INSPIRED RESORTS announced a mixed-use development for Punta Mita, the master-planned resort and residential community just north of Puerto Vallarta. The company will develop Porta Fortuna and the Chopra Center & Spa in Punta Mita, a mixed residence, condo hotel and resort described as the “largest wellness center in Latin America” at more than 30,000 square feet. Porta Fortuna will comprise 24 Piazza Penthouse condominiums (a condo hotel), seven beachfront homes, six oceanfront homes, five spa casitas and 24 lake villas. In addition, there will be a European-style piazza with art galleries, restaurants and retail outlets. The first phase of development, scheduled for completion in first-quarter 2008, will consist of the Piazza Penthouse condominium hotel, the piazza and all retail outlets, the Chopra Center & Spa and up to six homes. The remaining residential units will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2010. Porta Fortuna’s Web site is at www.portafortuna.info.
IN OTHER PUNTA MITA NEWS, a 27-unit Las Terrazas Golf Villas complex opened adjacent to the Jack Nicklaus Golf Course. Each unit features two master bedrooms and upscale furnishings. To promote the new complex, Las Terrazas is offering a three-night Tee it Up package starting at $4,075 (for up to four people) in an oceanview or golfview room, two rounds of golf for two people, preferred rates for additional rounds, roundtrip airport transfers and one 80-minute Margarita Scrub & Revitalizing Massage per person. To book, call (888) 647-0979 or visit www.punta-mitaproperties.com.
FOODIES, TAKE NOTE. The Los Cabos Culinary Festival is scheduled Dec. 1 to 9 at the destination’s resort restaurants and stand-alone eateries. The event will kick off on Dec. 1 at the Plaza Mijares Square in downtown San Jose del Cabo. The festivities will include a food exposition featuring dishes prepared by Los Cabos eateries and continues throughout the week as chefs at resort restaurants prepare special menus for guests. The festival will culminate with an outdoor Dinner in the Desert on Dec. 9. The culinary festival debuted in 2004 as a one-day event and was expanded to a weeklong celebration last. For more information or a copy of the Los Cabos Travel Planner, call (866) LOS-CABOS or visit www.visitloscabos.org.
COZUMELcreated two new dive and snorkeling sites. Two former navy patrol ships, the 85-foot-long Laguna Mandinga and the 42-foot-long Patzcuaro, were sunk in about 38 feet of water 370 yards offshore to serve as an artificial reef for marine life, as well as new sites for scuba divers and snorkelers. The events marked the launch of a long-term program organized by local government officials to sink several decommissioned ships and other vessels to provide new and geographically widespread diving and snorkeling sites outside the destination’s National Marine Park. Cozumel welcomed some 200,000 scuba divers last year, according to the Cozumel Tourism Promotion Board. For information about Cozumel, visit www.islacozumel.com.mx.
THE PRESIDENTE INTERCONTINENTAL GUADALAJARA is celebrating one of Mexico’s better-known exports -- tequila -- with three Tequila Adventure packages that feature a ride on the Tequila Express train and a visit to the oldest tequila distillery in the world. One package, the Tequila Adventure Weekend, includes two nights at the hotel with daily breakfast, two tickets on the Tequila Express, a bottle of premium tequila and airport transfers. The tequila Express makes a stop at the Herradura Tequila Distillery in Amatitan, Jalisco. The package costs $220 a night, double, based on a Friday arrival. All packages are valid through Jan. 15. For information or reservations, call (800) 327-0200 or visit www.intercontinental.com/guadalajara.
Mexico E-Letter Editor:
Jorge Sidron
Phone: (973) 898-0011
[email protected]
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