Coqui Coqui, Tulum, Mexico

Coqui Coqui is a small, 5-room boutique hotel on the beach in Tulum, Mexico.  It started with one room, a small shop and a perfumerie, and then slowly grew, adding one room at a time, making the space feel organic and as ancient as the ruins.  For our honeymoon, this could not have been a better choice.  As far as I'm concerned, 5 rooms is the perfectly sized hotel.  With so few rooms it's possible to talk to the people who work there.  Our experience would never have been as great without Bruno, a chatty Argentinean musician whose enthusiastic addition of dulce de leche to our daily breakfast spread of fruit and bread felt like five star honeymoon treatment.  

I believe these photos do a thorough job of illustrating why the Coqui Coqui experience was such a dream, but it is worth mentioning that the whole place smells unbelievable. The mix of ocean air, sand and perfumes made of coconut and eucalyptus evoke a deep, almost visceral, feeling of relaxation.   When I arrived home I was legitimately sad to throw my clothes in the washing machine and part with the last remnants of Coqui Coqui. 

p.s. For once, this post features only photos I took.  Would really love to do more of this.

    

Wedding + Honeymoon

 

Next weekend I'm off to get married!  The big event at El Capitan Canyon Resort in Santa Barbara is sure to be great fun and then we're off to Mexico - Coqui Coqui in Tulum and The Tides in Playa Del Carmen. And for those of you (shamefully or not) watching the soul-sucking program The Biggest Loser, you know that this is the season of No Excuses.  So I'm taking that to heart and come April, I'm back in action.  See you on the other side!

Photos: El Capitan Canyon Resort, Coqui Coqui from Elle.com, and The Tides

La Quinta Troppo, Zihuatenejo, Mexico

Remember my irrational sense of ownership over the entire country of Peru?  Well, don't even get me started about Mexico.  I basically run the place.  The big difference is that I've actually been to Mexico.  Like, many times.

I've been known to say that I come from a long line of Jews who like to appropriate other people's cultures.  Kind friends have often referred to me as an honorary Arab or honorary Indian to make me feel like part of their club.  But it doesn't start with me.  My great grandfather, a Russian immigrant to Los Angeles, ran a dairy farm in Covina.  It was no surprise that my grandmother, who grew up with Spanish-speaking farm-hands, sought out a Master's Degree in Spanish from the University of Chicago.  (A young woman getting a graduate degree in 1940?  Yup, total bad ass.)

And my father, who only consumed novels in Spanish, read La Opinión regularly, and had us going out for Mexican food at least 3 times a week, famously drove 3 hours across Nebraska to eat at Taco Bell, the only "Mexican food" in the state when he was getting his dental degree there in the 1960's.  And it goes on.  My sister jokes that we went from mother's milk to refried beans and my chef brother is contemplating opening a Mexican restaurant in San Francisco.  We're not Mexican, I know, but sometimes it really feels like we are.

This hotel, La Quinta Troppo, in the state of Guerrero, reminds me of vacations we took as a family to Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta.  I love Mexico's Pacific Coast and it has been on my list for a long time to visit Zihuatenejo.  Thank you Welcome Beyond for the lovely photos.

Todos Santos House

This unbelievable house appeared on one of my favorite blogs, At Home At Home. This is not a hotel but it should be. I have looked at this house 100 times and can't believe how gorgeous it is.

Photographer Laure Joliet's father is building this home in Todos Santos, Mexico.

Can you imagine a similar type structure built to be a small inn somewhere in the hills of Silverlake or Echo Park?

Many more of her house photos are here.