HACIENDA SAN ANGEL: Romantic hotel in Puerto Vallarta

By DAVID TOMLIN
Associated Press

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) - What began as a simple remodeling project for a private vacation home took a wildly romantic turn along the way and blossomed into one of the most enchanting boutique hotels anywhere.

Janice Chatterton can’t say exactly how Hacienda San Angel happened. She never ran a hotel or a restaurant in her life. But it’s possible she just couldn’t resist sharing the high love-nest potential that came with the property.

Chatterton bought her tropical villa from Susan Hunt, who received it as a 1977 Valentine’s Day gift from her husband, the late actor Richard Burton. Just around the corner and down the street is another Burton gift house, the one he gave to Elizabeth Taylor when they were here during filming of the 1964 film “The Night of the Iguana.”

With the ghosts of such dangerous liaisons of the past swirling around it, a small luxury hotel would have a hard time missing as a destination for lovebirds, and Hacienda San Angel doesn’t miss.

From the outside, the place looks innocent enough, tucked into a modest neighborhood of white stucco and red tile roofs on one of the cobbled residential streets of central Puerto Vallarta. It’s nothing like the glossy new high-rise hotel resorts springing up along the beaches north and south of the city.

But guests who pull the bell rope that hangs above the door are admitted to a lush tiled courtyard straight out of colonial Mexico, a place where it’s easy to picture a duel for your honor on the balustrade or a senorita beckoning from beyond the burbling fountain. Bougainvillea blossoms drop from overhead. Two blocks away, the bell tolls from the tower of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Inside the hotel, romantic and secluded spaces abound. It is a warren of stairways, alcoves, winding passages, terraces, pools, and gardens that lead from courtyard to guest rooms with names like Angel’s Dome, Milagro and the Celestial Suite.

Chatterton added two adjacent homes to the original villa to create the hacienda’s 10 guest rooms. Each is unique, but all of them manage to feel intimate and at the same time wide open to breezes and views of the palm-spangled hills and the broad bay they embrace. Like the rest of the hacienda, the rooms are filled with heavy antique furniture, icons and art work, yet still seem light and spacious.

Chatterton, who is from California, wasn’t sure if Puerto Vallarta drew enough upscale visitors for the level of luxury she found herself offering. But the market did respond. “It has more than met my expectations,” she said.

And the hotel — which opened in 2003 — has gotten rave reviews from Frommer’s, Fodor’s, and Conde Nast Traveler, which listed the hacienda on its 2005 “Hot List.”

Though the villa and its museum-quality decor come straight from the 19th century or even earlier, the hacienda offers a full array of up-to-date spa and concierge services, Internet access, and all-day dining as good as anything else in town. The staff will even serve meals in any courtyard or terrace in the hotel you choose that isn’t part of somebody else’s room.

There’s a cocktail hour each afternoon in the main courtyard with its open-air kitchen-dining-lounge area. Mariachis serenade these gatherings, but it’s just as charming to listen to them from the guest rooms, which are all within earshot.

The shops, markets, galleries, cafes and beaches of this booming coastal resort town are all within easy walking distance. On the other hand, for the severely lovestruck, it really is possible to make tropical dreams come true without even leaving the Celestial Suite, and some guests don’t emerge until check-out time.

If You Go...

HACIENDA SAN ANGEL: Miramar 336, Colonia Centro, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; www.haciendasanangel.com. By phone, (415) 738-8220 (U.S.) or (011) (52) 322-222-2692 (Mexico). Rooms $250 to $475 a night, less in summer and more during the Christmas season.

This enchanting bed-and-breakfast may not be on the beach, but you'll hardly miss it, you'll be so pampered in the stunning suites, or satisfied enjoying the view from the rooftop heated pool or Jacuzzi and sun deck. Once Richard Burton's home in Puerto Vallarta, it's located just behind Puerto Vallarta's famed church, making it easy walking distance to all of the restaurants, shopping, and galleries of downtown. The Hacienda is comprised of three villas; the first two are joined to the third villa by a path that winds through a lovely terraced garden filled with tropical plants, flowers, statuary and a charming fountain. A large, heated pool and deck offer panoramic views of the city and Bay of Banderas, while a second sun deck with Jacuzzi literally overlooks the church's crown, across to the water beyond. Each of the Hacienda's nine elegant suites is individually decorated, accented with exquisite antiques and original art. Bed linens and coverings are of the finest quality, with touches like Venetian lace and goose-down pillows. Each morning, you'll awake to continental breakfast served outside your suite at your requested hour. From Monday through Saturday, guests are invited to a complimentary cocktail hour, where one of the Hacienda's signature drinks (like the Celestial Sin -- a wicked blend of vodka and blue Curacao) are served, accompanied by snacks. Sophisticated style, coupled with casual Vallarta charm, make Hacienda San Angel the newest "find" in Mexico for the discriminating traveler. Facilities:

Menu of full breakfasts and lunches; chef to prepare dinner; 2 pools; rooftop sun deck w/Jacuzzi; concierge; tour services; complimentary Internet access

The sun sets over Banderas Bay, seen from the San Miguel Suite at Hacienda San Angel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Visitors to villas find bit of heaven in Puerto Vallarta
Refurbished Hacienda San Angel offers hideaway, awe-inspiring views
By Pete Webb
Special to The Denver Post

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Perched high above "Old Town," an elegant hotel has begun to establish a reputation for the type of seclusion that's certain to create the recharge that vacations are meant to produce.

There's not much to announce Hacienda San Angel as you arrive at Miramar 336. You pull the chain to ring a deep-throated bell somewhere behind the large wooden door. The wall on Miramar Street conceals a lush garden with a fountain, flanked by a massive living room, a dining room, and with adjoining kitchen and bar.

Hacienda San Angel, in its second full season, is the creation of northern California expatriate Janice Chatterton, and incorporates three contiguous colonial villas into a boutique hotel of nine suites, two pools, and awe-inspiring views. You can see both sides of Banderas Bay, the world's third-largest natural bay, 46 miles across.

The hotel centers around Villa Bur-Sus, purchased by actor Richard Burton as a Valentine's Day gift for his wife Susan (a wife who came after Elizabeth Taylor). Chatterton has taken three years to refurbish the homes, with each villa having its own living room, dining area and common space. A garden links the villas through the center of the property.

Each suite includes bath, air conditioning, telephone, TV and DVD player for both music and movies. (There's a free movie collection available to guests.)

Chatterton has furnished the suites and public areas with distinctive Mexican art and antiques. In keeping with the theme, angels are a highly prized part of the décor. Once word got out she was redoing the villas, locals started showing up at her door with heirlooms and artifacts that have given the hacienda Old World charm.

Several of the suites have terraces, as well as secluded palapas and seating areas. Others are quiet hideaways, perfect for starting that book or deciding to sleep in. And with perhaps 20 guests, you're not bumping into others frequently.

The pools include a rooftop area with wide-ranging views of the city and Banderas Bay, and a tranquil lap pool with fountains. On one villa roof deck the Jacuzzi has a sun area as well, again with a city and bay view. The crown-shaped bell tower of Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral chimes on the quarter-hour, but you can hear bells from churches throughout Old Town. The distance from the business area is enough that you seldom hear traffic or late-night noise.

A household staff of 12 keeps the hacienda spotless. Day and evening cooks prepare meals. Robert Hutton, a Canadian, is on site afternoons and evenings for van trips to restaurants or shopping. Robert also provides day trips for a separate fee. And a masseuse makes daily visits, with other spa services available.

The price of breakfast is included in your stay (served in your room or at any of the view or living room locations you choose); lunch, cocktails, poolside snacks and dinner also are available at an additional charge, prepared by the cooks. (Our catch from an ocean-fishing expedition was brought back to the cooks for cocktail-hour ceviche.) The evening cocktail time always features a mariachi band and provides a congenial setting to meet other guests if you are so inclined.

From Hacienda San Angel, walk down 106 steps on the Zaragoza Street staircase next to the cathedral, and you'll land right in El Centro, the traditional heart of the city, with the wide bayfront malecon seawall and blocks of tourist-oriented restaurants, bars and shops. You're about 2 miles south of the big-name hotels and resorts in the Hotel Zone and the cruise-ship dock. With at least three cruise ships visiting daily, you're sure to see lots of day-trippers exploring.

Take another direction, down 100 steps or so on the narrow staircase of Miramar Street, and you're in the Flea Market, with the traditional stalls and shops selling everything from apparel and leather goods to pottery and jewelry. Bargaining is expected (settle for at least 20 percent off the price first quoted). Cross the river south into the neighborhood called the "Romantic Zone" for more shops and a wider variety of stores. "Viva" is an upscale store with jewelry, art, clothing and beach bags and sunglasses, and a wide-ranging collection of shoes. There's not much to hold the attention of non-shoppers, but Steve's, a Canadian-American sports bar, is just four doors east.

