is not at all out of place there (like the all-inclusives plopped into coastal towns), but fits right in. The rooms and grounds are beautiful, if what you want is nature and rustic beauty this is your place! The food is delicious, Monica is an amazing Italian chef and a delightful person as well. Alice from France who was also helping out at the time was such a lovely soul, she has moved on to further adventures but no doubt Lee has found some other great person to help her share the warm Genesis hospitality. Lee the owner is obviously an integral part of the community, knows everything a visitor would want to see/do in the area and happy to facilitate authentic experiences you can’t get elsewhere. With her Mayan neighbor Guadalupe we made Mexican hot chocolate (the drink of the Mayan royalty!) from raw cacao beans, and made traditional tortillas over her kitchen fire. The nearby Ek Balam ruins are a hidden treasure, just as fascinating as Chichen Itzá and the other heavily visited sites, but much more peaceful and not crowded. The cenotes are the same – equally refreshing and beautiful but without the tour buses. Ek Balam takes a little more effort to get to, but it’s still less than half an hour from the city of Valladolid and well worth it. Genesis is now a must-visit for us next time we go to the Yucatan!

What a life changing experience this was to stay at such a beautiful place. My brother and I stayed here for 4 nights and we absolutely loved it. The nature made it such a peaceful and tranquil experience. At the same time there was plenty to explore with the Ek balam ruins, tons of cenotes, and the amazing town of Valladolid nearby. The people here are what made the experience unforgettable. Gloria made us feel at home from the moment we arrived. She made us delicious traditional meals while keeping them vegan (which I didn't think would be possible!) and guided us with any information we needed! From playing soccer in the town with all of the kids, to seeing how they make the local honey, to making tortillas and hot cacao with Guadalupe, the experiences go on and on... All of it just showed me how open hearted these people are to the point that I felt like family, and that's something I will never forget. Thank you Lee for giving us the opportunity to stay at such a beautiful place. Maybe I will be back one day.

A truly beautiful hotel! Off the beaten path, the hotel is quiet and full of lovely garden charm. Gloria cooked us dinner and it was unbelievable. Ask for her empanadas! They are the best we've had in Mexico! We stayed in the Birdhouse room, and it was perfect! The swing bed was super comfortable, and having a private outdoor shower was a fun experience. The hotel has rescued birds and dogs, and all the dogs are super cute and super sweet! We loved our stay here and highly recommend it! Lee makes check in and check out very easy!

Amazing off the Beaten Path Retreat. The rooms are not the usual hotel type. Each room is unique and wonderful. We are in the bamboo room. The staff is better than any five star hotel as they do all they can to make you comfortable. Today we went to a traditional Mayan home in the village and made sipping chocolate and corn tortillas from scratch. What a wonderful experience. This place is a unique experience that should not be missed. Oh, the food is prepared by Gloria and is some of the best in Mexico. Lee, thanks for a life changing, fun, and peaceful experience.