Over at the more static Luxury Latin America site, a press release went out last week that we are officially live and alive on the Web. This doesn’t mean we’re done of course, but like a hotel that’s still building the second wing when it opens the first, we can do a good job of serving customers in the meantime.

A few e-mails have come in complaining about how Brazil hotels aren’t listed yet (from Brazil hotel owners or website publishers of course), but these will be up in round 2 or 3, after Panama, Colombia, and Honduras. We can only be in so many places at once.

We also have close to 20 Mexico hotel reviews that will be posted in the next few weeks, from the Puerto Vallarta region, Los Cabos, and Merida. Hang tight if you’re headed in one of those directions. Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by!

We have a generally positive review of Le Blanc Spa Resort in our growing Mexico section of Luxury Latin America, but there’s no way to anticipate whether a place is going to blow it sometime along the way though and it looks like Le Blanc is blowing it bigtime on some weeks. Here’s the full story on HotelChatter: Le Blanc Cancun Under Fire Over Kosher Weekend.

Apparently more than a few guests have gotten ticked off by the hotel’s decision to turn the place kosher for a week each year to accommodate a specific big-spending group. This has meant getting rid of all the alcohol and making the normally sleek adults-only resort kid-friendly as well. Tolerable maybe if you know all this in advance and don’t mind kids and no cocktails, but infuriating if you don’t, especially since some who had reservations had to leave and stay elsewhere.

This isn’t the only place something like this has happened, but it’s not a good sign. Any hotel willing to take a short-term payoff that will alienate independent travelers doesn’t get the whole concept of long-term superior service. When word spreads this quickly among current and future guests, it can bring down a place’s reputation in no time.

Word to the wise though: always ask if any large groups or special events are going on at any hotel you don’t know well before you book the rooms—preferably by e-mail so you have it in writing.