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Savoring Sunsets & Cultural Riches: Embracing Puerto Vallarta's Splendor and Culinary Riches
Discover how your future getaways might change with the DOT's new airline compensation guidelines affecting everything from your wallet to your itinerary. We'll navigate the potential upheaval in travel agency dynamics and ponder over Delta Airlines' boarding process overhaul, aiming for efficiency without compromising your travel needs. Joining us is David Charez from Villa Premier and the Buena Ventura Grand Hotel, who will share the soulful embrace of Puerto Vallarta's local hospitality and the city's transformation from a history-rich town to a traveler's paradise.
Venture with us to the serene beaches and majestic Sierra Madre mountains as we explore the enchanting landscape of Puerto Vallarta through the eyes of its most welcoming beach hotels. Feel the pulse of luxury mixed with tradition at Villa Premier Boutique Hotel, an adults-only haven where European sophistication meets all-inclusive pleasure. Surrender to the organic haven of Serena spa and allow the artisanal gastronomy and melody of the waves to elevate your stay, as every room promises a golden ticket to the most mesmerizing sunsets.
Wrap up your virtual journey as we highlight Puerto Vallarta's culinary prowess with insights from Nuit Hernandez of Beach Life Concierge Services, who points us to the finest dining gems like Barcelona Tapas and Margarita Grill. Gelsie Fadul from Costa Sur Resort and Spa unveils the secluded splendors of marine life and private beaches. This episode is your passport to the heart of luxury, adventure, and cultural richness that awaits in the vibrant embrace of Puerto Vallarta.
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacationscom contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time-sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity-controlled and subject to change without notice explore your world.
Show Voice:It's the inside travel talk podcast and radio show presented by blueplanetvacations. com. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at insidetraveltalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo:Welcome to this week's episode of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Today is Saturday, May 4th. We're glad you're with us. You'll notice a little change to the podcast and radio show today, as Patrick had an unexpected delay and is unable to be with us. We are here broadcasting in beautiful Puerto Vallarta. We have wonderful guests lined up. But first let's talk about some of the news that's happened this week.
Mark Faldmo:The DOT released its new guidelines for compensation for delayed or refunded flights. A lot of people have been applauding this. I see a few issues with this, but we'll dive into it right now. So the new rule is if the customer does not accept the new arrangements offered by the airline for a significant flight change, which is defined as for a domestic flight arriving or departing three hours after originally scheduled and six hours for international flights, if the customer does not accept the new change, the airline has to refund the passenger within seven days to the original form of payment or, if it was paid by cash or something like that, within 20 days. Now a lot of people have been applauding this new regulation, saying it's about time.
Mark Faldmo:However, airlines have always been required to refund canceled flights. This added delayed flights, but what I see an issue with this is they haven't distinguished how it's been paid for. So you know, a lot of travel agencies have special arrangements with airlines that they pay the airline in cash, and so I think what this will do is, in the end, drive up flights or reduce some of those package fares that consumers are used to seeing, because those fares are all paid to the airline with cash and it will be really hard to go through that process to refund the customer with that, and that makes the travel agency that charged that responsible for the refund, not the airline that charge that responsible for the refund, not the airline. So a lot of small travel agencies and package companies that rely on this will really be impacted on that. And another news story is we talked about a few weeks ago Delta Airlines has started a new boarding process. So that started on May 1st this week. So that started on May 1st this week, and so if you're a Delta flyer, you'll notice, instead of boarding zones titled First Class, delta, diamond Sky, main 1, you'll just now see Zone 1, zone 2, zone 3, and Zone 4. Your priority still remains the same, but they've just changed the name of that. So be aware of that.
Mark Faldmo:And now let's get to the special part of this broadcast. As I mentioned, we're broadcasting live in Puerto Vallarta. We've been hosted by two wonderful hotels this week, and we're first going to start out with David Chairez from the Villa Premier and the Buena Ventura Grand Hotel. David, it's nice to have you on.
David Chairez:Thank you so much for having me, mark. Thank you for joining us here. It's always nice to enjoy the beautiful, perfect weather that we have, and it is perfect indeed.
Mark Faldmo:It is. It has been perfect. I've noticed it's not been too hot, not been too humid. There's been a nice breeze. Couldn't ask for anything more.
David Chairez:Well, we do our best. We do our best when we have special guests in-house, so it's nice to provide this for you.
Mark Faldmo:Thanks for ordering up the weather for me. So first off, I want to start off and ask you why Puerto Vallarta?
