| | |  Travel & Outdoors | March 2009 
Casa Velas Hotel Boutique: Just Like Heaven
 Luisa Hart - The Tribune
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| | Casa Velas is the perfect place to relax in harmony and tranquility. Visit the website at HotelCasaVelas.com | |
A little more than two-and-a-half hours away from home by plane, I found paradise.
Casa Velas Hotel Boutique is an elegant, hacienda-style hotel situated in a lush garden setting with its own private beach club and spa in the beautiful city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. An adults-only, all-inclusive hotel, Casa Velas features fine gourmet dining, spa services and three, world-class, designer golf courses.
It had been awhile since I had taken a vacation without the kids, ages 9 and 8, and I have to admit, I was a little nervous about being away from them, even if it was only for four days. But from the moment I walked through the doors of this charming hotel, I received personal, five-star attention and the accommodations were exquisite. I soon forgot about the arguing over whose turn it was to get the remote and stopped thinking about how I was going to catch up on my laundry once I came home. After all, Casa Velas offers laundry service!
The hotel is part of Grupo Velas and features 80 suites, decorated in bright colors and original artwork by the famous Mexican artist Sergio Bustamante. Guests can choose from five room types: master suite, grand class suite, grand class special suite, governor suite or presidential suite. Some suites have private pools, and all suites feature satellite television, telephone with voicemail, wireless Internet access, safe deposit box, coffeemaker, mini bar, hair dryer and Bulgari amenities. Transportation is also provided to the two other properties in Grupo Velas: Velas Vallarta (children allowed) and the Casa Velas Beach Club.
My room was one of the master suites, in a beautiful peach color, with marble floors and a large marble bath complete with jetted tub. The king-size bed was too comfortable to imagine, with fresh, white linen and turn-down service at night with chocolates and a goodnight note. I made sure to make myself a note about the bed and linens to add to my never-ending wish list.
One of the many charms of the hotel is the tranquil pool area, surrounded by palm trees and the greens of Marina Vallarta's 18-hole golf course. Although I found out later the hotel was full, you wouldn't have known it because it was so quiet and I didn't have any trouble finding a lounge chair and disappearing in a book for several hours.
Because the hotel is all-inclusive, I had access to all of the a la carte restaurants, gourmet dining, 24-hour suite service, lobby bar, swimming pool bar, tennis courts, fitness center and hydrotherapy area at the spa, the heart of the hotel.
The 6,500 square-foot spa offers five treatment rooms with private and separate areas for men and women, with a wonderful selection of massages, body wraps and facials. I'm not one to normally go to a masseuse because most of the time, I have to drive home immediately following the massage, but couldn't resist the spa, which smelled like lemon and eucalyptus. I chose to have an aromatherapy massage that was pure heaven. I recommend taking advantage of the hydrotherapy area before and after your massage, where there is a whirlpool, sauna mint room, eucalyptus steam room, pressure shower and clover-scented neck collars.
I took full advantage of the "me time," and had a manicure and pedicure after my massage at the beauty salon. Spa and beauty salon services are not included and cost extra, but the price was worth every relaxing penny.
There are several different dining choices at the hotels. Velas Vallarta has the Ribera Steakhouse Restaurant, serving a varied menu of Mexican food, fine cut and a la carte seafood; and the Andrea Restaurant, featuring a romantic terrace and lovely interiors with a variety of gourmet themed nights.
I had the opportunity to dine at the hotel's restaurant, Emiliano's, with Rodolfo Gonzalez Munguia, resident manager at the hotel, and several of his incredibly friendly staff. Emiliano's is a beautiful, spacious restaurant with high ceilings, a magnificent chandelier and lovely piano music playing softly in the background.
The restaurant boasts one of the area's finest chefs, and with every bite it was easy to see why. For starters we had a beet smu, essenced with tequila licour (after all, this is Mexico), accompanied with an escanocopita of mousse of mushrooms and Gouda cheese. My favorite dish was the heart of artichoke served with prawns flamed with brandy and a frothy sauce of lemon and oregano. Every bite was delicious and melted in my mouth. For the main course, we had the grilled lamb ribs accompanied with a rataoulle of vegetables, corn, chayote and asparagus with a sauce of fine herbs. The food was amazing and the various wines offered with each course, perfectly complimented each dish. For dessert, we had a wild fruit broth with passion fruit ice cream over almonds and floating fruits. The presentation was beautiful and even though the ice cream looked too beautiful to eat, I managed.
The restaurant offers fine gourmet dining inside as well as outside on the spacious patio overlooking the breathtaking view of the Marina Vallarta golf course, and has a nice breakfast buffet and a la carte menu.
For my last evening in Puerto Vallarta, the hotel had arranged for dinner on the beach at the lovely Casa Velas Beach Club. With waves crashing and a band playing soothing music, it was the perfect place to watch the sunset and enjoy a light dinner.
The beach club is located directly on the beach, within walking distance from Casa Velas, and features an infinity pool, an ample amount of lounge chairs, plenty of beautiful beachfront and features a lunch and dinner menu of oriental specialties, such as sushi and tempura, and delicious cocktails.
Although I could have happily stayed at the resort sipping delicious piña coladas and never-ending margaritas poolside, I decided to venture into downtown Puerto Vallarta to explore and do some souvenir shopping along the boardwalk, a stretch of 10 blocks filled with too-many-to-count vendors, art galleries and seaside restaurants.
The flea market is within walking distance and easy to find, even though it's located a few blocks from the main stretch of boardwalk. There you can find anything from T-shirts to shot glasses, ceramics and jewelry. Most vendors were very friendly and knew enough English to to make sense of my broken Spanish. I bought several colorful T-shirts and small, hand-painted, wooden animals for my kids and a silver necklace for myself.
After walking through the main square and enjoying a bag of fresh mango slices from a vendor along the boardwalk, I was ready to return to Casa Velas.
Although the hotel offered to pick me up when I was ready to return, I decided to take a taxi. Before going sightseeing, I asked the concierge what the going rate would be to have a taxi bring me back and they said 60 pesos, roughly $6 dollars. It wasn't difficult to find a taxi along the boardwalk, and the first one I flagged down agreed to take me back to the hotel for the said amount and I included a little extra for the tip.
Casa Velas Boutique Hotel is located five minutes from the Puerto Vallarta airport and only 15 minutes from the popular downtown area. Whether you're looking for a romantic vacation, or just a quiet getaway, Casa Velas is the perfect place to relax in harmony and tranquility, and far exceeded my expectations with their courteous staff, beautiful grounds and peaceful atmosphere.
lhart(at)ourtribune.com |
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