“ SENSE OF PLACE ” IS A TERM INVOKED TO COMMUNICATE an indelible link between a location and its people and culture . The iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright built this notion into each of his dwellings ; a successful novelist pulls readers into their world by grounding us in this fundamental literary device ; and the Mayans — one of the greatest legacy cultures in history — have a steadfast interpretation of what constitutes a sense of place .

Nearly two decades ago , Queens University professor Leah Huff set out to uncover sense of place from the Mayan perspective and published her findings in the Journal of Latin American Geography 1 . What she discovered is the most fundamental of geographic concepts : Place is sacred to Mayan culture precisely because it is the very thing that sustains them . Their culture recognizes no delineation between the space and what it provides to thrive .

Mayan ethnography aside for a moment , it ’ s easy to understand how the spa industry ’ s sense of place has become far-removed from more traditional origins . Indulge your senses , a brochure reads ; Prepare for a sensory experience , incants a billboard . At some point , the industry migrated from an existential point of orientation toward a focus on the five senses . ( Think how aromatic oils , low lighting and soft music are associated with spas , for example .) What has resulted is the distancing of the ever-important connection between person and place — the relationship between the corporeal and the soul of its surroundings .

Un Sentido de Lugar — A Sense of Place — at Hotel Mi Amor Enter Hotel Mi Amor . Nestled upon a rocky cliff between the jungle and the Caribbean Sea , it is billed as Tulum ’ s couples-only paradise . The name holds a special meaning for native speakers as “ mi amor ” is a term reserved for one ’ s beloved above all else . Opened in 2007 and rebranded in

Sense of place includes a respect for the history and heritage of the land and its people .

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