The summer months are generally
accompanied by a slew of package deals in Mexico, priced to attract
off-season travelers. The following are a few of the most recently
announced offers:
On the Riviera
Maya, clients looking for inner renewal may want to consider
EcoTulum Resorts & Spa, which is offering a weeklong spiritual
healing package from Sept. 30 to Oct. 8.
The program,
centered around a celebration of the moon, features tribal dancing,
jam sessions, ritual ceremonies and a variety of holistic
demonstrations and classes. Yoga and meditation sessions and
organic cuisine are also featured.
Lodging specials
at Cabanas Copal and Zahra feature seven nights for the price of
five, starting at $50 per night. At Azulik, prices start at $190
per night. For more information, call (877) 532-6737 or visit www.ecotulum.com/lodging/healers.html.
Booking groups at
Occidental Hotels & Resorts has gotten more attractive, thanks
to a Groups Incentive package at its Royal Hideaway Playacar, valid
for group bookings through Oct. 31. It includes a 15% commission to
travel agents or incentive houses, a complimentary room for every
15 booked and a 20% discount on meals.
For information,
call (800) 858-2258 or visit www.occidentalhotels.com.
Art and
romance in Los Cabos
The Marquis Los
Cabos Beach, Golf, Spa and Casitas Resort is offering an Aspiring
Artists package through Dec. 15.
The four-night
package, with prices starting at $2,180 per person, includes three
days of private lessons with a Mexican painter, an artist kit to
keep and a tour of the artist community at Todos Santos. Also
included are roundtrip airport transfers, accommodations in a
junior suite or private pool casita, buffet breakfast and a welcome
drink.
The Marquis Los
Cabos is also offering an Elopement package through Dec. 15,
featuring a bridal bouquet, wedding minister, rental of a Mexican
wedding dress, tuxedo rental and a musician.
Also included is
an e-video of the ceremony and a ride to the airport in a Hummer
decorated with a "Just Married" sign.
Accommodations
for the Elopement package are in a Suite Marquis or Private Pool
Casita with ocean view; buffet breakfast at the resort's
restaurant, Vista Ballenas; one dinner with drinks at any of the
resort's restaurants or en suite; a welcome drink; and daily
turndown service with candles and rose petals.
The price is
$4,560 per couple for three nights. Additional nights are $1,520.
For information, call (877) 238-9399 or visit www.marquisloscabos.com.
Hacienda
living
Hacienda
Xcanatun, a small, upscale property set on what was an 18th-century
sisal plantation in the state of Yucatan, is offering several new
packages.
The Private
Retreat Honeymoon package is priced at $1,628 per couple for four
nights or $2,258 for six nights with a seventh night free. Rates
are valid through Dec. 15 and from Jan. 7 to April 30.
Included is a
roundtrip Merida airport transfer, an upgraded suite, a welcome
drink, a bottle of wine and fruit basket in suite, daily breakfast,
one candlelit champagne dinner and a spa treatment for bride and
groom.
The hotel also
offers a Girlfriend's Getaway package, priced at $550 per person,
double. The package includes three nights' accommodations in a
gardenview suite, roundtrip airport transfers, welcome cocktail,
daily continental breakfast, a three-course dinner with wine and
two spa treatments. The price is valid through Sept. 30.
The property's
archaeology and ecology packages, called Inside the Maya World and
A Celestun Flamingo Eco-Adventure, respectively, are priced at $885
per person, double, through September. The package includes
roundtrip airport transfers, a full-day excursion in a private car
accompanied by a trained guide to a Mayan ceremonial center or
ecological attraction, and one holistic massage per
person.
For information,
call (888) 883-3633 or e-mail [email protected].
A Punta
Mita getaway for the ladies
Punta Mita, a
master-planned resort and residential community about 35 miles
northwest of Puerto Vallarta, has created a package for women. The
resort, which recently added a "vacation stylist" to its staff,
offers a three-night Girlfriend Getaway to its rental
villas.
"The trend of
girlfriend getaways is gaining momentum," said Claudia Perez,
vacation stylist. "Punta Mita has already achieved a certain cache
for having absolutely everything a woman could ever dream of in a
vacation destination, including offering a relaxing environment
conducive to rest, renewal and regaining a sense of inner peace.
Now, our new Girlfriend Getaway has packaged all of this together
for women seeking an over-the-top, personalized, sensory
experience."
Valid through
Nov. 1, the package starts at $14,000 for four women, including VIP
airport pickup, afternoon massage, healthy breakfasts and lunches
daily, yoga or Pilates class, a "Girls Gone Surfing" lesson and an
afternoon margarita scrub.
For more
information about the Girlfriend Getaway package, call (888)
647-0979 or visit www.puntamita.com.mx.
On the
border
Global Exchange,
a San Francisco-based human rights organization that offers what it
calls "reality tours" to several countries, is scheduling its
second trip this year to the Mexico-U.S. border, from Sept. 1 to
4.
The tour, Beyond
Borders: Health, Labor & Environment, enables participants to
explore the root causes of immigration and meet with groups and
individuals to hear about the current immigration
situation.
Included are
visits to a maquiladora (a foreign-owned factory in Mexico) and a
migrant shelter as well as discussions with professors about the
impact of the North America Free Trade Agreement.
The price of $750
per person includes double-occupancy accommodations in towns along
the California border, two meals per day, transportation to and
from all programmed activities, guides and translators.
For more, call
(800) 497-1994 or visit www.globalexchange.org/tours.
To contact
reporter Mark Chesnut, send e-mail [email protected].