Chatterton knows her guests come to literally "get away," but her reputation as a hands-on hotelier (she lives on site) has spread. As a result, she's tuned into the best restaurants, newest hot spots and finest shopping.

Four of our restaurant choices, an absolute departure from the usual tourist stops:

El Arrayan, with a contemporary style of traditional simple country cooking, presided over by charming entrepreneur, Carmen Porras;

Los Xitomates (Aztec for "tomatoes") for wonderful fish dishes;

El Mestizo, built around an open courtyard;

Trio, an elegant three-story bistro with open verandas.

Your stay in Puerto Vallarta can be "all beach all the time," but if you've decided quiet and luxury are more your style, Hacienda San Angel can be your hideaway.

Pete Webb, an occasional contributor to The Denver Post Travel section, owns Webb PR in Centennial.

The details

Destination of the Week
Down Mexico Way
Rebecca Flint Marx

Puerto Vallarta is a place that manages to pull off the neat trick of being one of Mexico's top tourist attractions while maintaining a charming Old World ambience.

Nowhere in Vallarta is this more exemplified than at the Hacienda San Angel, a nine-suite boutique hotel secreted away on a street high above the Pacific beaches. As visually stunning as it is hospitable, the Hacienda is an ideal base for enjoying all that Vallarta has to offer, including the Puerto Vallarta Film Festival, which launched this year and will continue each fall.

Film also plays an important role in the history of the Hacienda. In 1977, it was a Valentine's Day gift from Welsh actor Richard Burton to his then-wife, Susan Hunt, which they dubbed Bur-sus (for "Burton" and "Susan"). From the street, the unassuming stucco facade appears no different from those of the neighboring homes on the Calle Miramar. Behind the heavy wooden doors, however, is a courtyard filled with exotic flowering plants and a two-tiered fountain.


The hotel's indoor pool.

On the left, the main villa's arched ceiling shelters an outdoor lounge where guests can relax and, every evening, consume drinks and snacks during cocktail hour. To the right, through an archway, is one of the Hacienda's two heated swimming pools, and beyond the fountain there is a grassy courtyard that leads to several of the hotel's suites, which are hidden away among stairways, cascading foliage and pungent explosions of bougainvillea. After entering the Hacienda San Angel, you could be forgiven for not leaving for the rest of your time in Puerto Vallarta.

The Hacienda makes it exceedingly easy to give in to such an inclination. Converted into its present incarnation by owner and hostess Janice Chatterton, who bought Villa Bur-sus from Hunt in 1990 (along with the surrounding homes, which became the guest rooms), the Hacienda boasts suites that are as spacious as they are comfortable. Wide Spanish tile covers the floor, large windows open out on balconies that provide expansive views of the hilly coast, and handsome antiques--from Mexico and elsewhere--are juxtaposed with modern conveniences like remote-control cable TVs, DVD players (as well as the hotel's extensive DVD library), air conditioning and purified water. An unintended and endearing touch is provided by the tiny lizards that dart along the bathroom walls.


The Celestial Suite is one of nine unique guest rooms.

Guests have two options for breakfast: a free continental variety, with warm pastries, yogurt and tea or coffee, delivered to your door at 8 A.M., or something ordered a la carte from a more extensive menu. Food is available almost around the clock, with the Hacienda's kitchen offering a wide variety of Mexican and pancontinental options. The kitchen also serves up some of the more bottomless and wicked mojitos in all of Vallarta, which are best enjoyed during cocktail hour. This evening tradition at the Hacienda is one of its best, allowing guests to mingle in an unforced sort of way with one another and various residents of Puerto Vallarta, which has a large ex-pat population. Conversation is typically accompanied by snacks from the kitchen, endless refills, and the antics of Chatterton's three dogs, whose rivalry for attention provides its own kind of entertainment.

Possibly the only objection a visitor could have to the Hacienda is that it's not on the beach. If the five-minute walk to Puerto Vallarta's storied boardwalk is too great a distance, visitors would do better to stay at one of the seaside resorts located north of the town's center. But while the hotel lacks beach access, it offers a priceless alternative with its open-air pools and oversized Jacuzzi, all of which offer dizzying views of Banderas Bay.