David Chairez:So I've had the privilege of working at three wonderful destinations in Mexico Cancun, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta and all three are beautiful destinations indeed and they all have their unique attributes. But I have to be very honest with you. When I arrived to Puerto Vallarta, working for this company, Buenaventura Hotels I celebrate my 18th year in September so when I arrived to Puerto Vallarta, it is a destination that just absolutely captivated me, enamored me. It's one of those destinations that's just so complete. You know, we were a city before we were a tourist destination. So you know, you have multiple generations of people born and raised here, and it does make a big difference. So the people are absolutely amazing here and I'm sure you can attest to that as well.
David Chairez:The other thing, of course, is why would you go to a beach destination? Well, for the beaches, of course, and we do have a ton of pristine beaches, all safe, swimmable beaches, which is really important. And then, of course, you have the Sierra Madre mountain range, which is the backdrop to this beautiful colonial seaside town. So, in essence, I always like to say you know, we really do offer a complete vacation experience in Puerto Vallarta, as you have, you know, everything that involves the ocean, everything that involves the mountain terrain, including zip line. You know some beautiful rivers and other. You know adventure activities such as that, and then, of course, the colonial part. You know you really. It's a place where you can really immerse yourself within the culture of Mexico, and this is a perfect example of everything that Mexico has to offer.
Mark Faldmo:Puerto Vallarta probably is my favorite spot in Mexico for those reasons. I love the colonial aspect of it. I love the beaches. We're sitting out here at the Sky Bar at the Buenaventura Grand Hotel watching people play in the beach. It's wonderful. It's hard to be up here watching people play in the beach. It's wonderful.
David Chairez:It's hard to be up here, isn't it?
Mark Faldmo:It is, it's hard to be here working, watching everybody have fun.
David Chairez:Exactly, but sometimes we have to work yeah.
Mark Faldmo:Sometimes we do have to work, so what better place to work than this, though? Absolutely, absolutely yeah. So now let's switch to the hotels, the Villa Premier Boutique Hotel, which is where we've been staying. Can you explain that hotel a little bit to us?
David Chairez:So this is. You know, when I started working for the company, this was actually like my pet project, my. You know it was my main focus of my job as it opened in 1999. We celebrate 25 years this year. So it's a rather a fairly newer hotel in the destination, because this is a destination that does have some hotels, you know, over 50 years old and stuff. So it is one of the newer ones. It's a boutique hotel. There's only 83 rooms and suites here, so it's a very intimate hotel. It is adults only, which, you know, sometimes it's great to escape everything, including the kids.
David Chairez:So this does afford you that opportunity and it's a hotel it's the only one in our company that offers both European plan and all inclusive. So we're in European plan hotels and you know, for those that don't know, EP means no meals or anything is included. Basically, it's just room. However, we also offer an inclusive option at this hotel and most people do like that, because it means you have everything included Three a la carte restaurants to choose from. There's no buffet dining there. We have phenomenal mixology cocktails and that's all included, and also 24-hour room service. We have a phenomenal menu that does include some very tasty and delicious hot items in the overnight menu. We do have a chef on site 24 hours a day, so you know, there's really not much that this hotel won't do to, you know, completely satisfy the needs of all of its guests.
Mark Faldmo:For being that small of a hotel you know 83 rooms I think it's the perfect size.
David Chairez:It really is and no matter how you know you're here and with your, you know, staying here. We're actually at 90, 96% occupancy, so we're pretty much full, and yet you don't feel that, do you, when you're?
Mark Faldmo:there you don't feel it. I think again, you know to have a chef on site 24 hours for that room service is quite amazing for that size. The food at the hotel I can say of all the destinations I've traveled to, all the all-inclusive, I think the Villa Premier has the best food.
David Chairez:Thank you, thank you, we really do. You know the company does so much when it comes to the gastronomy at all three of our resorts. We have been known over the years company-wide with Gastronomy. And for Villa Premier, since it's our flagship hotel, it's our signature hotel, it's a hotel where, because of the Gastronomy, we are featured in Gastronomy Festival, gourmet Festival, a couple of other independent activities that they do. One is Vallarta Nayarit Gastronomica, which is an event that encompasses, you know, the best chefs in Puerto Vallarta and our sister city, Riviera Nayarit, which is, you know, next door as well.
Mark Faldmo:So we do a heavy investment in that and I'm glad, it's great to hear your comments because you know it's why we do it and the food there is just absolutely phenomenal, yeah, and you know, like a lot of hotels in Puerto Vallarta, you have great views of the beach and sunsets, but I think at least this trip, the two nights we've been here, the two sunsets have been amazing, and it's probably because of where we're staying.
