Sometimes we like to avoid the four-star resorts and all-inclusive
wonderlands that pervade Mexico’s coasts for smaller residences
where we are awakened by the
crowing of roosters and the stirring sounds of city-life as the sun
reaches overhead. The pretty Los Cuatro Vientos
Hotel in Puerto Vallarta is
just such an abode. Twisting bougainvillea wraps its way around three
floors of bare-boned, but tasteful studio rooms overlooking a spacious
courtyard halfway occupied by a pool and the rest by a local, casual
management of considerable kindness who are happy to arrange nearby
spa visits, or beach and jungle tours. Beds are not necessarily
dressed with Frette linens or Egyptian cotton, but are perfectly
soft for mid-afternoon siestas and sleeping off myriad bottles
of red consumed at Café Des Artistes. In addition to Chez Elena restaurant,
an open-air dining room serving native specialties, the hotel’s
rooftop terrace is a gorgeous setting for drinks and wedding celebrations,
the majority of which will be spent gazing at 360 degrees of green
mountains ringing colonial majesty and an aquamarine bay. Summer
specials are currently available at Los Cuatro Vientos
for two guests to spend six nights and seven days, including continental
breakfasts and tours of a beautiful exclusive beach for $220, a true
bargain. For $299, they’ll throw in a boat trip for two to
Yelapa. Los Cuatro Vientos Hotel makes no illusions that it is the
Four Seasons, but with authentic décor, impressive landscaping
and a commitment to service, there is no denying that it is Mexico
at its most genuine. Los Cuatro Vientos Hotel is located at Matamoros
520 in central Puerto Vallarta and can be reached at
011-52-322-222-0161 and at www.cuatrovientos.com.
