The design of Villa Estrella is a stunning display of the natural beauty of Mexican architecture.

In the villages of Mexico’s Pacific coast, architecture is closer to the earth. Fences are made of sticks, building is predominantly in wood and adobe (sun-dried mud bricks) and the palapa structure, a simple shelter roofed with a thatch of woven palm fronds, endures in a form little changed since pre-Hispanic times. The isolation of the rural environment has produced a timeless vernacular architecture that…. hardly needs any architects.

Even the powerful Mexica or Aztec Empire, which extended as far west as the Pacific, showed little interest in building along this coast as it did in the Valley of Mexico. Yet we know that Montezuma and other great rulers made regular pilgrimages here in search of sun, sea, and recuperation. Perhaps the extravagant beauty seduced the Mexica visitors into a state of euphoria, reducing their usual ambition to build great monuments in stone to a simple desire to enjoy the seductive surroundings.

Not much has changed. When it comes to building along Mexico’s Pacific coast, a different set of rules applies. The monumental elements so prevalent in most contemporary Mexican architecture – the stone-paved courtyards, massive walls, and formal haciendas are willingly discarded.

In their place is a more dreamlike architecture that has no doors, no windows, and very few walls. Angles are replaced by sensuous curves, edges are more rounded, and furniture is forsaken in favor of built-in benches and beds. The line between inside and outside has disappeared. Nature flows seamlessly, invading the house, drawing the occupants to live at one with the seductive and splendid surroundings. Natural rock and plants give the privacy, abundant flowers decorate the space, stunning views and sunshine infuse the house with glory.

The sounds of nature, the sound of wind swaying the palm fronds, the sound of waves surging on the rocks below, the call of birds all immerse the architecture with a symphony of wonder.

The steady sea breeze, warmed by the sun caresses and soothes the skin. The brilliant sun dances like diamonds on the blue ocean. The thick palapa umbrella cone provides the shelter and cool shade from the blazing merciless sun, an ancient design with venting at the top to let the heat escape. You live under and inside a hand crafted, hand woven masterpiece of natural beautiful palm fronds, thousands of them, woven into a simple structure of rustic poles that soothes the soul with its earthy beautiful hand made honesty.

Only natural materials are used. Leather for the furniture, hand woven fabrics, rustic wood, rough stone walls, palm fronds for the roof, clay tiles, and everywhere the plants. Rich, simple, natural textured materials, glorious coloured blossoms, butterflies, hummingbirds, fireflies.

Villa Estrella is the inheritor of these traditions; the antidote to a modern life of tension, technology, hurry and worry. The villa represents the deep felt desire of man to be at one with his natural surroundings, to live as simply as possible, in tune with the deepest rhythms of nature that make the earth turn.

We live with the cycles of the sun, sunrise, sunset, heat of day, cool of night, stunning brightness, velvet darkness. We live with the cycles of the moon and the tides, that infinite cycle, the rising and falling of the seas, the endless mating of sea and shore. The rhythm of the waves; those long deep swells that surge across the oceans in endless powerful rows, surging forever upon the shores below, a thundering drama of explosions on the beach. The cycle of the winds, that rise during the course of the day, only to die in the evenings. The cycles of the seasons that brings rains. The cycles of the pelicans and frigate birds appearing every day. The cycles of the whales appearing and disappearing every year. The cycles of plants that grow and flower. These are the cycles of nature that ground the spirit, bring us peace, comfort, joy and restore the balance of our souls.

This you can expect from Villa Estrella. To see more pictures of our luxury Mexico Villa, visit the Photo Gallery.

The beauty, tranquility, service and value of Villa Estrella cannot be found at any all-inclusive mexico destination.

Many people choose their vacation destination and accommodation based mainly on price. Economic times are tough, and our hard earned vacation dollar needs to be spent as wisely as possible. I would like to make the point that what seems cheap isn’t always so.

A vacation is a treasured, all too short precious week or two that is meant to be as special, wonderful and memorable as possible. Every detail matters, you want to be uplifted, pampered, and come a way with a huge smile and beautiful memories that last a lifetime. We at Villa Estrella on the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico promise you that precious uplifting and memorable experience. An experience far removed from assembly line, mass tourism, where guests are treated like a crop to harvested and stripped of their cash with the minimum of service that can be gotten away with.

