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The Top 20 Resorts of Mexico |
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Photo by Richard Carroll & Julie Ferro
Splashed with color and character, Mexico is a country where any moment can become a lingering memory: an intimate, twilight dinner; that restorative in-suite massage. A trip south can be a retreat to a private world of pampered self-indulgence and intriguing interludes.
Hotels here brim with Mexican hospitality. A resort can be as romantic as a five-minute kiss. Grand seaside properties, most with elite, full-service spas, sparkle with youthful sophistication. A day of blazing sunshine—tempered by cooling ocean breezes—is often capped by an evening under a serape of brilliant stars. Ceaseless ocean rhythms play in counterpoint to the passionate, endearing performances of the local musicians.
Got your suitcase out yet?
Provocative and fiercely independent, Mexican resort restaurants are also beginning to stand on their own. Mercifully, the chefs—many of them still a plate away from notability—are not painfully trendy but instead set tables swathed in timeless Latino creativity, with a touch of Europe hovering in the pantry.
Each of the properties that made our top 20 of western Mexico—from a secluded seven-room inn to a corporate colossus—is on the Baja California peninsula or on central Mexico’s west coast, with one exception. All are less than a three-hour flight from Southern California.
We separated out the best resorts, then further researched and ranked them based on accessibility, price and overall excellence. Listed rates (subject to change) are for two people, and don’t include taxes and service fees. High season is November to Easter. Alaska Airlines offers extensive service to Mexico, including direct flights to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Mazatlán.
!Hasta luego!
Camino Real |
| One of Puerto Vallarta’s first major hotels—and a proud icon property—Camino Real has 337 ocean-view rooms, including the Camino Real Club Tower, which offers daily American breakfast, afternoon cocktail party and concierge services. The dinner-only La Perla restaurant, serving international cuisine with a Mexican flair and live music, is one of Puerto Vallarta’s only formal dining options. (Puerto Vallarta; 800-722-6466; www.caminoreal.com. Rates: $99-$570.) |
Casitas de las Flores & Bungalows of Playa Rosa
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| A coastal hideaway with splendor and style. The one- to four-bedroom bungalows and casitas (some with pools, all with ocean views) are a vivid palette of Mexico, with classic livable spaces to rediscover serenity. Cook and butler service is available, with dining and hotel amenities at the nearby Careyes Beach Resort. (Costa Careyes; 011-52-315-351-0240; www. careyes.com.mx. Rates: $150-$1,000.) |
Castles of Costa Careyes |
| To Don Quixote, the Castles of Careyes would have seemed an impossible dream. Atop two steep promontories, each overlooking the open sea, are Sol de Oriente (East) and Sol de Occidente (West), identical 11,000-square-foot villas with six bedrooms and seven baths, surrounded by infinity pools that look as if they could magically lift off and carry the Castles into space. Both villas are fully staffed with cooks, maids and a driver, and offer an atmosphere of relaxed refinement. (Costa Careyes; 011-52-315-0240; www.careyes.com.mx. Rates: $3,000-$4,500. ) |
El Careyes Beach Resort |
 El Careyes’ 48 rooms and suites curl around a horseshoe-shape cove and a dazzling pool. The design—a mélange of colors—is inspired by Old World Mexico and Mediterranean villages. Opened in 1976 and yet undiscovered by the mainstream, Careyes attracts an intriguing mix of wealthy bohemians and demanding Hollywood glitterati. Rooms are decorated with a beguiling touch of handcrafted Mexican artifacts, with most suites offering plunge pools or Jacuzzis and private balconies or terraces. (Costa Careyes; 800-325-3589; www.starwood.com/luxury. Rates: $275-$849.) |
El Murmullo at La Casa Que Canta |
| Once a private villa, El Murmullo now holds four privately staffed suites with butler, chef and concierge. Guests are pampered without pretension. A private elevator serves the master suite, where ocean and beach views shimmer from every nook and cranny. Dinner can be served in-suite by course, a visual seduction of style and service. Steps from Murmullo is the award-winning La Casa Que Canta. Sculptured on a steep cliff with 24 suites and three pools, the hotel is warm, welcoming and service-oriented. (Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo; 888-523-5050; www.lacasaquecanta.com. Rates: El Murmullo, $575-$850; La Casa Que Canta, $332-$690. ) |
