Last week we posted a travel feature story on Pumalin Park, located in the Patagonia region of Chile. Sometimes luxury means truly getting away from it all and finding real wilderness apart from crowds and bustle. This “Yosemite of South America” delivers, covering 740,000 acres that are seldom occupied by more than a fraction of the visitors the big North American national parks see.

A typical tour of Pumalin goes four or five days, and many begin it by getting there on a boat ride that starts out from the southern city of Puerto Montt. This recommended boat trip navigates through the park’s often windy but stunning fjords, with stops at a natural hot springs and an organic farm once inside the park boundaries. The boat trip eventually arrives at the park lodge in Caleta Gonzalo, which boasts seven tasteful, rustic–looking cabins capable of holding as many as 5 people.

This is not a place like the Galapagos where anyone who can fog up a mirror is able to obtain a tourism license to sponsor trips. The park was enabled by Douglas Tompkins, the founder of North Face, who bought up the land to keep it pristine. Tourism concessions are limited on purpose and you won’t find megaresorts flying people in by private jet. This is the other side of luxury travel: keep things unspoiled so that your grandchildren can also find a place for quiet contemplation later…

Eco-touring Pumalin Park in Chilean Patagonia

Last week we posted fresh reviews of the five best hotels in Acapulco. I reviewed three of them myself and Diana Rowe stayed at the two Fairmont properties. There’s one strange element to these reviews: none of the hotels are on the main strip of beaches in Acapulco itself. Sure, there’s a Crowne Plaza, a Hyatt, and Fiesta Americana, but after visiting all three I can safely say that they’re routine chain hotels appealing to the mass market.

The best hotels are outside of the traffic-choked center, which means they’re a good distance away from the famed Acapulco night life and the cliff divers.

Starting from the center and heading toward the airport, the best hotel of all comes first: Las Brisas (pictured here). This is a really special hotel that has a hint of Hollywood grandeur to it. The casitas with private pool and deck make you feel like you’ve got your own little villa with an incredible view. The rooms here are the best in town and despite the constant shuttling up and down the hill in a Jeep and the lack of a proper beach, this is our highest recommendation. Quinta Real Acapulco is the other small, high-end hotel appealing to those looking for personal service and it also has a prime hillside spot with great views. The restaurant and bar here are especially attractive and there is a beach.

The other three hotels we feature, including the Fairmont Pierre Marques, all have something special about them though, so if you’re heading down that way anytime soon, read through them all and figure out which is the best match for your needs.

Have you ever paid $250 for a bottle of liquor, thinking that premium price equates to extra quality? Hate to break it to you, but you’ve probably been duped by crafty marketing.

As this newspaper article (which appeared in longer form in the Wall Street Journal) notes, after a certain point you’re just paying for prettier packaging and a desire to impress someone.

“There’s an illusion pushed that when you spend more, you get more quality…But there is usually a plateau to quality in high-end goods. The difference between Hennessy’s XO Cognac ($95) and Paradis ($350) has far more to do with other intangibles like greed, ego, and vanity.”

The worst offenders overall are vodka producers, who try to pretend that their tasteless, colorless alcohol is better than the other guy’s and is worth $50 a bottle and more. This great article, Make Mine a 02001, offers a hilarious insight on where much of this “premium vodka” comes from: the same factories cranking out industrial solvents, mouthwash, hairspray, and astringents. Here’s my favorite part:

I went to a vodka tasting hosted by the head of a prominent luxury liquor house. It was an exercise meant to dispel the notion that the differences among vodkas are illusory. But after being walked through the vodkas on the table with elaborate descriptions of the characteristics of each, I found myself hard-pressed to discern much difference. So I asked the executive to demonstrate the differences by tasting the vodkas blind. He couldn’t even identify his own flagship brand.

If you’re going to get the most for your money, aim for the middle: the $35 to $50 bottle of rum, anejo tequila, or bourbon that has aged the ideal number of years (3 to 7 depending on which spirit), or the $40 to $75 Scotch that has aged for 12 years (colder climates require more time). Too much oak can be a bad thing though, so don’t assume more aging is automatically better. Although Reserva de la Familia is a great tequila and a Pappy Van Winkle bourbon is pretty special, most spirits that have spent too long in a barrel taste like as much like the barrel as the original liquor. Experiment and learn what you really like, then buy more. Pass by the $250 showpieces with boxes and gold leaf and buy five bottles of great stuff you and your guests will really enjoy instead.

We just got the reviews posted for the best hotels in Zihuatanejo: Casa que Canta and Tides Zihuatanejo.

Casa que Canta continually shows up as one of the best hotels in Mexico, at times topping readers’ polls as the best hotel in Mexico and Central America. I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, but it definitely is in the top 10. The big draw here is the setting, with the buildings looking like some fantasy sand castle rising out of the hillside. The structures dominate the view from both Madiera and La Ropa beaches, but are not ostentatious.

The location provides amazing views from the balcony or terrace of pretty much any room and it’s hard to top the feeling of dining with a panoramic view and the sound of waves hitting the rocks below. Now if only you didn’t have to hike to the beach…

Tides Zihuatanejo gives up the views from on high and instead gets direct access to a beautiful beach. The former Villa del Sol was already a great hotel before it became part of the Kor Hotel Group’s Tides brand, but now it is getting a makeover that is bringing it up to the decadent standards of the best hotels in Mexico. Expect to be pampered at every turn here, from the spacious rooms with every expected amenity to the terrycloth neck pillows and waitress service at the beach.

For a romantic vacation, a honeymoon, or just a reward for lots of hard work, you can’t go wrong at either of these fine Zihuatanejo hotels. Split a week between the two and you’ll get the best of both worlds.

As we’ve tried to make clear in Luxury Latin America, we don’t put much faith in “five star” ratings doled out by tourism bureaus or local rating agencies. They are usually far too generous. While we don’t agree with all of AAA’s choices for its 5-diamond awards either, you certainly can’t fault them for handing out too many. Only 10 hotels in Mexico made the cut.

AAA tends to rate hotels on a very rigid and objective set of requirements, paying lots of attention to the variety of floor coverings, whether there is wainscoating in the hallways, and how many pieces of custom furniture are in the lobby. So the big corporate hotels have an edge over those who worry more about personalized service than whether “signage is of outstanding quality and unique design.” Thus the inclusion of the J.W. Marriott and Fiesta Americana hotels in Cancun, two hotels that are usually filled to the brim with conventioners. Here’s the rundown:

Cancun
Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach
JW Marriott
The Ritz-Carlton

Mexico City
Four Seasons; (our review coming later)