David Chairez:Yes, you know, the Villa Premier. Every single room is oceanfront and it's a small boutique hotel. Yet if you look at the size of it, you think it's a lot bigger than what it actually is, because there's plenty of suites and, you know, the big thing right now, of course, is availability to those suites. They're just so perfect and you're experiencing one of our my personal favorites, the Premier Suite, which is our 783 square feet of just amazing space and a beautiful balcony. But all of the rooms have a balcony and all of the rooms face the oceans. One thing that I do like, and you'll appreciate this too a lot of hotels don't have screen doors on their balconies. We do, and you could sleep with that door open and just hear the waves all night long, and it really is soothing and relaxing, yeah, and that's one thing I like about that, because I do like to listen to the ocean at night.
Mark Faldmo:Again, perfect setting, and we'll talk about this when we talk about the Buena Ventura, since the hotels are next door. But what about the location of this?
David Chairez:So we are technically the first hotel in the downtown zone. If you're headed from the airport towards downtown Puerto Vallarta, we're only about a 15, 20 minute drive from the Puerto Vallarta International Airport and we are literally at the doorstep to the cobblestone streets.
David Chairez:Where you exit Villa Premier onto the main street. That's where the cobblestone streets start. You make a quick right and four blocks into that you're at the base of the Malecon, the entrance to it, and that's where all the nightlife, the shopping galleries, just a lot of phenomenal people watching, and you're literally in the culture. You're in the culture, you're immersing yourself in the culture. So location, location, location is what everyone deems to be the most important thing and this, being a beachfront hotel in the closest area to the downtown area, to the downtown zone, I think, makes this a phenomenal choice for any guest wanting to be in Puerto Vallarta.
Mark Faldmo:It is. I like being that close to the downtown area. And, David, why don't you tell me a little bit about the spa at the Villa? Premier? Relaxation is an important part of a trip and a spa is a critical component for that.
David Chairez:Thank you, mark. Well, you had the privilege of seeing it. I'm glad I got the opportunity to show it to you. You know, it's the newest thing at the Villa Premier. We just completely redid the spa. I mean, when I saw this, you know, the spa, we renamed it too. It's called Serena and it's so zen-like, it's so relaxing, it's so pure. Honestly, I mean, when we're walking through it, you know the, the aromas in there is just absolutely just just just being in there, I felt so relaxed and you just feel so relaxed. There we have four treatment rooms. Um, you know, we specialize. We have full beauty salon and we use organic based products. Um, you know, the sauna steam room, um, it's a. It's a small spa and standards to some very large hotels, but it is so perfectly, you know, it's just so perfect, so zen-like, so relaxing that, honestly, you cannot miss an opportunity to come and check out the spa.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, well, I was going to say a spa facility like that at a hotel that size. You've done a great job, Thank you. It's a large spa for the number of rooms that you have, so it's quite an amazing spa.
David Chairez:Thank you. Thank you, I really really appreciate that and, yes, absolutely, on your visit to Villa Premier, you definitely check out the spa. It's amazing and you know the treatments and everything that we offer there workshops, everything. It's just absolutely amazing. So thank you.
Mark Faldmo:Well, that wraps up our segment here. We'll be back with David in just a minute to talk about the other hotel, the Buena Ventura Grand.
Show Voice:We'll be right back after this, taking you to destinations around the world. The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show is presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back.
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Show Voice:This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And now here are your hosts Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo:And we're back. This is segment two of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. This is normally our cruise segment, where we give the best cruise deal out there, since we're in Puerto Vallarta. We're going to spend a little bit more time talking about Puerto Vallarta with David in just a moment here, but first of all, we do have a little bit of cruise-related information to relay, and Patrick and I a few weeks ago talked about the people that were left in Africa for missing a port and the cruise left them behind.
Mark Faldmo:Well, it's happened again this time. A couple from Salt Lake City was in Spain. They took a port and the cruise left them behind. Well, it's happened again this time. A couple from Salt Lake City was in Spain. They took a tour not with the cruise line and there was some heavy weather which delayed them getting back to port and they missed the cruise ship in Spain. They had to be caught up in Palma de Mallorca, and I've seen a lot of comments on this like why can't the cruise line wait for this? You know, it seems like the cruise line should be able to wait.
Mark Faldmo:A few weeks ago, I was at a conference talking to some cruise line executives about this. They said that their contracts with ports are fairly strict. They can be fined thousands of dollars for every minute they're in past their time. It puts the cruise lines in a bad situation when passengers aren't back because they do want to wait, and sometimes the port actually forces them to leave. You know, there are some ports, like, for instance, Key West in Florida, cruise ships have to leave a certain amount of time before the sun sets, and that's because Key West is a great place for sunsets and a lot of the locals and local tourists. If the cruise ship is in the way, they miss that, and so there are a lot of ports that have restrictions like that, and you know that's why the cruise lines won't wait for customers in port unless they are on a cruise line sponsored tour port, unless they are on a cruise line sponsored tour. Now, these people that missed their ship were not on a cruise line tour, but they also weren't on a reputable third-party tour company. There are some third-party tour companies that only do shore excursions and they have insurance and similar guarantees to get you back to the ship or they'll catch you up to the next port. So I have a company I work with called Shore Excursion Group that does provide this coverage and they often provide the same or similar tours for less money than what the cruise line provides. So if you are going to do excursions not with a cruise line, you should make sure that they do have coverage that will pay for your expense if you do miss the cruise.
