Recommend December 2013 - (Page 65)

priceless quito This year, we gathered for TMLA in Quito, a city more addicted to deluxe The Latin America travel experience has been enhanced by two decades of extensive development of upscale hotels and resorts, boutique lodges and jungle inns-fitted out with sybaritic spas and all-suite treats. From capital cities and colonial towns, to the farthest country corners, comfort levels in accommodations keep soaring to new heights-flying the banners of luxury and ecological correctness. Joining the up-scaling celebration are expedition cruises and even new horizons of train travel. luxury lodgings In Central America, surely one of the reasons Costa Rica draws more than two million international guests a year is its offering of high-quality creature comforts countrywide. This month on the Pacific coast the deluxe 153-room Andaz Peninsula Papagayo resort (papagayo.andaz.hyatt.com) opened with accommodations that include 21 suites with plunge pools. As I reported in the October 2013 issue, this is the "first venture into Latin America for the Andaz brand," adding that the "design concept for Andaz taps into Mother Nature for inspiration." In the country's inland area, meanwhile, in the Guanacaste lowlands, Rio Perdido (rioperdido.com), a luxury multiadventure resort, opens this month with 20 beautiful bungalows, natural hot springs and a spa. And as Leigh Ann Cloutier, president of Rico Tours, noted in the Costa Rica feature that appeared in the March 2013 issue, Costa Rica: A Trio of Detours, "Part of the reason that Costa Rica is such a successful repeat travel destination is that superb new lodgings in lesser-visited corners of the country lure visitors back." Some of her examples included the Monte Azul Boutique Hotel that, as I wrote, "adds luxury at the gateway to Chirripo National Park in the south," as well as the recently opened Copa De Arbol Beach and Rainforest Resort on Drake Bay. In Panama City, meanwhile, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts is expanding into Latin America with the opening of the 248-room Waldorf Astoria Panama (waldorfastoriapanama.com), featuring four distinct restaurants and bars including its signature Peacock Alley. On the other hand, RIU Hotels & Resorts is heading to the sea in the Cocle province for the debut of its second hotel in Panama, the RIU Playa Blanca (riu.com), which will have 573 rooms, four restaurants, five bars and three swimming pools. Many of us who cover Latin America have journeyed-once, twice, maybe three times-to the northern coast of Honduras to cover the development of the major resort area of Tela Bay. It has been our longest-running "coming attractions" story ever. But listen up, for come the first quarter of 2014, the curtain's indeed going up on a new luxury-showcase property, luxe and lovely Indura Beach & Golf Resort (induraresort.com), opening along a 26-mile stretch of Tela Bay. The resort will incorporate 60 jr. suites, an 18-hole Gary Player golf course and a wellness sanctuary; other guest treats will include hiking and birdwatching in nearby nature reserves and white- captivating than ever following its recent $220 million restoration, and the capital of Ecuador, whose Minister of Tourism, Vinicio Alvarado, announced during the TravelMart that "over the next four years we are budgeting $660 million to promote tourism to the country and improve tourism-related infrastructure, development and training." I was a delegate when Quito first hosted TMLA in 1983-just five years after UNESCO proclaimed the capital the first city on its World Heritage List. Needless to say, what a difference 30 years makes. Although modern Quito's now all grown up, her Old Town was always considered the best-preserved colonial center in South America. Among my new finds in the Old Town were the Casa del Alabado, a gem of a small museum exploring the mystical side of pre-Columbian art; La Ronda, where a new crop of artisan studios and shops-as well as the 22-room La Casona de la Ronda Hotel (casadelaronda. com)-arranged around a beautiful central patio-occupy 17th century buildings along the narrow, pedestrianonly street; fine-dining meccas from the Plaza Grande Cafe to Mia Culpa; and the talk-of-the-Old Town Casa Gangotena (casagangotena.com), an elegant 31-room boutique hotel occupying a historic mansion whose rooftop terrace offers the best seat in the house on Plaza San Francisco below and the Pichincha Volcano in the distance. Priceless! water rafting on the Rio Cangrejal. Already big, beautiful and new is Nicaragua's first ultra-luxurious resort, the 35-villa Mukul Resort & Spa (mukulresort.com), spread along the almost deserted white sands of Playa Manzanillo on the Emerald Coast. I visited this past year, and as I noted in the November 2013 issue in the Nicaragua onsite, "We loved the privacy, the quiet and the sunset views from hilltop bohios.... Mukul is gorgeous. The supervising decorators have created stunning yet informal public areas that stretch from the indoor/outdoor restaurant and to the pools overlooking the beach, to the Kul Kids club and the special room for Flor de Caña rum tastings." Or if your clients are thinking small, consider Little Corn Island, named one of the top three destinations to visit in 2013 by The New York Times. On Little Corn, travelers can now find the new Yemaya Island Hideaway & Spa (littlecornhotel.com) with 16 spacious oceanfront cabanas, pristine white beaches and a colorful reef system just offshore. In South America, after a $75 million restoration, Montevideo's heritage-listed Hotel Casino Carrasco has reopened as Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco & Spa (sofitel.com), introducing a lavish, French-style palace hotel to the Uruguayan capital, while in Valparaiso, Chile, the 23-room Hotel Palacio Astoreca (hotelpalacioastoreca.com), occupying a restored Victorian mansion, was voted by Conde Nast Traveler one of the best new hotels in the world. Over in Colombia, the elegant Casa San  december 2013 65 http://papagayo.andaz.hyatt.com http://www.casagangotena.com http://www.rioperdido.com http://www.mukulresort.com http://www.waldorfastoriapanama.com http://www.riu.com http://www.littlecornhotel.com http://www.sofitel.com http://www.induraresort.com http://www.hotelpalacioastoreca.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend December 2013

Editor's Notes
Hotel Desk: Canyon Ranch
Tour Talk: Insight Vacations
17th Annual Recommend Readers' Choice Awards Winners
Cruising 2013
Discovering North America
Caribbean Trends
Anguilla Travel Agent Specialist Program
Asia & The South Pacific in the Rearview Mirror
Mexico 2013
Latin America in 2013 and Beyond
Africa + The Middle East Continue to Make Stides
Nostalgic for Europe

Recommend December 2013