I would like to share with you what the alternative can look like. One of our beloved guests, just spent a wonderful 2 weeks at Villa Estrella, and had the time of her life with a few of her closest friends (they come every year). After she checked out they had 2 days to spend in Puerto Vallarta before their flight back. Below is her first person account of those two days. The poor girl suffered some extreme culture shock. Here is her story of her all-inclusive Mexico experience.

If you are looking for a large, over-crowded, cookie cutter hotel with watered down drinks and the worst food imaginable; then welcome to the all inclusive. My husband and I have stayed at several all inclusives in Puerto & Neuvo Vallarta over the years and at this point consider ourselves veterans in the all inclusive experience. For this particular review we will examine our latest disappointment in detail. Oh and by the way we usually select a 4-5 star hotel, so we cannot be blamed that we get what we pay for. We usually spend $400-$600 per night at these places. We do not opt for the $2-300 a night places. I can only imagine what you might get there.

So were to begin- I’ll start randomly with the dinner reservations system and work my way through everything.

Dinner reservations: At the majority of these places you are required to make dinner reservations every day at one of their 3 or 4 hotel restaurants. Upon check in (we checked in at exactly 2:00) we were told that the girl who took the dinner reservations leaves at 2:00 and was now gone for the day and would be back tomorrow at 8:00 am to take our reservation for tomorrow. I said, “ok well we are only here two nights, and we just paid close to $1000 for two nights so do we not get a dinner tonight?” The front desk guy looked at me and just shrugged his shoulders and said “sorry no dinner.” I was fuming angry and vowed to wake up the next morning and get our reservation in before 10:00am (because apparently by 10:00 all the reservations are full.) So you can forget about sleeping in on your holiday because all the elderly people and all the people with kids are up at the crack of dawn and you have to beat them to the reservation desk if you want to eat that night.

So the first morning I was up by 8:30 and had got our reservation in. Not at the restaurant we wanted, but at least we got something. So because we were up early, we were able to go to the breakfast buffet with brings me to the food:

Food: The breakfast buffet was the most horrible, disgusting, un-edible food I have ever eaten. Period. Even my husband would not touch it and he eats A LOT. Enough said.

The Pools: Also because we were up early, we thought we would secure a spot in the sun by the pool. Apparently everyone else has this thought and they all put their pool towels and crap down to claim their spots. So again, all the elderly and people with kids who are up early get all the chairs. But are they anywhere to be seen near the pool? No, they are like 2-400 pound laboratory rats stuffing their faces at the disgusting buffet, crowding around and bumping into everything and everyone. The chairs we finally managed to get were at the back, in the shade. Once we got in the water, the rule is to never put your face or head in the water because all those people drinking ALL DAY at the swim up bar, you know that they are not getting up every single time they have to take a piss and walk to the bathroom which is not exactly close by. If you think they are not peeing in the pool you are dreaming.

The rooms: I could not have been more disappointed in our room. Fist thing I noticed was the horrible musty smell. The kind of smell you get when you leave dirty laundry for a while and it gets moldy. Our room faced the road and some dusty palm trees and the mega hotel beside us. For that kind of money I would have loved a glimpse of the ocean. The bed was as hard as a rock and the sheets stank. I did not want to put my face near those pillows.

Room service: This particular hotel did not have room service. I called down and the girl told me they had a sports bar with snacks so I thought well, at least that is something. So that first night when we were told we would not get a dinner, we went down to the sports bar. 7-11 would have been heaven over this place. All there was were some horrible nachos in a machine that had gone soft, with liquid cheese sauce and some pre-packaged hamburgers that I would not give to my dog, let alone eat myself, that you could heat up in the microwave provided. What?? If I wanted to heat up my own f”ing food I would not be staying at a fancy hotel.

