Last weekend we attended and Open House held at the newly opened La Mission Hotel on
the Malacon in Loreto. There was a great turnout of about 100 people, most of those were ex-pat residents of the town and surrounding area, including Loreto Bay. After a cocktail reception there were short presentations by the Sales Manager, Manuel Lopez, wlecoming us to the Hotel and inviting all to join a tour of the facility and see some examples of the different rooms available.
First of all a little history. The Hotel property is centrally located on the Malacon near the Marina facing the Sea of Cortez. This prime location had a partially completed three story shell around an open courtyard area and had sat abandoned for many years. Several years ago new owners purchased the site and work began on the new development. A fourth floor was added and the entire property received high quality finishes throughout. In the past year the project has been a hive of activity as it reached completion and we were anxious to see the finished results on our tour.The first room we saw was a deluxe ocean view
room at the front corner of the Hotel with a large
bathroom beautifully finished in marble with high end plumbing fixtures a king bed occasional chair, flat panel TV in a hutch and a large private balcony overlooking the malacon and ocean.
We also saw a smaller room on the “back” side of the hotel with twin queen beds, a smaller bath/shower and a smaller balcony with a view of the town roof tops but finished to the same high quality as the larger deluxe room.
The third room we saw was also on the ocean
side, large like the first deluxe room, but with twin queen beds and another large balcony with an ocean view as well as overlooking the Hotels large pool patio area that fills the central area that the Hotel wraps around on three sides.
Finally we saw a one bedroom suite with a spacious living room with a dining area and kitchenette separated from the living area by a granit topped island. The impressive bedroom suite was open to a large soaker tub that separates the bathroom from the sleeping area and both the bed and living rooms had sliding glass doors to the largest balcony/patio area I have seen in a hotel. I am sure this patio area was equal in square footage to the entire interior of this luxury suite.
We did not see all of the public areas of the Hotel, but we did visit the dining room bar area on the mezzanine level, overlooking the impressive entrance lobby. The bar had a very nice subdued atmosphere, low lighting and comfortable chairs inviting conversation while the dining room was intimate with a partially open kitchen. Although I haven't eaten there yet, friends who have report that the food is excellent.I also understand that there are going to be two other restaurants, I believe one will be a more casual deli style and the other will serve pizza, yum! The pool/patio area is surrounded by lounge chairs and tables with umbrellas and there is a fountain feature making for a very attractive place to spend a beautiful afternoon soaking up some Baja rays with breaks in the pool to cool off again. The Hotel also features a spa with all the expected services. There are a number of time-share units available within the Hotel and details were available about an offer to Loreto residents to make Hotel facilities accessible along with an accomodations package. The sales manager pointed out to those of us attending, that they did not have sales people on the streets or at the airport, as some of the more aggressive time-share projects that have started marketing actively this winter in Loreto.
In conclusion, I was most impressed by the extremely high level of finish and the detail of this project. The comment “good enough for Mexico” is not uncommon when discussing constuction here, but this building is a testament to the fact that world class quality can be achieved, even in a place like Loreto. Guests who are accustomed to staying in high quality hotel/resorts anywhere in the world will not be disappointed staying at La Mision, Loreto's newest and finest property, They have most certainly set a new standard that I look forward to future projects reaching for. You can get more information about rates and available packages at http://www.lamisionloreto.com/ and if you do contact them please mention that you read about it here on Living Loreto!
This is going to be a shorter posting than usual, mainly because we are currently hosting my mother, sister and brother-in-law who are visiting from Calgary. Having visitors here gives us the opportunity to see this place again with fresh eyes, experiencing again the colours and flavours that make up our surroundings, remembering how they affected us before and realizing how our perspectives have changed, and how we have changed.
I think I may have mentioned in an earlier posting one of our “mantras” that we live by down here; “We are not going to change Mexico, if we're lucky, perhaps Mexico will change us, and if we don't want that to happen then we shouldn't be here.” Well, having visitors from home gives us a reality check about who and where we are, and perhaps that statement is coming true, perhaps Mexico is changing us, I believe for the better, and that too is part of “Living Loreto”.
