Guests live the good life at Manzanillo resorts

MANZANILLO, Mexico -- Set on the Pacific coast halfway between Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, this busy port -- whose name means Little Apple -- gives the Big Apple a run for its high-end money.

The city entices upscale vacationers and business travelers with a wealth of luxury resorts, great beaches, stunning scenery and myriad shopping options, all in a safe, nearly undiscovered part of Mexico.

The Manzanillo area is home to two AAA Four Diamond Award-winning resorts -- the Karmina Palace and the Grand Bay Isla Navidad Resort, a Wyndham property -- with lofty standards for service, style and security.

Karmina Palace

Karmina Palace, an all-suite, all-inclusive resort with 324 units, strives to prove that all-inclusive also can mean luxury.

In its fifth year of operation, this resort -- influenced by indigenous Mayan aesthetics -- sits on a beautiful private bay, offering its guests a full menu of activities, dining options and courteous service.

Standard amenities at family-friendly Karmina Palace include daily, supervised activities for kids ages 4 to 12, a free spa treatment for adults and 24-hour room service.

Management prides itself on no hidden costs, including all taxes and gratuities.

Each suite at Karmina Palace has a living room, a kitchen,  a bedroom, a spacious marble bathroom, two televisions and two telephones.

On a recent stay, my suite offered a panoramic view of the Pacific, and its motif of pastel colors gave it a clean, airy feel. 

With five restaurants, seven swimming pools (one reserved for adults only), a giant waterslide for the kids, three golf courses and some of the worlds best deep-sea fishing nearby, Karmina Palace can claim rightly to keep its guests as busy as they would like to be.

Attractions-wise, the city of Manzanillo proper, Mexicos largest and busiest seaport, is just a few miles down the road -- and is well worth a visit.

Not only is the shopping good, but Manzanillo also is considered one of the safest urban areas in all Mexico.

Marcos Casillas, general manager of Karmina Palace and president of the Manzanillo Hotel Association, said he saw a 10% growth in tourism in Manzanillo in 2004, and he believes things will only get better.

The state of Colima has been ranked as the No. 1 place for quality of life in Mexico, he said. Also, there are very low rates of unemployment in Manzanillo and Colima.

As a result, he said, these locations enjoy top ranking in safety and security with one of the lowest crime rates in the entire country.

Grand Bay Isla Navidad

Nearby lies what must be one of Mexicos best-kept secrets: the Grand Bay Isla Navidad Resort, a Wyndham luxury property set between the towns of Melaque and Cihuatlan.

This stunning, 199-room hotel is a half-hour cab ride from Manzanillo Airport. The taxi fare is $65 roundtrip, or clients can use the free hotel shuttle.

The Grand Bay Isla Navidad is located on a private peninsula and is part of a 1,300-acre resort community that has its own 207-slip marina and 22,000 square feet of meetings and events space.

The resort also is home to the 27-hole Country Club Isla Navidad golf course, voted by Golf Magazine in 1999 as the best in Mexico.

The club runs along the rugged Pacific coast and offers three nine-hole courses -- the Ocean, the Mountain and the Lagoon.

The Grand Bay Isla Navidad has three restaurants and a tequila bar with 200 kinds of Mexicos favorite beverage to sample.

There, I discovered that the liquor from a $2,500 bottle of tequila does taste better -- much better -- than ordinary tequilas.

Guests of the Grand Bay Isla Navidad should not miss the five-minute water-taxi ride to the Barra de Navidad, a picture-perfect Mexican pueblo and a great place to purchase local crafts and enjoy a good meal.

Note to bargain-hunters: The management at the Grand Bay Isla Navidad say theyre open to room upgrades, especially in the off-season.

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