Anyone who has been to Cancun and Playa del Carmen in the past couple years has witnessed first-hand the effects of overbuilding, reef degradation, and multiple hurricane hits. Some of this is just natural beach erosion, some of it has been hastened by dumb building and environmental practices.

After lots of promises, the local governments have put beach restoration in high gear though. They already dumped multiple tons of sand on Cancun’s beaches and you can see the effects here in this quickie video from the Cancun Tourism board.

The trucks will soon go to work in Playa del Carmen as well, with beach widening going on for a 2.7-mile stretch. I’m assuming that includes the Playacar resort area as the beaches north of Playa del Carmen are not in such bad shape. Some small craft docks are going up in the center as well, giving boats a place to tie up so they don’t have to be dragged on and off the beach every time. There’s nothing much that can be done now about the wall of concrete too close to the shore, but I guess they can do this all over again in a few years if another hurricane comes.

UPDATE – Here’s a nice before and after shot in front of the Ritz-Carlton Cancun

See detailed reviews of the best luxury hotels in Cancun and Playa del Carmen

If someone has to drop the asking price of their house from $85 million to $72 million, should we feel sorry for them? That’s what has happened to poor Mohamed Hadid, who is best known for building Ritz-Carlton hotels in the 1980s. If you’re in the market for a 48,000-square-foot mansion, here’s the listing.

While much of the press attention regarding the U.S. property bubble has been about subprime loads and foreclosures in the rust belt, the most breathtaking declines have been in California and Florida—the two states that got the most inflated to start with. Many buyers who got in on their ideal gated community around a golf course are finding that it’s not so lovely when the developer goes bankrupt and the weeds start growing in the bunkers.

So what does this have to do with Latin America? Well for one thing, I’d argue as always that you have to know when things are getting frothy and when there’s still plenty of appreciation left. Parts of Costa Rica and the Los Cabos area of Mexico were looking like nosebleed territory three years ago. Now that the flipping up north has stopped, there are fewer buyers willing to pay California prices for a strip of sand or a penthouse. In most of the rest of Latin America, however, there’s not much downside.

But (and there’s always a but), some developers will always get into trouble by overextending. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Marriott is halting all development of its luxury building projects for owners. “The pullback affects all three formats that Marriott sells under its Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands…Marriott is permanently exiting development of luxury-residential projects…” The article says that the company basically made no money whatsoever on its own projects after subtracting write-downs.

Sometimes bigger isn’t better.

Condé Nast Traveler’s current issue has a rundown of its annual World Saver Awards, recognizing those companies who “are dedicated to saving their communities and our world.”

As you would expect in the original home of eco-tourism, Latin America has a strong presence in every category. Several organizations show up in multiple categories and some international chains that were recognized are active in the region.

Scrappy Nature Air of Costa Rica beat out nearly all the world’s airlines, recognized in the Education category for donating part of its profits each year so 200 local students can study English and the environment. They were also called out in the Wildlife category for helping to reforest Corcovado National Park. And they beat out all but two of the other airlines around the world for the “Doing it All” category for air carriers. Probably factoring into that is something I mentioned in this previous post on Nature Air: they were the first airline to go totally carbon-neutral. See more about them at NatureAir.com.

The Haciendas hotel group in Mexico, operators of lovingly restored retreats such as Hacienda Temozon, was the overall winner in the Poverty category. They were lauded for hiring local people who were having trouble making a living from the infertile land in areas where they restored the old buildings and “helped others start businesses, including folk art and massage cooperatives.” They were also recognized in the Education category and were the top Good Guys Overall for the “small chains.” See our reviews of several Haciendas properties in our Merida and Campeche luxury hotels section and at the end of each review is a link to the company’s website.

Upscale Costa Rican eco-lodge Lapa Rios on the Osa Peninsula was recognized for its poverty-fighting efforts. This included one project we wish more plastic-water-bottle-pushing hotels would initiate: the building and staffing of a local recycling facility. They were also recognized in the Education category and were #2 overall in the “small resorts” grouping, along with the less upscale Costa Rican nature haven Pacuare Lodge. Grano de Oro in Costa Rica’s capital placed in two categories: for providing vocational training and placement for abused mothers and providing job training for disadvantaged city children.

Ecoventura cruise line, operating in the Galapagos, has been leading the way in trying to reduce tourism’s impact on the fragile ecosystem there and the awards called them out in almost every category. They were the first company to earn and maintain the ecological SmartVoyager certification, the first Galapagos cruise ship company to offset carbon emissions, and the first to install alternative energy sources. Their solar and wind-powered hybrid yacht got called out in the Preservation category. They were recognized for their scholarship program in marine conservation for Ecuadorian students and a micro-enterprise project for fishermen’s wives. In the Health area they built and equipped a sign language school and they pay the salaries of physical therapists on the inhabited islands. Naturally, they placed at the top in the “cruise lines” grouping. See more at Ecoventura.com.

One of the other winners was Aqua Expeditions, the most upscale Peruvian Amazon River excursion company, which we are planning to cover with a tour feature in the first half of 2010. Also getting a nod were the Ritz-Carlton chain (operating in Santiago, Cancun, and soon Mexico City), Costa Cruises (operating in part of South America), Fairmont Hotels (with multiple locations in Mexico)

See the full results in each category here.

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)

Nuevo Vallarta
Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort

Playa del Carmen
Fairmont Mayakoba
Occidental Royal Hideaway Resort & Spa

Puerto Morelos
Paraíso de la Bonita Resort

Punta Mita
Four Seasons Resort

San José del Cabo
Las Ventanas al Paraíso