At Harvard Business School, we learned to ask ourselves this question: What is the value of your minute? The earnings per minute of global celebrities—from Oprah Winfrey to Bill Gates, to Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu—were calculated as benchmarks. Then the exercise incites you to reflect and understand how our own personal calculations fare. Wealth may not necessarily equate to happiness, but at the end of the day, we realize that our time is the most valuable currency because it can be exchanged for anything. I advocate that we spend it wisely, in places that will make it all worthwhile.

From the lobby, well-designed, open spaces ingenuously feature a giant banyan tree dramatically spreading its boughs in all glory and reverence. We hopped onto a luxurious 20-foot fiberglass boat with wooden accessories, canvas roof, and romantic piped-in music as the gracious staff served us cold water and fragrant towels with the signature verbena scent. We could hardly believe this wonderful welcome as we were ferried through the lush mangroves to our own private, two- bedroom villa fronting the azure ocean.

Romance, rejuvenation, and intimacy are the rules that reign here. As the Banyan Tree chairman said, “What we want for a couple is a setting that allows them to respond to some special moment of intimacy—a magical moment that will leave an imprint on their lives that will last forever.” Even the resort’s architecture evokes romantic surroundings of Asian and Mexican flair. One outstanding feature is the beautifully detailed Talavera earthenware in dramatic black and white, specially commissioned for use as bathroom sinks throughout the exquisite resort.