Velas: hoteliers by chance

It was past 10 p.m. when we arrived at Casa Velas. The Air Transat flight, which took us to Puerto Vallarta, made a stopover in Ixtapa, where we had to get off the plane and pass through customs, before leaving for the short 40 minute flight to our final destination.

There was no need to queue in front of the reception desk. "Here, no one lines up: it is a luxury hotel," explained Miguel, the employee who greeted us in the lobby with our keys and documents prepared in advance. He borrowed our passports to make photocopies while we sipped a welcome drink and a staff member accompanied us to our suites with our luggage.

Opened in 2003, the Casa Velas is a boutique hotel with 80 suites. It is located alongside the Marina Vallarta golf course (created by renowned course designer Joe Finger), and has a beach club with a private bar and restaurant, located just three minutes away. A shuttle service is available at all times on request.

Guests have the choice between two gourmet restaurants, as well as Emiliano (which serves Mexican cuisine and international inspirations) and the beach club restaurant, which offers Asian specialties. They also have access to the facilities and two restaurants of Velas Vallarta. Musicians perform a concert every night near the bar area adjacent to the lobby.

Free golf is available at Marina Vallarta as well as at two other 18-hole courses located less than 20 minutes away, one designed by Jack Nicklaus and the other by Tom Weiskopf. Hotel guests are also given free use of a golf cart.

There are eight room categories found throughout Casa Velas’ three buildings. Naturally, the most spectacular is the presidential suite, which includes a huge glass lounge overlooking a very long balcony with a small pool. With four large bedrooms, it can accommodate eight people and the table in the adjoining dining room can easily seat twelve guests.

Casa Velas is located in the residential area of Marina Vallarta, so named because it is adjacent to the marina of the resort, five minutes from the airport and 15 minutes from downtown and the Malecon boardwalk.

Velas VallartaAlong the beach in this area, Velas also operates its largest property: the Velas Vallarta. Interestingly, this all-inclusive resort was not built as a hotel. In the late 1980s, real estate developers Juan and Eduardo Vela had constructed the building with 345 apartments to sell as second homes to Mexican and North American vacationers. But once construction was completed, a recession disrupted the global economy and seriously hampered the demand for high-end second homes on Mexico's Pacific coast.

That was in 1990. Unwilling to end up with hundreds of vacant apartments, the brothers adjusted their plans and transformed the building into a hotel. The property features two-room suites, as well as La Ribera, a large buffet restaurant overlooking the beach; and Andrea, an a la carte restaurant located on the ground floor of the main building, flanked by a small terrace that allows guests to eat outside. A third restaurant area - Aqua Bar - allows guests to be served a snack beside the huge swimming pool.

Andrea features high-end dining, complete with artfully-set tables (including white tablecloths, high-end cutlery and glassware). The chef is inspired by different culinary traditions and showcases these styles on different days of the week: Italian on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, French on Mondays, Asian on Tuesdays, South Pacific on Wednesdays and Mexican on Thursdays. While Andrea is freely available for lunch, reservations are required for dinner.

The original purpose of the complex is clear when you enter one of the suites. A long corridor gives access to a closed room located "mountain side," and an open kitchen and living area overlook the pool and the sea. The bathroom is located between the two and a spacious balcony allows you to relax or eat (in-room dining is available 24 hours a day) in privacy. 

A variety of activities are also scheduled every day, including an introduction to snorkeling, bingo, discovery walks on the beach, mime shows, traditional pre-Hispanic dances, karaoke and mariachi concerts.

As in other Velas resorts, two excursions are also included in the package: a shopping tour of Puerto Vallarta and a cultural tour of the rural villages, a particular highlight being a visit to a tequila distillery.