The Punta Mita Resort With Something for Everyone in the Family

Stay Here For

The perfect balance of adults-only spaces, family-friendly activities and overall encouragement to simply relax.

Getting to The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort is a study in anticipation. The property is about an hour’s drive from Puerto Vallarta International Airport, so by the time your driver exits the gray ribbon of highway and pulls up to the imposing cut-stone wall that marks the boundary of the Punta Mita estate, you’re understandably eager for your vacation to begin. But it’ll take another 10 minutes of driving past the occasional coati scampering into the undergrowth and a procession of uniformly tall palms, spaced as evenly as the bristles of a hairbrush, before you finally roll up to the porte cochere at The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort. Then, at last: paradise.

One of a pair of Punta Mita hotels (Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, Mexico is less than 10 minutes away), the 18-year-old enclave feels like a tropical utopia. Your beaming butler (a St. Regis standard across all room categories since the brand was born in 1904) welcomes you warmly to the property—lush beachfront acreage studded with coconut palms and carpeted with emerald lawns that are connected by sinuous, blossom-bordered paths. Everything looks so perfect that you can’t help but wonder what flaws might exist under the surface. But unless you consider waiting 10 minutes for a golf cart a crime, it’s unlikely you’ll find anything wrong here.

You’ll soon learn that for their “luminaries” (St. Regis speak for “guests”), no request is too small or too difficult, whether it’s fetching the novel you forgot in your room so you can read by the pool, arranging a tee time at one of two Jack Nicklaus–designed golf courses on the peninsula or packing your bags at the end of your stay. This is the sort of resort where everyone from your golf cart driver to your waiter calls you by name. Where, when you ask for directions to the spa or the beach (which you’ll definitely need, since, at first, every snaking pathway seems identical), you’re escorted to your destination rather than merely pointed in its general direction.

Beyond the friendly, efficient staff, perhaps the reason the resort instantly feels so much like home is because it’s designed to look like one. The Mexican hacienda design marries traditional elements (think low-rise buildings, Saltillo tile floors, red clay roofs and imposing wooden doors embellished with iron accents) with modern touches such as custom contemporary lighting, slabs of polished stone and textile art by local makers. The overall effect is a relaxed, cared-for feeling you’ll miss long after you’ve checked out. Luckily, it’ll take just a whiff of the resort’s signature scent, Caroline’s Four Hundred (formulated by Mexican parfumeur Carlos Huber), to transport you right back.

The Essentials

The Rooms

Despite the resort’s 22-acre sprawl, there are surprisingly few rooms here. A mere 120 are spread across four categories (garden- and ocean-view casitas, junior suites, one-bedroom suites and villas), all with terraces or balconies, walk-in closets, freestanding bathtubs and outdoor showers.

The hotel-as-hacienda theme features in all the accommodations, which include honey-toned wood doors with blackened-iron embellishments, polished terra-cotta tile floors and clay tile ceilings buttressed by exposed wood beams. While the palette is neutral (think stone and sandy tones), there’s plenty of texture: the soft nub of a low-slung bouclé sofa, the gloss of leather-harnessed headboards, the sheen of a polished stone side table.

Six one- to three-bedroom villas are all steps from the beach. The largest and fanciest, the Presidential Villa, has three bedrooms plus a spacious open-plan living area, which opens to a broad terrace, private pool and hot tub, plus an oceanfront lawn that overlooks the villa’s private beach cabanas, chaises and hammocks. If you’re traveling with family or a small group, this villa—complete with a party-perfect kitchen and butler’s pantry—is the one to book. Design lovers will also appreciate the custom glass and bronze light fixtures, fiber art wall hangings, and ceramic urns and vases crafted by Mexican artists, which subtly telegraph a sense of place.

The Bars and Restaurants

The Mita Mary is the spot to be as the sun goes down over the ocean, and offers a more casual alternative to the upscale Carolina.

Fuel up for the day at Las Marietas, an indoor-outdoor, ocean-view restaurant where the breakfast buffet features made-to-order tacos and quesadillas. At lunchtime, options include wood-fired pizzas at the all-day poolside restaurant Sea Breeze or sushi and a Nikkei-inspired cocktail at Sakana, adjacent to the adults-only pool. For dinner, choose between Carolina, which serves contemporary Mexican cuisine in a selection of four- or six-course dinners, or a casual supper at Mita Mary, where the sun setting over the Pacific is the perfect accompaniment to your sea urchin croquettes. The sleek St. Regis Bar is an elegant spot for sipping from the resort’s roster of Bloody Mary cocktails.

The Standout Feature

The hotel’s bragging rights include not one but two Jack Nicklaus–designed golf courses.

Golfers go gaga for the Jack Nicklaus–designed Pacifico golf course’s par 3 hole, Tail of the Whale. It’s set on a private island you can walk to during low tide.

The Location

The resort is one of two in Punta Mita, a posh and lushly landscaped 1,500-acre private resort and residential development ­on Mexico’s breezy Bahía de Banderas. Just a 15-minute boat ride away, the Marietas Islands (a designated nature reserve) are home to more than 40 species of plants and wildlife and are surrounded by warm waters where you can spot manta rays and dolphins.

The Time to Go

Peak season runs from November to March, coinciding with humpback whale–watching season. (Book a tour to the nearby Marietas Islands to spot them, or simply head to The St. Regis Bar and scan the horizon.) From mid-August to October, heavy nighttime rain makes for high humidity to go with the sweltering temps. Take note if you’re particularly heat-sensitive.

The Vibe

A visit to Sakana’s adults-only pool is only made better with a Mita Mary—the property’s variation on the classic, made with white tequila and clam juice.

What are people drinking? The Bloody Mary was perfected at the original St. Regis in New York in 1934, and since then, every St. Regis hotel has served its own variation on the classic. Here, it’s the Mita Mary, made with white tequila and clam juice, and garnished with avocado and cilantro.

The activity everyone shows up for: For more than a century, sabering a bottle of champagne has been a daily ritual across all St. Regis resorts—one that hotel guests are actively encouraged to try. Performed every evening at The St. Regis Bar, it’s the perfect way to say “salud” to the sun as it dips under the shimmering Pacific.

The perfect spot for your social media post: On the terrace at The St. Regis Bar, with the tiered pool, a procession of coconut palms and the sapphire swath of Pacific Ocean as your scroll-stopping backdrop.

The design detail you won’t stop coveting: Ceramist Perla Valtierra’s sensuous clay vessels and Caralarga’s striking wall hangings are featured at the resort (and sold online, so you can snag one for yourself).

What’s everyone packing? Match your wardrobe to the resort’s sophisticated yet decidedly unstuffy vibe by amping up the color and dialing down any conspicuous logos.

Everything Else