Mark Faldmo:I also want to talk about a cruise itinerary. Since Patrick and I last week were in Florida, one of my favorite things to do is take a water taxi on the Intercoastal Waterway. There are cruise lines that actually feature itineraries that cruise down the Intercoastal Waterway. The Intercoastal Waterway is basically a chain of barrier islands that runs from Massachusetts all the way down Florida, the Gulf Coast, and ends in Brownsville, Texas. American Cruise Lines has several very interesting itineraries. One that I was looking at is a cruise that goes from Baltimore, Maryland, to Amelia Island in North Tip of Florida, which is by Jacksonville, and this is a 15-day cruise and visits some pretty interesting ports. Some of them include Kitty Hawk, north Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Hilton Head Island, Jekyll Island and a few other ports. You know, if you're interested in some American history and sailing that East Coast, you know. I think this intercoastal waterway is a great way to go. Now let's get back to David, since we're here in sunny, beautiful Puerto Vallarta, the day just keeps getting better. Since we last talked.
David Chairez:It does, it really does.
Mark Faldmo:Nice breeze and you know just a great place to be right now. You know Buena Ventura Hotels. You know we talked about the Villa Premier in the last segment. Right next door is the Buena Ventura Grand Hotel. Tell us a little bit about that hotel.
David Chairez:Well, for starters, any guest of the Villa Premier is welcome at the Buena Ventura Grand Hotel. Tell us a little bit about that hotel. Well, for starters, any guest of the Villa Premier is welcome at the Buena Ventura Grand next door. The Buena Ventura Grand is one of the original hotels in the destination. We have been for 42 years. It's an amazing place, same great location. Here we are a family-friendly hotel. I say family-friendly as a distinction to a family hotel, because we're a great hotel that does welcome all families, of course, but it's a great property for singles, it's a great property for couples.
David Chairez:We have a nice inventory of 23th anniversary. We completely reimagined the hotel, redid absolutely everything, so gutting, you know, every last piece of tile, every toilet, everything, completely, all the rooms were completely gutted. You did have the opportunity to tour this with me yesterday, so you did see that and you know once the hotel, once that transformation was complete. Honestly, I think this is one of the most complete hotels in the destination. A very nice compliment, you know, to the Villa Premier as well, but also to the commitment of Buena Ventura Hotels, which you know we're a company that you know just specializes in hospitality, so you know the family that owns the company is a family that really does not only invest in the product that they have, but also within the community, and we have a lot of employees, including myself. I said I celebrated 18 years. Believe it or not, I'm actually probably one of the persons who's been here probably the least amount of time. At our 40th anniversary party, we actually had many employees that had started with the hotel the day that it opened and they brought back a lot of the ones that have now retired to come celebrate in that monumental occasion.
David Chairez:But the hotel is an amazing location, right in the downtown area. With our new, completely reimagined product, the food and beverage offerings were completely brought up to a different level we invested heavily in that as well and all the public areas. So this is a great, great hotel offering phenomenal cuisine, phenomenal options for entertainment also, and then we have a great little outdoor spa here at the Buena Ventura Grand as well. So it is a completely amazing hotel. And again, location, location, location. Mark, you saw, you know, walking out from this hotel, literally, you make a right. And again, four blocks from everything. I also like to say, for the people who like to maybe go out to nightclubs a little. We are what you would consider stumbling distance from the bars as well.
Mark Faldmo:I've noticed that because I have been to this hotel before the renovation. I noticed not that the rooms were bad before, they were still good, but this is a step up. You know from what it was before. This is a step up from what it was before. Done a great job with that. That also says something about the hotel. When you have employees that have been here for 40 years, been with the hotel since the beginning, it is a very employee-friendly company to work for.
David Chairez:That's one thing I've appreciated about Buenav entura Hotels, and you know it's interesting because I live in the United States and I do cover both the United States, Canada and abroad representing the hotel. But when I come down here, all of the staff at all three of our hotels, they're just truly amazing. I get along with absolutely everyone, so I've become quite close to everyone here and I just enjoy spending time with my colleagues. But we all do what we do and and that is to serve our guests, and we do it very well together, yep, and you certainly do do that, and Buena Ventura Hotels also has a local charity where they help with the community.
