HotelChatter

Being the type of travelers who only need clean, comfortable beds and bath, enough room to dry off the day's damp swimsuits and a balcony for the pre-dinner Coronita, Playa Los Arcos was perfect. It's the kind of place where you stroll into the open air beachside restaurant in the morning and looking down at your platter of hot cakes drizzled with dulce de leche and topped with plaintains is just as gorgeous a view as Playa de Los Muertos (Beach of the Dead, named for a forgotten battle) just next to you. The type of hotel where you're lazing by the pool after trudging back from the beach and just before you drift into a nap, a guanabana (soursop) may plop down from the same tree that's providing you with much needed evening shade, narrowly missing your head. Newton doesn't have anything on this.

Most importantly, the hotel is free from the throves of timeshare sharks that circle tourists with toothy grins at the five-star brand name resorts in the Zona Hotelera (Hotel Zone). Yes, you're not left entirely alone on the Playa Los Arcos beach - mariachis serenade, everyone has a coconut to offer and henna for fake tattoos flows like tequila - but that's all part of the true Mexican experience, which is the style of this hotel.

As the sun sets, follow the boardwalk from the hotel directly to downtown PV, a pretty little stretch that has everything - the evening glow to match your tan, dramatic views of the Bahia de Banderas (the seventh biggest bay in the world) and the seafood that everyone else is having for dinner as you stroll by beachfront restaurants. After your business is done in the PV nightlife (no questions asked), loop back to Playa Los Arcos via the sidewalks of the part of town that looks close to what John Huston and his "Night of the Iguana" cast discovered when they arrived for filming. You'll see a lovely building with warm yellow accents and pink dahlias creeping over Spanish lattice grilles... and then you'll realize, hey, that's my hotel, the Playa Los Arcos.