Beach: I will say the beach in Neuvo Vallarta is very pretty and good for swimming. Other then that it is crowded and noisy with para-sailing, jet-skis, banana boat rides, kids and people walking by from all the other hotels on the strip. No peace and quietehere. Also same rule applies here that does with the pool: be prepared to have to fight for a lounge chair or get up before sunrise to claim one.

Landscape: When I go on a tropical holiday I want to be whisked away to a magical place with colorful flowers, footpaths, gardens, palm trees and ocean. I would like a bit of privacy and space, and not feel like cattle. These places consist of a lot of concrete with some palm trees randomly thrown in. They are all the same, a horseshoe shaped hotel, thousands of rooms, a pool in the middle and if you are lucky a beach on the end. No imagination.

Summary: If you like big crowds of big sweaty people and having to elbow your way through a crappy buffet or fight for a pool chair, or for a dinner reservation, then these places are made for you.

Liz Trenchard

With a location as magical and beautiful as Villa Estrella, it is no wonder that we have so many joyous testimonials.

One fun thing we like to do at every visit is to go through the guest book that we keep at Villa Estrella. We eagerly read the comments and testimonials that our guests write into the book. We find it heartwarming and delightful to read about how much our guests have enjoyed their stay at Villa Estrella, how they love the staff, especially Rosa, how they love the food, and how sad they are to have to leave.

We don’t think their comments should languish in a book on the shelf. This kind of joy needs to be shared, and we would like to share it with you. So here you are; below are some of the pages written by our beloved guests during their stays at Villa Estrella in 2010. These are real and wonderful people. During the bookings process I get to know them a bit. These are all unique people with whom we have a lot in common. We all share that deep love of nature, beauty, individuality, ocean and adventure. It’s a very powerful, common bond.

Thank you so much for making our stay so special. None of us want to leave this beautiful place. The staff was awesome!! The food was awesome, everything was perfect. The tranquil environment really enabled us all to re-connect to our spouses in a special way. We all renewed our vows to each other while we were here. We will never forget this place! Thank you! – The Allens, The Gregory’s and The Gallaghers

We had a wonderful time! Very relaxing and great food! Your villa will be remembered and recommended to lots of friends! It was great to have no TV and to enjoy the sounds of the ocean. Surfing & boogie boarding was amazing. – Dan and Tonya Decker p.s. can we take Rosa home to Steamboat Colorado?

Wow what a great piece of paradise. Great food, fun and friends. We will always remember the memories from this vacation. The views, surfing, fishing, boogie boarding, the waterfall, the drive to the waterfall, and of course the great staff! Thanks for everything! – Jeff, Shellyn & Marcy Dillingham
Clark, Colorado

I do not want to leave!! Thank you for sharing your lovely home with our families. We will miss the incredible views, the ocean, the waves, the birds and the sunsets. Profound relaxation in nature is invaluable. We hope to return soon! – Sack-Albert Family, Seattle, WA and Stosur-Hatcher Family, Portland OR

This was our second honeymoon and it was spectacular! Rosa’s cooking was heavenly and we enjoyed a great fishing trip, (we had tuna sashimi for dinner!) and we also enjoyed the jungle cruise- at lunch we were introduced to the most wonderful oysters we ever had. I could go on and on and on. the house was wonderful, sleeping to the sounds of the ocean will be missed and the PURE RELAXATION will be longed for. We will be back! – The Freemans, Texas

We gad a great week here at Villa Estrella! Beautiful house, awesome sunsets, amazing views, and the most fantastic staff works here at Punta el Custodio! We could not have asked for a better place to spend our vacation at. Definitely will be suggesting this to our friends and family. Ulrich and Jackie, thanks to opening your home to us. Rosa, thanks so much for the delicious meals and your smiling face every day! Ismael and the rest of the staff thank you so much for always helping us with whatever we needed. Hope to be back sometime soon! Muchas Gracias para todos! – Sarah & Andy, Gridwood Alaska

The villa was perfect! We loved how the tropical outdoors came right into the interior! We loved the brightness of the sky at night and saw millions of stars every night as we relaxed in the infinity pool to all hours of the night. It was a super place to surf, or at least learn how to surf. We enjoyed the friendly staff. A wonderful and relaxing holiday. – Dr. Ron & Wendy G. & family