Mark Faldmo:Can you tell a little?
David Chairez:bit about that. Absolutely, it's one of the projects that I'm most proud to work with this company. That makes me so proud to work for this company, the patriarch of our company, who is the one responsible for hiring me, you know he still works with the company, still the president of the company. However, he does focus a lot on the philanthropic wing of our company and 11 years ago he started this orchestra school for disadvantaged kids and youth and basically was an avenue to provide, you know, in these underprivileged areas, an opportunity for the kids to kind of find something to, you know, to become passionate about. Like in the United States you know where I live, born and raised the first thing that gets cut when budgets are cut are arts, music, entertainment and stuff like that. So same thing here. I mean, they don't even have this in schools. You know it's an organization that was founded with the purpose of creating better citizens through music.
David Chairez:We feature a quarterly concert at each one of our hotels with this group of kids and it's an orchestra school featuring youth from the ages of six years old all the way to 17. I'm very happy and honored that a lot of our students we've had at least four go to the National Philharmonic on from. You know them starting with this program. So it's a program that started off small and then you know, it has grown and grown.
David Chairez:We do have some partners within the destination that also now contribute and every guest that stays at Buena Ventura Hotels is encouraged to donate to this cause. But I've had some great feedback from guests when I'm here and I'm the emcee for those concerts. So you know I have a lot of them come up to me and say you know what? We've always made the donation but we never really understood whether it actually goes to where we say it's going to go to. So it's nice to be able to show them what these contributions go to. And anyone can help and we certainly appreciate that. But it is one of the things that makes me so proud to work for such a great company.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and that's great. A company providing back to the community, especially in something like that. Not a lot of charities that focus on something like music, education, and that A great idea.
David Chairez:It's absolutely wonderful, mark. One little last anecdote on that Last year in the series they did the song by John Lennon Imagine and it just pulled at your strings for sure. I mean everyone listening observing it was such a beautiful rendition to it and it's such a beautiful song and it really was amazing. Thank you for being on.
Mark Faldmo:We're going to talk a little bit more about Puerto Vallarta in the next segment. Thank you, David, and thank you for hosting us.
David Chairez:Thank you, mark. It's an honor to have you here, and you're welcome anytime.
Mark Faldmo:Thank you, we'll be right back.
Show Voice:They've literally traveled millions of miles to answer your travel-related questions. Yeah, they really have. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Patrick and Mark will be back after these messages.
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Patrick Wiscombe:The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by blueplanetvacations. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. May be time sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity controlled and subject to change without notice.
Show Voice:This is the inside travel talk podcast and radio show presented by blue planet vacations dot com America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. 801-649-3700. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo:And we're back with segment three of Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. We're here in Puerto Vallarta again, one of my favorite destinations in Mexico, and we have a special guest with us right now, Nuit Hernandez, who owns Speech Life Concierge Services, and we're going to talk with her about Puerto Vallarta and the wonderful things to do here.
Nuit Hernandez:Thank you for having me, mark, it's a pleasure.
Mark Faldmo:So why don't you tell me first why choose to vacation in Puerto Vallarta? What are your thoughts on that?
Nuit Hernandez:Well, this is a destination that is very rich culturally, has some of the best food in all of Mexico, it's very welcoming and warm and it has great beaches and mountains too.
Mark Faldmo:It has everything you mentioned food. I was going to do this a little bit later, but let's do that now. What are some of your favorite restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, or favorite cuisines?
Nuit Hernandez:Okay, there's one that I really love. It's called Barcelona Tapas. It overlooks the water, it has beautiful sunset views and, as you know well, Mexico has a Spanish heritage, so the Barcelona food made with the local ingredients, fresh ingredients, is so so good there, with the views, and a glass of sangria.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, you know, that's. One thing I've always appreciated about Puerto Vallarta is the food is so good here. Yeah, you know, one of my favorite places is the Margarita Grill. It's a little bit touristy but I love their fresh made salsa. I love their fresh made guacamole. I'm generally not a guacamole person, but I do enjoy it there.
Nuit Hernandez:And their margaritas are the size of my head.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, they're person, but I do enjoy it there and their margaritas are the size of my head. They're quite large, yeah so I think we're gonna try and go there either tonight or tomorrow and experience that, because you know, I also love that area of Puerto Vallarta, the romantic zone, which is just such a perfect setting it's a beautiful location.
Nuit Hernandez:It's full full of restaurants, bars, coffee places. It's so nice to walk around there.