El Tamarindo Golf Resort |
 Secluded on a 2,040-acre ecological sanctuary—an eternity from anywhere—El Tamarindo’s 29 elite, palapa-style casitas, with plunge pools or Jacuzzis, are gently framed by a grand bay and Mexico’s most spectacular golf course (set in a tropical forest with seven holes overlooking foaming surf and swooping sea birds). Feel the soft rhythm and fresh perspective in the casitas, infinity pool, spa and open-air restaurant orchestrated by Patricia Quintana. (Costa Careyes; 800-325-3589; www.starwood.com/luxury. Rates: $329-$671.) |
Esperanza |
| This enchanting 56-casita beauty was designed on a bluff. It’s sensitively conceived and executed, overlooking a rock-strewn coastline and crashing waves. Esperanza reigns among the best of the elite boutique spa hotels. Architecturally perfect view suites have bathrooms with his-and-her basins, open showers and plunge pools extending out onto the patios. Private chefs are available for in-suite dining, or guests can enjoy dining on terraces that cascade down to the sea. The engaging state-of-the-art spa, with a variety of signature treatments, is a centerpiece. (Los Cabos; 866-311-2226; www.esperanzaresort.com. Rates: $350-$5,000.) |
Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita |
| Four Seasons’ opulent palette unfolded and splashed the 1,700-acre resort (26 miles north of Puerto Vallarta) with color, character and Mexican ambience, using the gardener’s luxuriant paintbrush with abandon. Indigenous handcrafted furniture and fabrics, private plunge pools, a blissful infinity-edge pool, an adjoining Jack Nicklaus signature golf course—with green 3B set on a natural ocean island—and a spa offering a Margarita scrub emanates a heady air. (Bahia de Banderas, Nayarit; 800-332-3442; www.fourseasons.com. Rates: $290-$4,150.) |
Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort |
| Opened in April, this all-inclusive, 161-suite luxury hotel, a short drive from Puerto Vallarta, is designed for those who love the spiritual and physical aspects of spa travel. Twenty-two treatment rooms are in place, including an extensive fitness gym, the hydrotherapy area with a eucalyptus inhalation room, herbal steam, cold plunge lagoon and pressure shower. Aesthetic appeal abounds in the three connecting pools and oversized public room furniture in a 100-foot-high palapa-style lobby. (Nuevo Vallarta; 877-398-2784; www.grandvelas.com. Rates: $500-$3,735.) |
Hacienda Xcanatun |
| From its 17th-century beginnings, the sprawling factory created fortunes for its owners from the local sepia (hemp), affectionately referred to as “green gold.” The current owners spent fortunes rescuing the jungle-engulfed skeleton known as Xcanatun (ish-kana-tune), located 6 miles north of Merida on the east coast in the heart of the Maya culture. Guests want for nothing in the 22-suite hacienda, from the 30-foot-high canopied ceilings to its Maya-influenced spa and lush gardens. (Merida, Yucatán; 888-883-3633; www.xcanatun.com. Rates: $210-$275.) |
Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort |
| The simple yet elegant architecture of the Mediterranean and Mexico is expressed in wide, roomy corridors, columns and arches, spacious rooms, marble flooring and beamed ceilings, as well as the stylish use of rich earth tones throughout the décor of the 11.3-acre, 375-room oceanfront Hilton. Built on a bluff in 2002, it’s flanked by two golf courses. The open-air third-floor lobby is home to a full-service spa. (Los Cabos; 800-HILTONS [445-8667]; www.hilton.com. Rates: $75-$3,060.) |
Hotel Hacienda Beach Resort |
| The 37-acre, 115-room Hotel Hacienda, located on Playa el Medano (the safest swimming beach in Los Cabos), is still the reigning monarch of old Cabo. Still family-owned, managed by hands-on Mark and Mitch Parr, the hotel is earthy, friendly and a splendid value. Other features are lavish gardens, a lively view bar with nightly Mexican music and, just in case you need him, Dr. Miguel Angelo Gonzales’ popular Plastic Surgery Center (on-site for 10 years). (Cabo San Lucas; 800-SEE-CABO (733-2226); www.haciendacabo.com. Rates: $99 to $395.) |
Hotelito Desconocido |
