Destination Scout

It is no surprise that Nathan is a winner of yet another WPJA award. We are tickled pink to be a part of it.
http://www.dreamtimeimages.com/blog/2010/03/06/new-wpja-award-winner/

Part of my job as the “Destination Scout” is to find locations that touch your soul. That sounds like a daunting task since everyone’s tastes are different, but I’m finding that there is a consistent pattern.

The first question to be asked is what type of mood do you want everyone to share? Do you want everyone to be excited? Or do you want to share the romance?

After you’ve determined the mood, then the key is to feed that mood into all 5 senses. As an example, let’s create a romantic date.

Sight:
Lighting should be soft and soothing. Time your event to take care advantage of the naturally soothing light changes of dawn or dusk. Once it is dark, use candles and soft lighting. We’ve all felt the draw of watching a campfire, bring a touch of that to your atmosphere. Choose interesting candleholders that will throw light in an entrancing but non-intrusive way.

Make your surroundings visually appealing. Use a cohesive theme, and don’t clutter the area.

Hearing:
Pandora is my favorite invention of the decade. Choose your theme and let it pick your music. Whether your use Frank Senatra, 60’s Romance, George Winston, or Enigma. Consider your audience and choose your theme.

If you are using an outdoor setting, consider the sounds of the area. Choose a location that allows you to hear the crash of the ocean and the songs of the birds. If you are inundated with roar of the traffic or flight of an airplane, you should either mask the noise or move indoors.

Touch:
Texture and comfort are key here. Choose textiles and decorations with texture. Make sure the seats and table are comfortable. Provide a variety of seating arrangements including a small four top table and a comfy couch to snuggle in. Provide an environment where you will want to linger.

Smell:
Be consistent but creative here. If you have a mexican or spa theme, use incense. If you’ve decorated with flowers, add some jasmine or lilies. Make sure that your scent does not interfere with the food or environment.

Taste:
The menu should provide a journey for the guest. Choose a theme for the flavors and provide variety but complex enough to provide satisfaction. Don’t make the meal too heavy.
Some nice pairings include:

Crab salad served with whole grain crackers
Mahi Mahi with grilled vegetables
Fresh fruit and creme in phyllo cups
Chenin Blanc

Grilled Vegetable Kabobs
Fillet Mignon with garlic potatoes
Chocolate lava cake
Choice of zinfandel, Cabernet or Malbec

Enjoy your environment. Make lingering easy and comfortable.

Le Reve Tips
Look for the “Tides” sign off the 307
The Le Reve sign is very small.

Don’t judge the hotel by the approach
This is one of the craziest roads I’ve driven in Mexico. After rain, some of the potholes could be mistaken for ponds.

Other Tips
Don’t park by the yellow or red curbs
That is a no parking zone. Police will take your license plate instead of issuing a parking ticket.

Lodging
Hotel Lunata
My favorite place on 5th Ave. It’s a very cute, garden style pure old Mexican style hotel. I’ll be staying here the next time I want to spend the night on 5th.

Mesquito Blue
Beautiful fun decor and pool area. Very quiet for being on 5th. 45 rooms or suites. Great for large parties, but will not host weddings.

Mesquito Beach
Related to Mesquito Beach, this also has great decor and pool. Set on the beach, it has a great restaurant. This part of the beach is very busy. One of the girls mentioned that it would be like getting married in front of 500 of your not so closest friends.

Blue Parrot
Didn’t tour the property but wanted to mention that is on the beach right next to Mesquito Blue. For those of you looking for a private wedding on the beach – this is not the location.

Basico
Thumbs down. Very fun 80’s look – that hasn’t seen a paintbrush since. The place smells really bad.

Activities
Drive into Playa and walk 5th Ave.

Restaurants and Food
Le Reve
Tasty and nicely presented. I thought the tortilla soup was a little hollow but every one else raved about their food.

Transportation
Cancun Rent a Car
I highly recommend them. Their price includes all taxes and insurance. The car was clean and reliable.

Top picks in Playa

I’ve always been reluctant to consider Playa del Carmen for a wedding. This isn’t a sleepy little fishing town any more and there are skyscraper hotels from Cancun to Xcaret. However, I found a gem at Le Reve. Next to the Tides, between Aventura Palace & Catalonia Maya, this hotel is found in the center of a small bay that hides the two mammoth hotels from view. The covered, open-air restaurant is large enough to host your dining and dancing. The 25 rooms have air conditioning and hair dryers. The hotel is decorated with locally made tile and light fixtures.
Doranna is also a fantastic hairdresser. Located just off of 28th St and 5th Ave. she managed to whirl up two great updo’s that perfectly matched my client’s tastes (pictures still to be posted).

The Road to Tulum

I had heard about Al Cielo on the road to Tulum. Word has it that it is on a lonely beach near Barcelo. The hotel has 4 rooms right on the beach and a huge restaurant large enough to feed 50. This makes it an interesting option for weddings that require blow driers.
Al Cielo certainly is on a lonely beach. It’s quieter than Tulum – more like Sian Ka’an without the trash.
It’s also next to Essencia, which is a gorgeous hotel. Once a hacienda built by an Italian Duchess, this is Mil Amores but larger and fully staffed. They have an organic spa that is to die for. They roast the herbs outside and many of the treatment rooms have dipping pools surrounded by the jungle. The treatments are reasonably priced at $130/massage. The hotel rooms are not at $600/night. Beautiful location though. I’m definitely recommending this for the girl’s spa day.