This villa was amazing! Rosa and the food couldn’t have been more perfect! What a great way to getaway and relax. Falling asleep to the sound of the ocean is fantastic. Boogie boarding was such a fun experience. We really don’t want to leave Rosa, such a smiling happy person, we will never forget her!! She makes the most unbelievable food. Her keylime pie is to die for. Overall the staff here is amazing, Thanks so much for a wonderful week we loved it! – The Kupchella Family, Minneapolis, MN

This was truly the most wonderful vacation we have ever taken (this includes our honeymoon). We have never been so well taken care of, fed, rested and relaxed. I recommend Villa Estrella to anyone needing a hideaway from the crazy world and time to reconnect to themselves or to those they love. We will be returning in 2011….. and we are trying to find a way to get back this summer. We have tried other vacation spots to no avail and have decided we will make Villa Estrella our annual kid-free vacation. – Cara Vanberg Freeman

To Read More reviews left by our Guests, see our Testimonials.

Villa Estrella's real palapa roof made of interwoven royal palm fronds.

Last November we spent 6 weeks here at Villa Estrella. It’s a lovely time of year, we come every year at this time, the rainy season is just over, and everything is lush green. The heat of the summer has started to wane, and the fresher winter season has not yet arrived, the ocean waters are deliciously warm, the tourists are nowhere in sight. It’s a time of beauty, peace, and for reconnecting with our wonderful friends here in Mexico.

It’s also a great time for us to make sure the Villa is properly spruced up for the upcoming rental season. The power of the summer storms, the huge amounts of wind and rain, the salt spray, all leave their mark. We make sure all the linens and towels are in good shape, replace worn kitchen utensils and do paint touch-ups. Often we take a trip to Guadalajara to restock on fabrics for draperies, get fresh colourful cushions for the banco, and replace tarnished light fixtures. This time we replaced some of the washroom faucets as they were looking tired as well. I think the ceramic tiles in the bathrooms are the next candidate for upgrade. The big item this year was the replacement of the entire palapa roof. The roof was now 12 years old, and the royal palm fronds that are woven into the wood framework were finally starting to crumble. Small bits of daylight were visible, and during the rains….well there would be drips on the floor.

Jackie always does a major garden tune-up. The wild summer storms lash the plants with salt spray which damages many of them. The heavy rains have beaten up all the flowering plants, so they need nursing.

Our new hammock, swaying in the warm breeze with a beautiful view of the ocean, awaits you.

The indoor plants suffer from light deprivation, so they get switched out for fresh ones. There is always a visit to the vivero (nursery) for a fresh supply. Often the little plants we put in years ago have become giants and suddenly there is too much shade, so those have to be pruned. This year I couldn’t get my satellite internet dish to pickup the satellite signal….well you guessed it…the palm fronds had grown up so large, they blocked the satellite dish. Jackie and Jaime our gardener spend endless hours pruning, moving and replacing.

One of my favourite new acquisitions was the hammock. The old one, although lovely finally gave up the ghost as the woven cords finally disintegrated from old age. Hammock is mandatory. The hammock is hung from the big rock wall in a quiet corner behind the kitchen, surrounded by Bougainvilleas, hummingbirds and butterflies. I slip into it with a book, and before you know it am fast asleep. The one we found is an extra wide one, good for two.

Mike caught in a big wave fishing at the rocks at Villa Estrella.

Mike went out fishing with Ruben, the best fishing guide around, (he is from San Blas) and he said the experience was fantastic. Mike first tried his luck with one of the locals with the “Pangas” down on the beach in Platanitos but all they did was drive him to the Bajo and let him sit there for 3 hours even though not one fish was biting, he was very disappointed when he came back.

