Hola Mexziners,
I’m on assignment in Zihuatanejo, reviewing the Hotelito at MUSA, a 13-key boutique stay on an unspoiled stretch of tropical beach. While feed-grabbing Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas might dominate your algorithm thanks to their popularity among North American travelers, it would be remiss not to consider a trip to this less-crowded, long-lettered tropical paradise fringing the Pacific. If flight connectivity from the States and Canada is your biggest worry, have no fear: a clutch of major cities - from Los Angeles to Calgary - offer nonstops.
Farther north, Cristina takes over with two glass houses outside San Miguel de Allende that architects keep visiting, then ends the edit at a tea ceremony in a Cabo hotel.
Enjoy.
- Brandon Berkson, Founder of Mexzine, Hotel Espresso, and Hotels Above Par
Zihuatanejo’s Most Thoughtful Hotel Is Building Community
The 40-minute drive from the airport to MUSA is verdant: slender palms dance in the wind and wild shrubbery brushes against the truck’s right side. The bucolic landscape occasionally opens to the ocean when you look west, while fertile mountains dominate the east. An offshoot dirt road leads to the hotel. Covering Mexico’s boutique hotel scene extensively teaches you that some of the best ones sit at the end of unseemly entrances.
Upon arrival, I climbed the floating stairs to the lobby, where high ceilings and contemporary art adorn the walls. The whole building is washed in grey.
I’m staying in the upper-level penthouse, which comes with a private plunge pool plus a view of jungle and sea. I’ve spent swaths of time hunkered down with my laptop at the indoor-outdoor restaurant, Alba. I don’t know what tantalized me more: the beach right in front of me or the octopus tacos I ordered every day for lunch. The whole place sports low-slung tropical modernism - cantilevered roofs, rubble stone, and a lap pool that doubles as the courtyard.
MUSA recently joined Namron Hospitality, and I toured the grounds with one of its owners, Tara. Her passion for the 250-plus acres is palpable, but what struck me more was her ambition for them: a regenerative farm stay, community incubators, a salt-infused spa fed by the onsite saltwater lagoon, and private residences blueprinted by Andrés Saavedra Design, the firm whose hand is visible across the entire property. None of it is vanity. She and her business partner are building with the surrounding locale and its people in mind - and it shows in every decision they’ve made so far.
Other highlights from the stay included a beekeeping session, a massage that ranks among the best I've received in a long time, and an off-site sea turtle release. In case I wasn't clear enough, this place is magic - so if you're keen to explore destinations beyond the obvious ones when you travel to Mexico, consider MUSA, just outside of Zihuatanejo. -BB
The Mexzine Classifieds are open. It's a noticeboard (not a brokerage) for places to stay in Mexico - sublets, casitas, vacation rentals, houses for sale - posted by Mexzine readers, approved by us before anything runs. A bunch of you posted yesterday, which tells us we should keep going. Posting is free while we test it: if you have a place, post it here, and if you want one, tell us here. The first listings run Sunday the 20th.
Questions, or a section you’d like to see us open next - hotel investment and development opportunities, for example - email me directly: brandon@mexzine.com.
Casa Files: Casa Etérea, San Miguel de Allende
Captivated by San Miguel’s creative energy, Singapore-born Prashant Ashoka found a remote, extinct volcano to bring his vision to life: Casa Etérea, a mirrored home that reflects and magnifies the beauty around it – the vegetation, the sunset, the starry sky. Inside, locally crafted furniture and details like Chinese woven baskets, antiques from Mexico City’s La Lagunilla market, and an iconic copper tub made in Santa Clara del Cobre bring each corner to life, yet it’s the nearly permanent immersion in nature that will stay with you forever. You can book Casa Etérea through its website. There is now a second house on the property – stay tuned for our next Casa Files. – CA
Mezxine Moments: Baja Tea Ceremony at Grand Velas Boutique Los Cabos
Tea ceremonies are not especially common among Mexican resort offerings – we’re much more likely to encounter agave or coffee tastings. But tea has found a home at Grand Velas Boutique Los Cabos, with a relaxing session held at Terraza Estrella. The Baja Tea Ceremony kicks off with a calming welcome ritual, held to the rhythm of a quantum drum, that envelops you with the scent of copal, white sage, and rosemary. The tasting features three herbal infusions, representing earth, wind, and sea, prepared with healing ingredients like chamomile, desert lavender, and damiana, a native shrub known for its stress-relieving – and supposed aphrodisiac – properties. Wrap up with your own personalized tea blend to take home. –CA
Where should we go next? If you have a place, a person, or a story we should know about, write to cristina@mexzine.com or brandon@mexzine.com. We read everything.
Mexzine is a Hotels Above Par media brand that’s edited in Mexico City. Support independent media and on-the-ground journalism via a paid subscription.
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