Las Alamandas
Mexico


The Experience

With just 14 suites set over 1,500 acres, this mini-resort on the water between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo is about as luxuriously remote as you can get on the Mexican coast. In fact, you can even fly straight here -- the property has its own landing strip. Its owner is the daughter of magnate and environmentalist Sir James Goldsmith, and the vibe is eco-chic, down to the organic vegetables grown on-site. And despite the eye-popping luxury, this is a place that feels quietly wealthy without being ostentatious. Villa-side candlelit meals served by a private butler are just one symbol of the kind of privacy that reigns here -- which is why Robert De Niro and Brad Pitt are among the guests who have gone below the radar.

The Rooms

Spring for the freestanding beachside villas with their local touches -- bright Mexican fabrics on the bed, folk art, tiled floors and pretty mosaic bathrooms -- as well as spacious living rooms and outdoor areas, where you can laze on the veranda's pastel sofas looking on to the beach. The property's more interior villas clearly offer the inferior view -- on to gardens and a little plaza -- and feel less spectacular compared with the ocean-side ones, but are still a good size. Bedrooms can be rented separately in villas, but priority goes to guests who rent the whole building.

The Service

Personal service is exemplary here: If you're hankering for a private beach picnic, it magically appears. And the never-obtrusive staff always seems to know where you are; if another set of guests seem ready to swoop into the same private area, they're steered elsewhere.

The Highlights

Most of the site has been earmarked for conservation rather than development, so take advantage of Goldsmith's fiefdom by mountain biking through the grounds or horseback riding along the miles of empty beaches. Birders or and other nature lovers will enjoy the private avian sanctuary. There's a tennis court and small gym on-site and golf nearby, but first you'll have to tear yourself away from the Pacific waves or the pretty pool that's punctuated by a huge pergola shading a pastel mattress big enough for two. The resort's restaurant is really the only one around, but with fresh fish from local fishermen, free-range eggs and organically grown herbs, meals are so good you won't mind.

-- Ondine Cohane

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