The next time, Mike decided to try his luck with a different fishermen. Ismael our manager at Punta el Custodio, recommend Ruben. Ruben picked Mike up on time, had sandwiches, water, sunscreen, cushions for the little panga, even a sail to provide some shade. Ruben has 40 years of guiding experience and was using a GPS to track the fish. First he caught a couple of Dorado and then suddenly a little bell was ringing and Ruben raced over to the pole and hooked the fish really hard (Mike is telling me the story as I didn’t go…I get sea sick) and handed Mike over the pole. It took Mike 45 minutes to wheel in the fish (I guess its called “Bella” in Spanish? At least that’s what Ruben was yelling…bella bella and pointed to the ocean while the bell was ringing).

Mike posing with his trophy from his Mexico sailfish fishing excursion.

He said the sight was amazing…the sailfish was jumping out of the water and was fighting really hard. Ruben and his “helper” got the fish into the boat and wanted to clean and filet it but Mike didn’t have a camera so he said he has to take the full fish home to get a photo. Then Heimar and Vincente (I am sure I butchered their name) cleaned the fish and filetted it – very NICE! I had asked Heimar to divide the fish between all the employees of Punta El Custodio but I am not sure that happened…when I asked Ismael and Cynthia if they got fish they said no…fortunately we had some more and gave it to Ismael…Rosa also got some and Mike gave her all the Travails he caught on the rock down from villa Estrella.

Mike said they had to go out 4 miles out…kind of a little bit left of Villa Estrella at the point. I’ve attached a couple more photos. If you take a look at the very last photo and look really close you can see Mike caught in a big wave leaning at the rocks and the pole sticking out (grey hair…you can see his head in the middle of the photo in a dark spot and white shirt if you look really close)…he loved fishing off the rock to the right down from your Villa. He was in heaven!

Mike and Dunja showing what the best Mexico fishing trips are all about.

Ruben said in November and December is the time to catch big fish, they were fortunate that they caught such a big fish this time of the year. Mike said Ruben was just amazing and how much knowledge he had about the area, a true fisherman who’s pride is measured by how many (big) fish his clients catch (not like the Panga guys from Platanitos, they really didn’t care if Mike would catch a fish or not).

Mike and I want to say Thank YOU for renting us out your villa and thank you Ismael for catering to all our special requests. Mike was very happy about his burger and the BBQ couldn’t have come to a more perfect time to BBQ the sailfish he caught that day (I have attached you a couple of photos). We BBQ’d all the way out under the big fig tree to ensure no flames or ashes would get close to your beautiful palapa roof.

Your place is beautiful and we loved everything Rosa cooked for us, your personnel is fantastic, everybody is so friendly and accommodating. Thank you both for allowing us to stay in your beautiful villa and making our vacation so very special. We hope we will have an opportunity to come back soon.

Written By Dunja, Villa Estrella Guest, May 2010.

Platanitos is a quaint beach village just a short walk from Villa Estrella and is a perfect place to pass a lazy day at the beach while immersing yourself in local Mexico culture.

The place was full of happy Mexican families, grandparents, kids and babies. We found a table at the edge facing the beach, simple plastic table, feet in the sand, watching the kids play in the waves, teenagers playing soccer on the beach, vendors selling inexpensive jewellery, banana bread, a wonderful ice cream cart, and a bunch of strolling mariachis with very old beat-up looking instruments. We were the only “white folks” on the whole beach. This place is the real thing. There are several restaurants like Ruiz’s all lined up tightly beside each other, and each restaurant has its own blaring juke box, pumping out that typically Mexican variety of songs, of love and heartbreak. It wouldn’t be Mexico without a bit of chaotic noise.

In a few minutes Pepe, Ana, Tania their daughter, and her brand new husband Zithi showed up, we ordered a bucket of iced beers, some shrimp empanadas and waited for the fish to arrive. Lovely people, warm hearted, loving, we are best of friends, communicating only in Spanish. I would get so good in Spanish if I had to do this every day. Of course, within minutes the ladies had snagged the wandering jewelery vendor, who proceeded to lay out all his wares on the table. This took a good half hour of sifting through a few hundred items and trying everything on. This is my kind of shopping, the goods are cheap, I don’t have to go to a store, no standing around with tired feet, and best if all, I can sit in comfort on the beach with my friends and a beer.

Next thing you know, the wandering weathered looking thin older man with the beatup guitar turns out to be an old friend of Pepe and Ana from Ixtapa down the road. Apparently he writes a lot of his own songs as well. We are in for a treat as he serenades us in a lovely voice and excellent guitar playing for a good 20 minutes. He sang a special song that he wrote himself, dedicated to Jackie and me, entitled “Tequila y Rum”

The succulent tender fish arrives, a huge feast, the entire fish laid open on a huge tray, grilled a golden brown with wonderful aromas. It comes with a bunch of plastic forks, some little plates, rice and tortillas. Everyone digs in, finger licking, lip smacking good. I’ve never had better fish than this. Of course the pretty waitress keeps bringing us more cold ones.

Next thing we signal the lady on the beach operating the ice cream cart, apparently she is known to Pepe and Ana as well. It seems her family are highly regarded ice cream makers from Zacualpan. I have the limon, others have fresa, or coco, lovely ices in nice crunchy cones, 6 ice creams for 50 pesos, not a bad deal.

After lunch we all piled into Zithi’s pickup, the men in the open rear truck bed, Mexican style, and we bump our way back up the hill back to Villa Estrella, me holding on for dear life. We made coffee, sat and talked, as the sun dropped ever lower in the sky. As the orange ball came close to sea, we wandered out to the point under the big fig tree, the nightly sunset ceremony has become a wonderful tradition, a time when day slips into night, accompanied by a spectacular orange glow of sky. We toast the end of the day as the final glimmer of sun slips under the waves.

The romantic lights under the palapa gradually come on, one by one; conversations grow deeper, easy laughter, wine flows. Eventually, after large lunches, endless talking, kissed by sun and breeze, cool wine, fatigue sets in, time to break up the party and head home, hugs and goodbyes all around. The villa returns to magical silence. Surrounded by the black night, the chirping of crickets, the soft surge of waves on the rocks below. We sink into the comfort of cushions and lounges, nap a bit, read a bit, cherishing the peace and silence.

Just another day in paradise.

The wandering vendors were all over us like a feeding frenzy of mapaches (Mexican raccoons), for the first while we could hardly enjoy our cervezas. There is always the horde of jewellery venders with open attaché cases of silver stuff. Once guy claimed that his one particular bracelet would cure arthritis, and this was a well know fact that everyone in Mexico knew about. Some pretty girl in native dress, apparently from Chiapas, sold us a cute little colourful hand made purse that will be nice for our grand daughter. After about the 20th vendor we put on our stone face and tried to ignore them (with limited success)

Once again, there was this neat old guy with the beat up guitar that had a harmonica taped to the top of it. He was missing quite a few teeth. I always fall for these charming old timers and ask them to sing a few songs. His name was Simon, his voice was great, he danced while he played, his tunes were joyful and he sang us 3 lovely songs for 100 pesos.

A day trip to Bucerias isn't complete until you have visited the many vendors where all sorts of hand-crafted treasures are sold.

So, no trip anywhere is complete without…you guessed it….shopping….naturally, and in no time at all, in a back street of Bucerias where I could hardly squeeze in with my lumbering Suburban, we found a store with stuff we just HAD to have; these fine hand woven tapestries from Oaxaca, hand woven by the family that ran the store. They showed us how they make their own dyes; browns from nut shells, and purples from some powdered insect. If you added lime juice to the purple powder insect, you got orange dye. There was pictures of papa grinding the nuts, pictures of mama cording the wool. To make a long story short we are now proud owners of a tapestry full of colorful fish, and a hand woven bedspread of blues and oranges for the king size bed.

After that a short wander down a street lined both sides with hundreds of little vendors stands, each one trying to con you into buying something, all kinds of silly trinkets and souvenirs that will gather dust back home. Well we decided to quickly pickup some Christmas items for the folks back home. We zeroed in on these cute little Mexican tequila shot glasses, hand blown, each one a little different from the other. We got four blue ones for one person, four red ones for another, then four more yellow ones, not sure if we got the green ones as well. By the time we got done it was already 3 o’clock. Now there is still a 2 hour drive to get back, and we wanted to be back at Villa Estrella before the sun goes down. Missing the nightly sunset ceremony is not something to be taken lightly. You never know when you might miss that ultimate sunset experience; the elusive “green flash” (that’s the subject of another story).

On the way home through the mountains between Bucerias and Sayulita we pass the pueblito of San Ignacio, blink and you miss it. There were a couple of rustic rickety fruit stands, and right beside one of them, lo and behold; they were selling these nice rustic hand woven rattan type basket-weave lamps which are perfect for the architecture of Villa Estrella. I have to tell you, Villa Estrella has a palalapa roof, which is basically like living inside a huge woven palm frond basket, so these were just the lights to go with the look. There was no one there to sell them to us, until we noticed that the simple sleepy dusty house behind the stand, had a man and woman siesta-ing in two hammocks in the yard beside the rusty derelict truck, so we had to wake them up to get service. We tried to bargain for a lower price but he wouldn’t budge, we got the lamps for half the price of anywhere else.

Back on the road again, the rest of the trip pretty uneventful, jungles, and valleys, and fields, and farms, distant mountains and scruffy charming villages. Another stop at one of those cute fruit stands for the best little bunch of bananas anywhere, and then back home just in time for sunset.

The plan for tonight is crank up the pool heater and have a toasty hour daydreaming under the black velvet starry sky, with the ocean surging below, looking out across the sea at the twinkling lights of pangas night-fishing, and then much further beyond, the lights of San Blas in the distance. It’s in the pool that all the weighty issues of the day are rehashed; as in; where shall we hang the new tapestry?

Another day in paradise!

One of the most popular activities planned for guests at Villa Estrella is a trip to the El Cora Waterfall.

The falls are about a 30 minute drive from Villa Estrella, driving north along the coast road toward San Blas and then taking the inland fork toward Tepic for another 15 minutes until the village of El Cora.

The lush forest was like something out of a movie. Our guide explained that we were going to walk down a gully to the waterfall and informed us about the area and the habitat we were to visit. We parked and then debarked for our short hike down to the waterfall.

The first thing to hit us was the view; such a magnificent landscape awaited us. It was a warm day, but there was a nice breeze that kept us energized and ready to take in the trek. The walk down was a nice stroll, not too steep, but also worthy of the term, ‘hike’. As we strolled, we took in the amazing vegetation and sounds of the birds in the trees (all the while thinking, I hope this was worth the drive). I was very soon eating my words (or thoughts) as we came to the impressive El Cora Waterfall.

The falls were not massive, but extremely picturesque and set a wonderful canvas of contrasting greens of the trees against the grey-blue of the water. I’m happy we remembered our swim gear (as I’m prone to forget important items on big trips). The water was so refreshing after the road trip up and the subsequent walk. We knew many people had been here before but the setting was so intimate and romantic that everyone has a chance to make it their own. I could definitely see someone proposing here (although they’d have to make sure to hold onto the ring as the waterfall basin is fairly deep).

After an hour or so swimming in the falls, we dried off on the side of the pool for a while and then made the trek back to the car. The way up is usually harder than the way down, but we couldn’t stop talking about how spectacular the experience at the falls had been and before we knew it, we were back at the car. The same was true for the car ride as the majority of the drive was spent on discussing how the waterfalls were above and beyond what we had expected.

After arriving back at Villa Estrella, it was time for more of Rosa’s wonderful cooking and then a Del Sol and a dip in the infinity pool. A wonderful end to a phenomenal day!

Written By Carl A., Villa Estrella Guest, January 2010

We love the beautiful historic area of Tlaquepaque, which is almost an independent town within Guadalajara. It is rich with colonial buildings, historic atmosphere and absolutely full of wonderful life. If you hang around the main square area on any evening it’s always abuzz with wonderful people, vendors, music, food and fun.

This is a beautiful picture of the pool and atmosphere at Quinta Don Jose Boutique Hotel. For more information visit www.quintadonjose.com

We stayed at a different hotel this time called the Quinta Don Jose Boutique Hotel. We loved it. This hotel is right in the center of Tlaquepaque, one block from the main square where the 2 gorgeous cathedrals are, and one block from the Mariachi square (for more inspiration, read the post about The Mariachis in Tlaquepaque). We got the last unit which was actually a little one bedroom suite, right across the road, nicely appointed and comfortable for only $85. It was like having your own apartment right in the town and an added bonus is that they have free telephone to USA and Canada.

Quinta Don Jose have a great 2-for-one happy hour with fabulous margaritas, which hit the spot after the 4 hour drive from Villa Estrella. We met up with our friend Ollie and his gang, who happened to be staying there as well and had a great time. Our villa renters who only know Puerto Vallarta are amazed to find how close Guadaljara really is, and what a genuine Mexican experience this city is. Puerto Vallarta is an overpriced tourist town, whereas Guadaljara and Tlaquepaque are a genuine experience in Mexican urban life and history.

The trip from our Puerto Vallarta Villa Rental to Guadalajara is also a wonderful adventure. Its an easy drive on great roads. The scenery and landscape are as beautiful as anywhere in the world. The small towns along the way include the town ofTequila, the center of the tequila distilling industry, that is set in a gorgeous tapestry of teal blue agave plantations.

Punta el Custodio is on the Riviera Nayarit, near the tiny beach village of Platanitos. Punta means Point, Punta el Custodio is like a small village built on a small peninsula projecting into the sea. We are surrounded on three sides by Pacific ocean, including a fabulous surfing beach. The community is operated by the 19 villa owners and at this time we have 15 lovely villas, each one uniquely different. The property has retained all the original Mexican jungle vegetation and new villas are not permitted to cut trees. This has created the opportunity for living flora to be creatively incorporated into the architecture of some of these stunning homes.

Punta El Custodio is filled with beautifully designed and maintained gardens filled with plant species native to the Nayarit region.

The road through Punta El Custodio is a sweet, narrow cobbled winding affair which twists and turns to miss the trees and huge boulders (see picture). At the very tip of the peninsula is our beautiful common swimming pool, and one of the most amazingly large Mexican chalata trees you will ever see.

In the gardens that fill every inch of space surrounding the villas, we are continually adding diversity to the plant species – seeking plants that are native and unique to this region of Mexico and protecting and re-planting endangered species. We are starting a composting and mulching program to return all fallen organic matter to the soil. We have also been steadily constructing a network of narrow cobbled footpaths throughout the property.

One of our prime objectives is to protect and enhance the natural beauty of the peninsula wherever possible. Many areas in Punta El Custodio have been left in their original condition, especially the very wild tip of the peninsula where the ocean swells break wildly on the “prow” of our point. The natural native Nayarit vegetation at that location consists mainly of cactus and wild fig. At this point the jungle and landscaping has re-grown so quickly and richly, that most of the villas have become almost invisible as the gardens have overgrown and concealed them. Walking the cobbled road and paths of Punta el Custodio is a beautiful experience.

I am heavily involved with the ongoing master planning and evolution of the common areas and landscaping of the property. Today I walked the property with our manager Ismael and we planned out the construction of some new cobbled footpaths through some of the jungle areas. Then, with Valentin the Arquitecto, I supervised the placement of some enormous boulders in one of our common areas because there happened to be a big backhoe here today doing some other work and dozens of these big boulders were just lying around awkwardly. So we arm waved a placement of the rocks that will enhance the next phase of the project, which is to turn the area into a secret garden park.

If you are considering a vacation rental in Mexico on the ocean and beach, you really should consider renting Villa Estrella in Punta El Custodio. Renting our villa is amazingly economical when you consider the large number of bedrooms, and that that the cost could be shared by a group of renters (please CLICK HERE for our weekly rental rates). Also, with the full time maid and meal plan you can save a fortune on expensive restaurants.

If you want to rent a villa in Mexico, we strongly recommend the Riviera Nayarit region, north of Puerto Vallarta. It’s easy to get to from the west coast of North America, has great flight frequencies in and out of Puerto Vallarta International Airport and good air fares are available from all over western US, Canada and Alaska. Fly directly to Puerto Vallarta and have Ismael send the van to pick you up and whisk you to Villa Estrella. It’s that simple.