Mark Faldmo:And you know, one of the things that you offer is airport transportation. In all of Mexico it's kind of an issue, but in Puerto Vallarta it's unique, with most of the transfers done with the big tour companies are actually will put you on a taxi, and it was so refreshing to arrive to your company and be put in a private car. You know, I just really appreciated that. Why don't you tell us a little bit about the airport experience that customers will have?
Nuit Hernandez:Yeah for sure. Yes, most of the companies have. Sure, yes, most of the companies have. They have to work with the taxis at the airport because it's the easiest way. It's the easiest way to not get in trouble there with the taxi unions, etc. But also, if you do things right, if you set things up in advance, if you pay your fees like we do all of that we can have private transportation. That was my dream always to be able to provide reliable, real, private services in terms of the drivers and the airport pickups. So that was a priority for me when I started this business.
Mark Faldmo:Do you service all of the Puerto Vallarta area?
Nuit Hernandez:Yes, the entire bay. Yes, the entire bay.
Mark Faldmo:It's a large area that goes all the way from Yalapa in the south to Puntamita in the north and we only have one airport servicing this whole bay. So, yes, I do trips with my drivers to Sayulita, the botanical gardens, wherever clients want to go explore. I have a private driver service. Yeah, and that's great, you know, especially going to Sayulita, one of my favorite places, small colonial beach town on the I guess that'd be the north side of the bay yes there you know, and you also offer services for excursions and activities.
Mark Faldmo:What are some of the excursions and activities that you offer and what's your favorite?
Nuit Hernandez:Okay, well, we try to focus on things that are very unique, great experiences that really help people connect with the magic of this area. So we're not selling every tour under the sun. So we're not selling every tour under the sun. We focus on experiences like the visit to Hidden Beach at the Marietas Island in the north of the bay.
Mark Faldmo:Which is hard to get to.
Nuit Hernandez:It's very hard to get to, especially now, because the islands are a very important ecosystem in the area and they were damaged some years ago from all the tourists that were visiting. So the government had to close them for over a year for the islands to recuperate and for the fish to come back to it and the different species that live there. So it underwent a major restoration and then now it's open. It's reopened, but there is a limit of 200 people that can visit. It is also limited to visit inside Hidden Beach.
Nuit Hernandez:You can swim through a cave and emerge inside a hidden beach inside the actual island, and then also on the island.
Mark Faldmo:you can see the blue-footed booby birds, which only live in the Galapagos and here on the island and for those of you that listened to our episode last week, we did a whole segment on Galapagos and did talk about that. You can also find those blue-footed boobies here in Puerto Vallarta.
Nuit Hernandez:Yes, so only because it's very limited the amount of people that can visit. Only very few boats actually have permits to be there, so we work with the best boats that have permits to be there. I personally recommend going on a speedboat, one of the small fisherman type speedboat, because they can get you there pretty fast and you're able to enjoy the islands for a while and tour the islands, get to see the blue-footed boobies, then do some snorkeling, then, if you want to explore inside Hidden Beach, you can do that and then return, so it's a really great activity. I also love the whale watching, but that is, of course, seasonal. The humpback whales come here every winter and we're very fortunate because they live here in this bay with us.
Mark Faldmo:Yep, and that's something I like about Puerto Vallarta. They've all left now, unfortunately, there might be a few out there, but you know that's one of my favorite things to do in Puerto Vallarta is take a whale watching cruise and go out there to see that.
Nuit Hernandez:It is life changing, especially because they come here to have their babies and to mate, to have their babies and to mate.
Nuit Hernandez:It is their mating season and a lot of them come back here very pregnant and they have their babies as soon as they arrive in November, late November, and so when the tours begin in December, you get to see a lot of baby humbug whales, and that is one of the sweetest things. They're very playful, like puppies. They're splashing around, they approach the boats. It is very important to only go with certified boats, tours that take it very seriously. Most of the good tours will have a marine biologist on board and people who are trained and know how to respect and protect the humbug whales, and we only work with those. So there'll be some boats that will tell you oh, I'll take you for 50 bucks, you know, and but they haven't gotten certified, they haven't paid their fees, they're not respectful, they don't know, because they're not trained on how to treat the whales and not overstress them. That's very important that we don't get in the way of their natural process here, their migration.
Mark Faldmo:That is important. Are there any other tours that you think would be interesting? Do you do tours into the Sierra Madres?
Nuit Hernandez:Yes, we have great mountains here, so ziplining is fabulous here in town. But I also would love to recommend doing some of the food tours. We have a fantastic food tour which is a walking tour to the best taco places and ceviche places and you grab one taco or one ceviche to start at each, so it has eight stops, so you're discovering the town and all the good places that all the locals know about. You can discover that right off the bat and then you can go back to the ones that you love all by yourself.
