Many times a new hotel or resort, especially an independent one, takes some time to get it’s bearings. If you stay there in the first year or two of operation, you may have to overlook a few problems you can chalk up to newness.

That is not the case with the Puerto Vallarta region’s Garza Blanca Preserve Resort, just south of the city near the Los Arcos rock formations. Led by a skilled manager who used to be at Las Alamandas in Costalegre, this is a finely tuned operation with great staffers and two terrific restaurants. These support large and well-equipped rooms, many of them suites or sprawling multi-bedroom penthouse-type condos with wraparound terraces. Every room has a balcony of some kind with a direct ocean view.

I’ve already raved enough about it in our review to repeat it all here, so go check out the photos and see our full review of Garza Blanca Resort.

Mexico’s Fonotur government agency is legendary in the tourism industry. When it decides to turn an isolated stretch of beach into a row of tourism factories, look out! Their record includes Cancun, the Riviera Maya, Ixtapa, and Nuevo Vallarta—for a start. On deck right now is Playa Mujeres, the area north of Cancun and confusingly named considering there’s an island—Isla Mujeres—a triathalon swim away.

Which brings us to La Amada, the first luxury hotel to open in this area that will probably soon be filled with cookie-cutter condos and all-inclusive beach hotels. Get there now while the getting is good and you’ll have the beach all to yourself. La Amada didn’t take their pioneer position as an excuse to slack off, however.

La Amada isn’t groundbreaking in its style, but it feels modern without being forced. It smartly incorporates most of the hallmarks of luxury resorts established in the last decade or so. This covers smaller details, such as multiple shower heads and quality street-brand amenities (L’Occitane de Provence, in this case), as well as structural ones: there are separate blocks of two-story family suites with plunge pools, and of course there’s a grand spa. (And fortunately, it skips some of the sillier fads, such as aggressive aromatherapy in public spaces.)

For now though, or correspondent says, it’s the stretch of sand that almost feels decadent after the erosion problems and crowds that a visit to Cancun entails. The isolation could get old after a while, especially considering the lack of other dining options nearby, but for a real getaway near a major international airport, this is hard to beat—especially considering the reasonable rates.

See our full review of La Amada in Playa Mujeres.

After giving it a rest for a little while, we’ve got two new resort reviews going up for Nicaragua. The first is so close to Granada “you can hear the cathedral bells,” says our correspondent Paige Penland.

El Jicaro Island Resort is no city hotel though, that’s for sure. It’s a very ec0-friendly but upscale lodge built on an island in Lake Nicaragua, reached by boat from Granada. Here’s what’s in store after you get there.

There are only nine marvelous, two-story villas on the rugged little isleta, imaginatively designed to blend seamlessly into this mountainscape in miniature. Flagstone trails wend through the rocky forest floor between them, where a fragile ecosystem was carefully conserved during construction and delicately landscaped afterward, using permaculture principles. These exuberant gardens, into which the resort was so perfectly inlaid, interweave native flowers and trees into an optimum environment for all.

In some ways this resort surpasses the best hotels in the nearby city and you can’t beat the location if you’re looking for calming views and solitude. Come here to truly unwind and spend quality time with your romantic partner before diving back into what the city has to offer.

See our full review of El Jicaro Island Ec0-Resort.

See more of the best hotels in Nicaragua.

If any country has proved that luxury guests are willing to pay for hotels that are taking care of their environment, it’s Costa Rica. Monte Azul Boutique Hotel, situated on 125 acres in the foothills of the country’s highest mountain, this is luxe lodging that’s really green. Most furniture found in the rooms is designed and produced on site using salvaged, recycled and certified woods. The organic produce and organic coffee served here are grown on site. With composting, furniture made from salvaged wood, and a reforestation nursery, you can feel confident that you’re staying at a place that works in harmony with its surroundings. If you stay here, you’ll even have a tree planted in your name.

Monte Azul is a big step above most nature lodges though in terms of aesthetics.

Stretching the creative element to new heights and placing the Monte Azul Boutique Hotel in a category of its own is the fact that all spaces are regularly curated with fine art by both national and international artists. Many pieces are produced in Monte Azul’s on-site artist-in-residence program and some travel to the Monte Azul Contemporary Art (MACA) gallery in New York City. Inspired by the natural surroundings and the local community, the artwork adds a new dimension to your experience. In your room, there are halogen lights to illuminate the art and a pricelist with artist biographies.

Because the public and private spaces function as galleries, they are continually changing; you can request that your room be curated with a particular artist, or you may discover new fine art pieces on a return visit.

There are only six casitas and villas in this huge expanse of property intersected by wildlife trails and streams. The top choice is Casa Palo Alto, a 3,300-square-foot home with three bedrooms, a huge upper terrace lining the open and expansive indoor living area, another lower terrace, and a pool area. See our extensive detailed review of Monte Azul Hotel in Costa Rica.

See more reviews of the best hotels in Costa Rica

We just posted a review of the new Aubrey Hotel in Santiago, Chile, in the prime neighborhood of Bellavista. This hotel has gotten a lot of press in magazines, but since it just opened in late March, most of those reviews gushing with praise were put on paper before anyone had actually stepped inside.

Our correspondent, Chile resident Jimmy Langman, stepped way inside the first week of opening and spent the night. Here’s what he has to say about this 15-room upscale boutique hotel near lots of dining and drinking options:

For decades, this historic 1927 mansion was the digs for the Domingo Duran Morales family, a Chilean politician and businessman. Largely vacant since 2001, Will Martin of Great Britain and Mark Cigana of Australia saw the vast potential of the home as a hotel and bought it up in 2007. After 3 million dollars of renovations done over about two years time, they have created a classy boutique hotel unique to Santiago.

Each of the rooms is different, some modern, some more traditional. The best suite has “a colossal-sized room with a large bed, wide LCD television on the wall, a big bathtub for those who enjoy a relaxing soak, and terrace looking out at the pool.” If you you want a small and intimate hotel with personality in a prime area for strolling, check into the Aubrey. See our full Hotel Aubrey review here.

See more of the best hotels in Santiago, Chile.