| Surrounded by chaste countryside and tucked into the El Ermitano wetland estuary across a small bay from a 40-mile-long undeveloped beach, Hotelito Desconocido (“Little Unknown Hotel”) is unique among Mexican hotels. The charm begins with its clay-covered walls, rope-tied beams, wood-pegged floors (in place of nails), equipales chairs and colorful hand-painted furniture. Another bit of missing modernity is electricity—the entire hotel is candlelit, including the 21 guest casitas and spa. No room keys, televisions or telephones—guests truly escape the “real” world. (South of Puerto Vallarta; 800-851-1143; www.hotelito.com. Rates: $230-$565.) |
Las Alamandas |
| At the opening in 1990, Robert De Niro was the first registered guest, followed by Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford, Francis Ford Coppola, Rod Stewart and Meryl Streep. The 1,500-acre paradise, perfect for 22 guests, is chic, casual and lighthearted, with Mexican tropical hacienda décor and architecture. (South of Puerto Vallarta; 888-882-9616; www.las-alamandas.com. Rates: $320-$1,320. ) |
Las Ventanas al Paraiso |
 Guests are enveloped in the ultimate standard of luxury. There are spacious ocean views, handcrafted suites (complete with wood-burning fireplaces), rooftop terraces for intimate candlelit dinners, a glimmering infinity pool and private Jacuzzi/plunge pools. Use the large telescope to focus on the beachside 15th hole of the Robert Trent Jones II golf course. Take note of the superlative spa. (Los Cabos; 888-525-0483; www.rosewoodhotels.com. Rates: $375-$3,800.) |
La Villa del Sol |
| Designed like a modern, luxury casita-style pueblo, 30-year-old La Villa del Sol on Playa Ropa (a famed beach in Zihuatanejo) is refined yet rustic and spirited, and is the granddaddy of five-star hotels in this part of the world. High-ceiling suites, many with plunge pools, are interwoven among four swimming pools, towering palms, rambling lagoons, tennis courts, a putting green and fitness center. Coffee is delivered each morning to guestrooms, the individual service a nice preface to a casual lunch on the beach, an afternoon massage and live music in the evening. (Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo; 888-389-2645; www.hotelvilladelsol.net. Rates: $240-$1,800.) |
Posada la Poza |
| An hour north of Los Cabos, through a desert begging for water, is a remarkable, low-rise, secluded inn with seven charismatic guestrooms. Juerg Wiesendanger is the co-owner/chef—serving Mexican recipes with a refinement of Swiss flavors. Co-owner/artist Libusche Wiesendanger decorated La Poza with an eclectic mix of whimsy, Mexican passion and European casual, including her figurative abstracts. La Poza offers a deck for viewing birds and whales, lovely gardens, a large saltwater swimming pool and a rowboat for the bird lagoon. (Todos Santos; 011-52-612-145-0461; www.lapoza.com. Rates: $125-$480.) |
Premiere Hotel & Spa |
| The beachfront, 83-room Premiere Hotel & Spa, opened in 1999, is perfectly located—a fascinating six-block walk from downtown Puerto Vallarta. Decorated with a touch of Mexican/Moroccan whimsy, the Premiere has open-air palapa dining with charming live harp music, a nicely equipped gym and tranquil spa. Guests may only bring children who are 16 or older. (Puerto Vallarta; 887-886-9176, 011-52-322-226-7001; www.premiereonline.com.mx. Rates: $135-$451.) |
Pueblo Bonito, Emerald Bay |
 The 120-suite, ocean-view hotel, 15 minutes north of Mazatlán’s Golden Zone on the free shuttle service, is a masterful composition of neoclassic design, set on a grand beach with gorgeous grounds, populated by snooty pink flamingos. Roomy suites have a terrace or balcony, fully equipped kitchenettes and 24-hour suite service. (Nuevo Mazatlán; 800-990-8250; www.pueblobonito.com. Rates: $125-$525.) |
Rancho la Puerta |
| In the steamy world of spas, Rancho la Puerta, with its 82 hacienda-style casitas tucked into a glorious 150-acre oasis, stands alone in a classic yoga position. Dating to 1940, it’s noted as the world’s first fitness spa. Guests book a week and select from 75 innovative classes. This is the birthplace of spa cuisine. RLP is all-inclusive, with the exception of spa treatments. There’s free transportation on Saturdays to and from San Diego’s Lindbergh Field. (Tecate, Baja; 800-443-7565; www.ranchola puerta.com. Rates (per guest): $1,672-$2,980. ) |
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