Mark Faldmo:I think I'm going to sign up for that. I love tacos. I'd love to go on a taco tour. That sounds quite fun.
Nuit Hernandez:I highly recommend that, because you are getting a city tour and a food tour all together, and the food tour includes some freshly made fruit water. Also, we have some that include cocktails, if you want to have cocktails too, and then the tour ends with churros, which everybody loves churros Also. We have some that include cocktails, if you want to have cocktails too, and then the tour ends with churros, which everybody loves.
Mark Faldmo:churros, right, yep, everybody loves churros. Thank you for joining us, nuit, and we're grateful for the insights that you've shared on Puerto Vallarta. We'll be back and certainly we recommend to all of our listeners to get in contact with you for their tours and transfer needs. Thank you, we'll be back right after this.
Show Voice:They've literally traveled millions of miles to answer your travel-related questions. Yeah, they really have. You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. America's best travel advisors, Patrick and Mark, will be back after these messages.
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Show Voice:They'll help you plan and book your next vacation. Yeah, really, plan and book your next vacation. Yeah, really, You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And now here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo:Let's start segment four of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. We're broadcasting from Puerto Vallarta today and we're going to talk about this segment, about what I think is one of the hidden gems of Puerto Vallarta Resort, located in the south of Puerto Vallarta, and we'll get to that in just a moment. First, a little bit of travel news. Los Angeles airport for those that are familiar with traveling through the airport is going to be renaming all of their terminals, so that may cause some problems. They're renaming this to get ready for the people mover, which is going to help congestion in the airport area, so it'll take people to parking lots and rental car facilities, so not as much traffic gets in that airport area.
Mark Faldmo:So the terminals will be renamed as follows First of all, Terminal 1 will remain Terminal 1, but Terminal 2 and 3 will now be Terminal 2. The Tom Bradley International Terminal will now be the Tom Bradley International Terminal 3, be the Tom Bradley International Terminal 3, and then they will combine Terminals 7 and 8 to make Terminal 7, and that makes way for a new terminal which will be built in the future, which will then be Terminal 8. So, again just for those traveling through Los Angeles, you may soon see a change to the terminals that you're flying to, so be aware of that change. I'm pleased to be joined by Gelsie Fadul, who is with the Costa Sur Resort. Gelsie, why don't you tell us a little bit about your resort here?
Gelsey Fadul:Hi, mark, thank you so much for inviting me to your podcast. So Costa Sur Resort and Spa is one of the first hotels built in the south of Puerto Vallarta. It's where the mountains meet the ocean, basically, and we're only located seven minutes away from downtown Puerto Vallarta, making it such a great location to go out and about as many times as you want to, but, at the same time, stayed in a secluded, quiet location in front of the ocean.
Mark Faldmo:Now, what makes this secluded?
Gelsey Fadul:Well, we are. I think it's the only hotel that is actually located on a private beach. There's no access on either side of this beach, so it's only for our hotel guests. In addition, we built many years ago a breakwater to gain more beach, actually, so that now is filled of marine life, so guests have that unique experience of coming down from their rooms and actually snorkeling on site and see tons of marine life.
Mark Faldmo:And I noticed that just from my balcony, looking down, I could see the marine life and fish swimming there, which you don't see a lot in Puerto Vallarta.
Gelsey Fadul:No, it's actually one of the characteristics of the south of Puerto Vallarta. You see a lot of marine life. The color of the water allows you to actually see them, because it's so crystal clear.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and we were talking earlier about the rays that you can see just out on the other side of the breakwater and the dolphins. What are some of the other sea life that you can see from the hotel?
Gelsey Fadul:From the hotel, from any point of the hotel, from any bedroom or any point within the property, you can see dolphins, tons of dolphins swimming around. This is their feeding area, so we get to see a lot of them every day, early in the morning and in the afternoon, from December through March, we get to see humpback whales. They breach and jump and it's just such a show to see them and a treat that our guests get to enjoy while staying here. We actually let them know because our bartenders are facing the ocean while making cocktails and every time they see a whale they ring their bell so everybody can look up and take advantage of that show.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and that's a good service to provide, to point the whales out to the tourists. But that's something in this area that I've noticed. The whales come pretty close to land and you can just sit out on your balcony and watch the whales during December through March timeframe. It's quite amazing. You don't even have to take a whale watching tour.
Gelsey Fadul:You don't. And that's the beauty I mean, we have our guests actually are always tagging us on Instagram, you know, showing their videos from their bedroom. Actually, with whales, with dolphins, with stingrays there's actually you talked earlier about the large stingrays, but there's little ones and they fly. They come out of the water and sometimes you see them flying, jumping up and down, such so beautiful.