Effective Jan. 1, 2005, rates start at $150 per night.

For more information, call: 011(52) 322-222-2692 or visit www.haciendasanangel.com.

Forbes Fact

STYLISH HOTELS
Hacienda San Angel
Classy with Celestial Charm

If you consider yourself a connoisseur of good taste and quality, do yourself a favor and take a look at, or better yet experience for a night or two, this fabulous Mexican Boutique Hotel exemplifying all that's stylish about living in Mexico.

Ideally situated in the heart of Puerto Vallarta's historic El Centro, but above all the hustle and bustle, this level of excellence is rarely seen anywhere. And owner Janice Chatterton is to be applauded not only for the quality of her imagination and her superb sense of sophistication, but also for her willingness to share it with the rest of us.

Enchantingly enhanced by a charming celestial theme throughout, this sprawling nine-suite hacienda - once three neighboring homes, one presented by actor Richard Burton to then-wife Susan Hunt as a gift for Valentine's Day in 1977 - verges on a religious experience. The 360-degree views of the entire bay and most of the town speak for themselves, while centries-old artifacts, rare antique furnishings and original art by masters that stir the imaginations of schoolchildren around the world add up to a reverential awe and blessedly deep sense of relaxation.

San Angel pobsesses what most of us long to find. A perfect sense of balance - not to mention lovely pools, courtyards, gardens, terraces and an oversized Jacuzzi. Everything about it clearly expresses an affinity with the past and what's traditional, when it's of exceptional quality, and with what's most modern, when it makes life more comfortable and elegant. A solidly massive antique dining table holds the attention of guests long after meals are over, while DSL wireless Internet makes it a cinch to keep the folks back home happy with "Wish you were here" messages.

Rich with fortunate finds, including tapestries dating back to 17th-century Europe and once owned by some of Mexico's most prominent families, it's a rare pleasure to have your eyes alight on objects of interest at every turn. And architectural details play their roles, cupolas, arches, niches, canterra stone, hand-painted tiles, fountains and palapas all elements of classic Puerto Vallarta design style.

It goes without saying that guest suites are wonderful and one of a kind, embellished with objects of drama and beauty as well as modern amenities like phones, air-conditioning, cable TV and so on. And the level of service proffered at San Angel is unsurpassed, the daily cocktail hour especially chic.

By Nick Gallo

Romantico Mexico!
puerto vallarta: class act

It's been four decades since Richard Burton bungled his way through a jungle of romance in The Night of the Iguana, but Puerto Vallarta has lost none of its amorous allure. Sure it's grown up and gotten more sophisticated. But this chic Pacific Coast resort continues to offer a most enticing blend of old school and cutting edge.

WHERE TO STAY Burton once owned one of the villas that make up Hacienda San Angel, a new six-room B&B with flowery courtyards, a heated pool and views of the bay. (Doubles from $210. 011/52-322-222-2692; haciendasanangel.com).

History and Hospitality
Hacienda San Angel is proud to have been featured in the USA TODAY article,

The new nine-suite Hacienda San Angel (011-52-322-222-2692; haciendasanangel.com), which occupies three villas including one owned by Richard Burton in his post-Elizabeth Taylor era, has spectacular views of downtown, two pools and beautiful antiques-filled interiors.

Reclining along Mexico's Pacific coast, Puerto Vallarta is famous for movie sets, languid beach life, and idyllic weather, but it also appeals to more adventure-some spirits with kayaking, ballooning, eco-safaris, and buzzing nightlife.

Savor the city's many attractions from your aerie at red-tiled Hacienda San Angel, a getaway once inhabited by actor Richard Burton and his wife, Susan, after Burton filmed Night of the Iguana in Puerto Vallarta. The spread is ideal for smaller family gatherings, with two connecting villas containing a total of six bedrooms. A private fountainhead courtyard and a heated pool offer broad vistas of the old town.

Jim Kennedy, a Minneapolis resident who recently took his family to the hacienda, says that despite the estate's luxe setting, "It wasn't stuffy at all". Indeed, even with the abundance of activities in Puerto Vallarta, your family may be tempted to never venture out.

Hacienda San Angel, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; tel. from U.S. 011-52-322-222-2692;
www.haciendasanangel.com. The compound sleeps 12; rates $6,300-10,500 weekly, depending on the season.