 |
|
|
 Travel & Outdoors | December 2006 
Warm Mexican Welcome
 Richard Slusser- Washington Times
| | The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, which opened in 1999, was the catalyst for putting the peninsula on the resort map. This year, the Four Seasons was named the No. 1 international resort by Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report. |
Punta Mita, Mexico - The Puerto Vallarta airport is crowded; cars, trucks and buses halt at numerous stoplights on the highway north, away from the airport and the heart of Puerto Vallarta's high-rise resort hotels and its old town. The quiet fishing villages scattered along the Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Flags) have been gobbled up by commercial and residential developments.
The development of the Puerto Vallarta area jostles memories of this place I last visited 25 years ago. It wasn't like this back then. In February of that year, we rented a house by the beach; from the porch, we could watch the tourists walking along the sand, seeking their place in the sun.
Before we left Washington, a friend had advised, "You must go to Ora Feliz Beach. You can't miss it - lots of signs."
We wondered about the friend's knowledge of Spanish, for all of the "Ora Feliz" signs we saw on the beach were for various establishments' happy hour - ora feliz.
A fond memory of an earlier visit here was the ora feliz Americans enjoyed following a major devaluation of the Mexican peso. At the devalued rate, two pitchers of margaritas for the price of one cost $1 at that hour of libations. Ora mucha feliz.
Puerto Vallarta was changed forever from a sleepy fishing village after 1964 and the filming here of "The Night of the Iguana." Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton lived in a house in the Gringo Gulch section of Puerto Vallarta for a while. Since then, the search has been on for sun and sand.
For more than 25 years, international hotel chains have been present in high-rises by the beach near the airport. Beyond were scattered villages and little traffic. No longer, although the scenery changes farther north as the highway passes through a forest and rural areas until reaching Punta Mita, the peninsula that defines the northern end of Puerto Vallarta's Bahia de Banderas.
The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, which opened in 1999, was the catalyst for putting the peninsula on the resort map. This year, the Four Seasons was named the No. 1 international resort by Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report.
The resort, set on 1,500 acres, is a world away in service, food and luxurious accommodations, although it is just 25 miles and 45 minutes in normal traffic from the airport. If it's another world, it's also in another state: It is in Nayarit, while Puerto Vallarta is in Jalisco.
This is the only AAA five-diamond resort in the Puerto Vallarta area.
The resort is compatible with its setting on a hillside that slopes gently to the beach; the buildings - two and three stories with elevators to aid access - are painted a pleasant shade like dry yellow clay.
The reception area is protected under a large cone-shaped, wood-framed roof. Wide openings opposite the entrance show off the pools and the ocean beyond. It is a fine place for watching spectacular sunsets with a cool drink at hand or for sitting and relaxing day or night.
Luggage is delivered to the guest rooms on a golf cart, which also can be summoned for a ride to a restaurant, the tennis courts, a pool or the spa. The staff is cheerful and greets guests with smiles.
Most of the accommodations are called "casita rooms," and each of these 117 rooms has 645 square feet. The 28 suites vary in size from 1,625 to 5,090 square feet, and private residence rentals have from 6,886 for four-bedroom villas to 8,995 for five bedrooms. Some of the suites and villas have beachfront locations.
The walls are thick, and the rooms are quiet, and they tastefully reflect the location not with bright colors, but in quiet and restful shades with typical patterns that make guests feel they are in a Mexican home instead of a hotel room.
Unique to Four Seasons Punta Mita is its Apuane Spa and year-old Tamai pool complex. This is an adult-oriented complex with four pools: two main pools and two plunge pools for cabana guests; a large Jacuzzi; a full bar; and, a first for Four Seasons resorts, 10 private cabanas. Tamai also has a spa menu.
The private cabanas are not cubicles for changing clothes, but are comfortable and pampering settings for spa treatments.
A host escorts guests to their private cabanas, which have side walls but are open in the front and back although they may be closed with a pull of the curtains.
I submitted to a shiatsu massage in a cabana. Surely, the setting made the pain bearable. At times, I inaudibly called the masseur "Killer," but it's time for another shiatsu treatment.
The furnishings in the Tamai cabanas include a comfortable daybed with plenty of pillows, a 43-inch plasma television, a DVD player, Bose Wave sound, an IPod with more than 8,000 selections, Internet access (high speed and wireless), a phone and a bar with cold juices and water.
If one wants to sit in the sun, a lounge chair is steps away. What a fine way to spend a day.
There are tennis courts and several swimming pools in addition to those at Tamai. Snorkeling, windsurfing and other water sports are available. Fishing and horses are 10 minutes away from the resort.
A readers' poll in Conde Nast Traveler magazine chose Punta Mita as the No. 1 golf resort in the "Top 100 Golf Resorts." The private 18-hole course, designed by Arnold Palmer, has a green that is on a small natural island 199 yards offshore; eight holes are oceanside.
Four Seasons resorts are noted for their accommodations for families and children, offering plenty of activities in the professionally supervised Kids for All Seasons programs.
At Punta Mita, Kids for All Seasons has its own building. Not only are there games and outdoor tours to keep children from being bored, but the program allows parents free time on their own - except that an adult must accompany children younger than 5 in the Kids for All Seasons programs. The hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily year-round for children 5 to 12.
The resort also offers a menu for children in its restaurants and for in-room service. One or two children 18 or younger - or three children under 12 - can share their parents' room at no extra charge. The concierge can help find a baby sitter.
Several mornings each week, local fishermen bring their catch to the resort's beach, where guests may select their fish for lunch or dinner.
For guests who want to spend the day in Puerto Vallarta, a van leaves Four Season Punta Mita at 10 a.m.; the return departs Puerto Vallarta at 3 p.m. The cost is $30 per person.
Those who do not want to leave the resort may have stepped outside their casita room onto their private terrace or balcony, stretched in the balmy breeze,and listened to the birds. They know the good life, and they sing it.
Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita; Punta Mita, Bahia de Banderas; Nayarit, 63734, Mexico. Phone, 52/329-291-6000; fax 52/329-291-6060; or visit www.fourseasons.com/puntamita.
The resort's published rates for casita rooms in 2007 vary according to the season and location.
Winter - January through April - is the most expensive, ranging from $545 daily for garden view to $1,175 for beachfront.
Summer guests pay the lowest rates - July through September - with casita rooms costing between $375 and $925.
The so-called "shoulder" season - May through June and October through September - has casita room rates from $495 to $985.
The resort at times offers a fourth or fifth night free; other packages, such as honeymoon or golf plans, also are offered. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us