Mark Faldmo:As you mentioned, we're in the south of Puerto Vallarta, so we're south of downtown. The Costa Sur is about 40 minutes from the airport. Correct, again, I think, is a great location. That's why I call it the hidden gem of a hotel, because it's kind of tucked away in this little cove with a great view. But in the south, what are some of the things that you can do in the south, near or not too far away from the hotel?
Gelsey Fadul:Near the hotel we have the Edemba River, which is one of my favorite spots. I mean to be up in the mountain. Enjoying the river is so unique. I know people come for the beach, but might as well take advantage of what the mountains also have to offer. In addition to that, we have zip lines again up in the mountain and rappelling down waterfalls. Botanical gardens are also nearby, maybe 15 minutes away from us, and one of the main attractions is going down to Mismaloya, which is very popular, and taking a water taxi to the secluded beaches in the south, like Yelapa, animas, quimixto. You can only access those by boat, so once you're there, you're basically unplugged no cars, no noise, just beautiful beaches and local restaurants serving, you know, basically homemade food.
Mark Faldmo:I've been lucky enough to go to some of those beaches and that's definitely an excursion that's well worth it.
Gelsey Fadul:Absolutely.
Mark Faldmo:Now let's go back to the hotel a little bit. And why don't you tell us about the food here?
Gelsey Fadul:Food's amazing. I mean, our chef has been with us for many years, over 20 years now. He comes from Acapulco, where we know cuisine is one of their top advantages, so he brings a lot of recipes and a lot of expertise when it comes to seafood. So we have a large menu for seafood lovers, but in addition, we have a lot of Mexican specialties and fine cuts and pastas and a little bit of everything for everybody. Everything is made to order. We don't have buffets on site, even for guests staying with us under our meal plan option or all inclusive. Everything is an a la carte service.
Mark Faldmo:That's one thing I've noticed here is the food is very good. It's above what you'd get at most resorts here. I've been very pleased and happy with what we've had so far. It's quite amazing.
Gelsey Fadul:Thank you.
Mark Faldmo:Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about the resort?
Gelsey Fadul:Well, whatever room type guests choose, they're all going to share the most amazing view of the ocean. I do recommend the sunsets. We have the best sunsets in Puerto Vallarta. I don't know, maybe it's the location, because we're a little south, but the sky turns red and bright, orange, orange.
Mark Faldmo:It's just really nice to see you know that's something that I think is a characteristic of Puerto Vallarta, but especially this area that we're in. I've noticed the sunsets are just yeah, way above average from what you get elsewhere as far as sunsets go that's the way to go way above average, and you can actually see the sunset laying in bed. Yes.
Gelsey Fadul:You know so, and sleep with the window, with the balcony open, and fall asleep to the sound of the waves.
Mark Faldmo:That's something I like to do as well Fall asleep to the sound of the waves. It's quite relaxing.
Gelsey Fadul:Absolutely.
Mark Faldmo:Now, one thing we were talking about earlier is all of the festivals and events that Puerto Vallarta has. Why don't you tell us what your favorite is, which also happens to be my favorite?
Gelsey Fadul:but I've not experienced it in Puerto Vallarta and hope to one day. Well, you definitely have to visit in November. The beginning of November. It's a week-long day of the death festivities, including parades and including traditional foods, and the main event, which is the world, the Guinness World Record Katrina for the largest Katrina in the world. This is in the Malecon, in front of the ocean. It's just out of this world. This is my favorite holiday and there's nothing to be afraid of when you hear Day of the Death, because it's actually a beautiful celebration to remember those that have passed away. It's actually a beautiful celebration to remember those that have passed away but they remain with us or alive, through food and music and celebration, and that's what we do for the entire week.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, and it is a week-long celebration with lots of events. That's something that everyone should mark their calendar for. Come down and experience the Day of the Dead in Puerto Vallarta Celebration and parades along the Malecon. I think would be lovely.
Gelsey Fadul:And don't forget to have some of my favorite Day of the Dead bread. We only make it for Day of the Dead, so you only get to have it once a year. It's so good.
Mark Faldmo:I am looking forward to trying that, Gelsie. Thank you for joining us on Inside Travel Talk radio show and podcast, and that's all we have for this week. If you're listening and interested in booking a trip to Puerto Vallarta, we've talked about some wonderful resorts and experiences this week you can call Blue Planet Vacations or visit blueplanetvacations. com and we can certainly help you get to Puerto Vallarta, thank you. Thank you, mark, and we can certainly help you get to Puerto Vallarta, thank you. Thank you, mark.
Show Voice:That's it. That's the end of the show You've been listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Fulton, presented by BluePlanetVacations. com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
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