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Banyan Group co-founder Claire Chiang and her daughter, Ren Yung Ho, organized a four-day getaway focused on connections and community. Banyan Tree Mayakoba At Banyan Tree Mayakoba’s recent Women’s Retreat, about 15 attendees huddled around a candlelit medicine wheel under the stars in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, sharing why they were there. It was surprising how quickly the strangers began to open up to each other. One woman wanted to heal from a betrayal. Another sought relief from family pressures. A weary mother of a young child simply needed sleep. But there also was an underlying mission driving the annual invitation-only event: empowerment. “It’s the century of the woman,” said Claire Chiang, co-founder and senior vice president of Banyan Group, which comprises 100 hotels across 20 countries and 12 brands, including Banyan Tree. “We are in the position, I strongly feel, to shape the new order, whether it’s social or economic. A new order by women for all towards peace, creativity, family and harmony.” The Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star hotel launched the Women’s Retreat in late 2020 after the pandemic to foster reconnection, networking and community among influential Mexican leaders, ranging from CEOs and entrepreneurs to artists and designers. TV host Kellee Edwards and the powerful women behind the retreat. Banyan Tree Mayakoba Past editions brought together smaller groups around a specific topic, like sustainability. But for the fifth installment, Banyan Tree Mayakoba expanded to a more international scope, featuring Singapore-based Chiang and her daughter Ren Yung Ho, deputy CEO of the brand, a fitting pair given the retreat’s theme of “a legacy that transcends generations.” The luxury hotel also opened its forum of keynote speeches and the accompanying networking lunch to the public for the first time, selling out all 120-plus spots to mostly entrepreneurs, businesswomen and hoteliers. Chiang and Ho headlined the forum with “Echoes of Legacy: Hospitality That Transforms,” a panel moderated by travel and adventure expert and TV host Kellee Edwards. The conversation turned to sustainability, since Banyan Tree adopted the practice long before it became a buzzword. Chiang and her husband, Ho Kwon Ping, purchased land in Phuket for the first Banyan Tree hotel, but unbeknownst to them, the parcel was polluted from an abandoned tin mine. The couple learned how to rehabilitate the land and put in the years to nurse it back to health before opening the property in 1994. “Sustainability became the raison d’être,” the charismatic 75-year-old said. “We felt strongly that we needed to create value aside from creating wealth. That compels us to then look at the way we build. Every action is a conscious thinking about how you put right what you had to take away from nature.” The event defined “success” in deeper ways than wealth. Banyan Tree Mayakoba Chiang also imparted advice — what she called the five S’s — for aspiring women leaders. She encouraged self-discovery and self-agency; “skilling up,” whether that’s learning more or hiring experts to support you; striving (“You have to work hard — there’s no easy way”); and defining success on your own terms. “Success is not wealth, it’s a mindset,” she said, pointing out that you can achieve it by being a homemaker, raising children and making people feel safe, or as a scientist, inventing innovations. Either way, “fight like a woman and fight as a woman. Don’t try to be a man,” she said. Then Zaira Zepeda, CEO of Unlocked AI (the first artificial intelligence community in Mexico for small- and medium-sized businesses) and Local Trendy (a company specializing in event design and rentals) discussed “Building Legacy Through Innovation and Female Leadership.” According to Zepeda, in Mexico, companies with greater gender diversity in their leadership have up to 25% more profitability compared with those dominated by men, yet women in executive positions receive 30% less pay than their male counterparts. For women to gain an edge, they should embrace a digital mindset, she said, and adopt strategic thinking while managing their digital reputation. Banyan Tree Mayakoba served as the beautiful host property. Banyan Tree Mayakoba In “The Voices That Guide Me: Rewriting Our Story, Transforming Tomorrow,” Ana De Saracho O’Brien, CEO of Lady Multitask (the largest women’s support community in Latin America) and founder of Yo En Gestión 360 (which helps both women and organizations promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion), shared strategies on how to silence the nagging voice that plagues many women: imposter syndrome. About 70% of people have had it at some point, Saracho O’Brien said, but women experience imposter syndrome in different ways, such as having unattainable standards of perfection, feeling the pressure to balance multiple roles and finding it difficult to accept compliments. She advised breaking down the negative voice by asking some questions: Where does it come from? Who does it remind you of? How can you quiet it? “Every time I hear that voice, I have a conversation with it,” she said. Kelsey Patel, an L.A.-based wellness expert and motivational speaker, got the attendees out of their seats and dancing before discussing the importance of mental health. During “Awaken Your Inner Light: Cultivating Abundance and Self-Worth,” Patel shared her own internal struggles to offer hope to the crowd. “If you go through that darkest, darkest moment, you have to know that the pain is temporary,” she said. “There is an absolute purpose and place for you in this world.” Through the rest of the four-day retreat, the group of 15 bonded over activities like a soothing morning kundalini yoga session with Ana Paula Domínguez, founder of the Mexican Institute of Yoga; a fun lagoon-side sparkling wine tasting with Romina Argüelles, a prominent Mexican sommelier and co-owner of Mexico City wine bar Plonk; and pampering treatments in the Asian-inspired spa’s waterfront villas. Plus, there was a lot of chatter over massaman curry with grilled short rib at Saffron restaurant and ravioli with truffled mushroom ragu at Cello and other gourmet meals. In fact, it was during dinner that Chiang and some participants brainstormed the idea of creating a well-being retreat in the Maldives for the spring. “We shall create a women’s island paradise community to talk about shaping the world,” Chiang said. A lot of brainstorming happened around the table. Banyan Tree Mayakoba At the final communal meal, over platters of guava tres leches cake, Mexican chocolate profiteroles and manchego and Edam cheese tartlets, the attendees were asked to share the new world order they will bring to life. Ho set out her ultimate vision for what she called a “conscious ecosystem” and said she’d work toward that goal by making Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru fully self-sustaining, with no waste or emissions. Edwards said she’d lead more women to become adventurers. And one executive said that since she decided not to have children, she’d make a concerted effort to mentor those in need. One of the most powerful things women can do, Ho said, is create these kinds of communities to ask these questions together. “We have many more questions than answers, but we only come through it when we gather like this,” she said. “There’s a Mayan saying that I just learned this trip, ‘in lak’ech ala k’in,’ which means ‘in me there’s another you, and in you, there’s another me.’ And in our group, when we talk about one Banyan and one culture, it’s about that: a better me is a better you, is a better us.” MORE FROM FORBES Forbes16 Hotels Celebrating Day Of The Dead In StyleBy Carrie BellForbesForbes Travel Guide’s 7 Best Cape Town HotelsBy Forbes Travel GuideForbesThe World’s Best Airlines And Airports Of 2025, According To Forbes Travel GuideBy Jennifer Kester ForbesForbes Travel Guide’s Best Hotel Bars For 2025By Jennifer Kester Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions
