Mexico Meets Med at El Careyes Beach Resort

“Why would you want to go to Manzanillo?” That was El Careyes Beach Resort General Manager Miguel Rivero’s response when I asked about the easiest way to get to town from his hotel.

Another travel writer and I exchanged glances, thinking that was an odd answer from a hotel manager eager to tout his destination. But after a few days at the quiet 51-room resort and the nearly two-hour trip to Manzanillo, we had to concede we understood exactly why the question had elicited such a reaction.

Manzanillo, a typical bustling Mexican port city, complete with megaresorts and a tourist shopping area full of pharmacies and endless merchants hawking the same cheap souvenirs you can buy anywhere in Mexico, really has nothing to do with this destination.

In fact, El Careyes is the antithesis of everything Manzanillo and its resorts represent. The intimate resort is an oasis of sorts along the craggy Pacific coast, about an hour north of Manzanillo Airport and two hours south of Puerto Vallarta.

Built on a secluded cove, the resort is tucked between multimillion-dollar homes owned by the likes of Heidi Klum and Fortune 500 CEOs in an area named Costa Careyes after the type of sea turtles that nest there.

Still considered one of Mexico’s best-kept secrets, the destination was founded in 1968 by Gian Franco Brignone, a banker from Turin, Italy. The hotel, and the homes around it, are built of colorful stucco and in a style reminiscent of an old Mediterranean village. Movie director John Huston may have summed it up best, in a book about the area, describing it as “the best possible marriage between Italy and Mexico.”

The resort is 30 years old but impeccably maintained. And while the suites don’t have the ultramodern touches such as the Sub-Zero appliances you might find in a new luxury resort, the rooms have what you need and make up for any missing modern amenities with tasteful, colorful fabrics, traditional furnishings and a relaxing atmosphere.

The resort has a modern fitness center, spa, tennis courts, horse stables, mountain bikes, kayaks and deep-sea fishing. And just outside the hotel drive are paths where you can ride horses or mountain bikes to a lagoon and fishing cove.

There is also the nearby Polo Club, where the area elite play and eat, and the Tamarindo Golf Course. The course was designed by David Fleming, with holes overlooking spectacular cliffs and untouched beaches.