If you’ve been following my blog posts from Acapulco last week, you may have noticed I didn’t pay much attention to recent reports about drug cartel-related crime here in the state of Guerrero. There’s a reason for my keeping mum. I haven’t been reporting the news; I’ve been reporting my own personal experiences as a…
Tag: latin america
Beach Day in Acapulco, Mexico
A Bali-style day bed at Playita Santa Lucía, the new beach club. It’s Saturday afternoon, and a group of five Djs, most from Mexico City, are huddled over their shared table on the beach, as well-oiled vacationers sip micheladas on white-curtained Bali day beds. I’m in the adjacent open-air restaurant, slicing up a fresh whitefish…
3 Things I Love to Eat in Acapulco (and a couple drinks to wash it all down with)
I’ve been visiting Acapulco annually for years, thanks to the Tianguis Turistico, Mexico’s annual tourism conference (and I’ve come here a few additional times when the conference wasn’t taking placeas). So over time, I’ve discovered plenty of interesting and tasty local food that I always try to incorporate into my menu while in town. I’ve…
HOTEL REVIEW: El Encanto, Acapulco
After some nine years with no new openings, the city of Acapulco has welcomed no less than three new upscale properties within less than a year’s time: The villa-style Banyan Tree Cabo Marques, the retro-chic Boca Chica (which is where I’m staying now — more on that later) and El Encanto. So even as Acapulco has…
Group Splurge: Villa Sábalo, Acapulco
Last night, I sipped tamarind-infused cocktails and gazed at the sunset from the glamorous hills of an Acapulco neighborhood called Las Brisas. It was a cocktail party hosted by the Los Cabos Convention & Visitors Bureau (during Tianguis Turístico, Mexico’s annual tourism conference), but it was a classic Acapulco experience. The locale is called Villa Sábalo,…
5 Hot Hotels in the Atacama Desert, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
The craggy bluffs, dusty trails and sandy terrain of the desert aren’t usually associated with luxury hotels. But in Chile’s Atacama Desert — by some accounts the driest desert on earth — a remarkable thing has sprouted in the past few years: An oasis of upscale desert lodges that combine amenities and style with a…
Sun and Sand Take on New Meanings in Chile’s Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert in Chile offers postcard-perfect photo opportunities. On Wednesday, I flew from Santiago de Chile to Calama, the main airport serving the most tourism-friendly region of Chile’s northern deserts. After the two-hour flight, we took a one-hour van ride to San Pedro de Atacama, where a growing number of luxury desert resorts have been…
HOTEL REVIEW: W Santiago
It’s late night at the rooftop bar at the W Santiago, and a woman who claims to be a baroness is tugging on my hair, telling me that it was destiny that she would meet my colleagues and me tonight. “No really,” she says when I laugh. “It was destiny, and I am so happy…
HOTEL REVIEW: Grand Hyatt Santiago
Walking into my guestroom at at the Grand Hyatt Santiago was a rather impressive experience. The gently curved windows provide a wide-open, sky-high view of the soaring modern towers that populate the upscale Las Condes district in Santiago de Chile. The Grand Hyatt Santiago is, in fact, one of the areas most recognizable modern towers…
Hot, Cold & Blue in Chile’s Patagonia Region
Balmaceda I’ve been in Chile’s Patagonia region since Friday morning, and only late last night, on Sunday, was I able to catch a wave of Wifi, here at the Hotel Loberías del Sur in Puerto Chacabuco. After all, you don’t fly all the way to South America’s far southern reaches in order to Google the…
Santiago’s Quiet Gem: Barrio Concha y Toro
Even though I was pretty much in the center of bustling Santiago de Chile, as I strolled down one narrow, stone-paved street, the only sound I could hear was a mellifluous male voice singing, accompanied by a pianist from some upper window at a small music school. Such is the sense of peace that you…
Glimpsing a Glorious Past in Valparaiso, Chile
Nobel-prize-winning writer Pablo Neruda called Valparaiso “mi ciudad desordenada,” or “my disorganized city,” according to my guide from Chilean tour company Ruta Chile. But don’t think that’s an insult; after all, this city’s wonderful informality — most noticeable in the seemingly random array of fascinating historic architecture on its winding hills — is what makes…
In Santiago and Valparaíso, Graffiti and Street Murals are Vibrant Works of Art
Street art and graffiti are vibrant in the Bellavista district in Santiago de Chile. BY MARK CHESNUTIn most parts of Chile, citizens and property owners — as in many parts of the world — frown upon graffiti and street murals. But that’s not the case in two of Chile’s most artistically interesting neighborhoods: the Casco…
HOTEL REVIEW: The Aubrey, Santiago de Chile
I’m staying for four nights as a guest at Santiago’s hottest new boutique hotel: The Aubrey. Set in a mansion built in the 1920s in Santiago’s now Bohemian Bellavista district, the Aubrey (which just made Conde Nast Traveler’s 2010 “Hot List“) sits at the foot of the Parque Metropolitano’s funicular railway and just around the…