| Hotelito is spectacularly located on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, on a wetland estuary, between the ocean and the Sierra Madre Mountains. Turning the traditional notion of luxury on its head, Hotelito has made simplicity its most charming feature; rooms are cooled by solar powered ceiling fans and there is no electricity; instead the hotel is illuminated at night by thousands of candles.
Constructed in the style of an old Mexican fishing village, accommodation is in thatched palafito huts, built on stilts with palapa roofs and wooden floors. The rooms and suites are separated by a narrow estuary teeming with birdlife, and there is a boatman on hand to row you safely from one side to the other. Beyond the estuary is a magnificent, 40-mile stretch of sandy beach; you don’t get much closer to the elements than this, and certainly not in such style.
Location
Hotelito is located 90 kilometres south of Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. A gravel road leads off the main highway and through the small village of Cruz de Loreto to the El Ermitaño Estuary, where the hotel is situated. The journey takes between two and three hours.
Things to do
Hotelito encompasses one of the most important bird and sea turtle reserves in Mexico and the hotel offers rowboat tours into wooded areas of the wetland which is inhabited by an impressive array of land and sea birds. From July to January sea turtle eggs, which have been carefully incubated by resident biologists, hatch on the beach. Guests can watch the progress of the turtles as they emerge from their eggs and scramble towards the ocean.
Horse riding across the 40-mile stretch of beach, various water sports and hiking are also on offer. Swimming is not recommended due to the ocean waters' strong undertow. The principal activity at Hotelito, however, is relaxation and appreciation of the incredible natural surroundings.
Our comment
"There can be few places in the world where switching off comes so naturally." | | 
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