My “To Do” List

Found a place to rent generators
Found local party furniture rental
Found two local florists
Found hairstylist & make-up artist

Dinner by Mindy

Mindy was kind enough to cater a private dinner for us at Mil Amores. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves. This is the way all scouting trips should go. Two fantastic couples, 3 amazing tasting courses, 2 bottles of wonderful wine in one of the most romantic places in Tulum. The wind was softly blowing, we were surrounded by candles and I fell in love – with everything.
Mindy really did an outstanding job. The shrimp was just spicy enough, the beef was juicy and the flan was creamy.

Tequila

My husband is a tequila connoisseur. We probably own 30 bottles of tequila. The last time we were in Mexico he fell in love with this really cheap bottle of Tequila “Orrendain” (the brand, not the type). He asked me to bring him home a bottle of Orrendain Joven. The last day in Mexico I wandered around and found him two bottles, paying no attention to the “EXTRA” typed below the joven, in a different font. Low and behold it’s Extra Joven – extra young. Not the same. Oh well. I’ll just have to go back.

Tips

Everything takes longer
It takes 20 minutes to drive down the beach road. So don’t. Rent a bike or stay put.

Order a private dinner on the beach.
Everyone is so accomodating. Just ask and it will happen. It will be the most romantic night of your life – until you do it again.

Lodging
Mayan Hostel Tulum
Still don’t like this hostel, but the client’s were at Blue Tulum and it was close. Thumping music and drafty walls made this an unpleasant stay.

Blue Tulum
Was pleased to stay here in for two nights. Comfortable beds, hot clean water, and super accommodating staff. Really wish they had a beach and put the outlets in places I could find them.

Ocho
25 rooms. Some close to the ocean, some not so much. The selling point on this hotel is their great restaurant. It is a large raised palapa. Their beach has beds and both the restaurant and beach have plenty of helpful staff. They are currently closed, but we all have our fingers crossed that they will be up and running again soon.

Las Ranitas
I have hope for this property. 25 spacious rooms. They have a pool, tennis courts, massage cabana and a large restaurant. This hotel has good bones and a new owner that promises to have a remodeling project finished by the end of the year. They plan on repainting and replacing all of the textiles. I will be e-mailing them for frequent updates.

Mil Amores
Mil Amores – 1,000 Loves. My heart stays here every time I leave. The beautiful spacious rooms, the airy palapas, the intriguing architecture. The staff that bends over backwards to please your every whim. I heart Mil Amores.

Shambala Petite
Very cute almost oriental hotel. 9 Rooms and prideful owner on site.

Amansala So this is where the party people stay! This fun hotel is run by 3 25 year old hot boys. It’s a bikini boot camp/yoga retreat/hotel for the single and fit. This is where your young single friends should stay.

Activities

Spa at Essensia
Absolutely beautiful and serene. I could spend the entire day here by myself, or with my girlfriends, or my husband….maybe I just wouldn’t leave.

Massages by Margo
While I did not have time to receive a massage, one of my couples did. They both said that they were amazing massages. She even got the butt really well- which is usually a miss hear in the states. I look forward to my massage next time.

Hidden Worlds
I dropped Couple #1 off at Hidden Worlds while I went and finished my to do list. They came back happy and excited. The first cenote is a hoot to zip line into, the second cenote has very cool snorkeling. Skip the skycycle. It goes WAY TOO SLOW.

Friday night at Mezzanine
If you want to “club it” in Tulum, this is where you would go. The music was loud, the entertainment was – well, entertaining and Mezzanine is just a cool venue.

Sunday Night Salsa Lessons
My old friend Romero wasn’t teaching this week, but I know he’s still around. The salsa lessons let anyone join in and have fun. Afterwards the music continues so that everyone can practice.

Restaurants and Food

Cocktails at Cesiak Sunset at Cesiak can’t be beat. There’s no where else in town where you can watch the sunset of the lagoon.

Pizza at Om Eat your heart out Jim.

Mindy – caterer
She used to run an “intimate dining” company in San Francisco. Now she raises her family in Tulum. She has excellent roots in the community that allow her to find staff to cater private events. Her husband is a sommolier, so you could say they are a match made in heaven – and we reaped the benefits.

Teetotum Tulum
I don’t think I ordered right here. I had the breakfast burrito, and it was ok. Everyone else had the coconut french toast and they all ooh’d over it. Very cute swedish interior.

Cetli
Yumm…. The appetizers were different spreads for our homemade bread. We greedily asked for more bread. Then we ordered the grilled fish and veggies, and the challa and chicken empanada with green mole sauce. It was earthy and rich with spices without being too hot. The owner Claudia is very sweet and is so proud of her restaurant. She is considering catering for us.

La Zebra
Always consistently good food and service. A great stage and dancing area for large parties.

Transportation

Collectivo
There is now a collectivo that runs up and down the beach road. Hooray!

Bike
After the second day of scouting I really get tired of driving this bike. I truly suggest getting a bike for a most relaxing stay.

Walk
I woke up every morning and took a walk on the beach. How fantastic is that? I met Ed, because I thought he looked like Kevin from the Tulum forum. A great guy from Canada who’s been traveling for a whole year. I’m uber jealous.

I’ll be heading to Tulum Nov. 11-15 to scout out another wedding. We’ll be visiting the small hotels along the beach, sampling menus at each of the possible venues including:
Mil Amores
Cesiak
Blue Tulum
Ocho
Charlie’s

We’ll also be running several excursions:
Hidden Worlds
Tulum ruins
Snorkeling in Yak-Ul lagoon

Feel free to join us. We’d be happy to have you along.