Villa Group Unveiled

The owners of The Villa Group first met while working for a timeshare company, and in 1985, Luz Maria Torres, Fernando Gonzalez and Owen Perry decided to start their own business. The Mexican-owned Villa Group now comprises six hotels in the Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta areas with two more in the works and more than 1,500 rooms and 2,500 employees company-wide.

Another piece of the puzzle: Villa owns a construction company, which allows the group more control over the look of its resorts as well as the ability to meet construction deadlines. But even with this unique resource, The Villa Group has preferred to expand at a relatively slow pace.

“We don’t grow very fast because we like to design and build our own resorts,” Torres said, adding that the company prefers to take its time researching an area, especially since Villa’s top selling point is location.

Most of Villa’s resorts sit on safe, swimmable beaches unique among resorts in Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and nearby Nuevo Vallarta and the hotels are also close to towns with shopping and nightlife.

Inside, The Villa Group’s resorts are designed so that clients won’t need to leave the properties. Amenities include all-suite accommodations with kitchens, a spa and fitness center, supermarket, Internet cafe, tennis courts, children’s program and babysitting services, restaurants, pools and more.

The Villa Group offers another unique perk as it is Mexican-owned while most of the country’s chain hotels are owned by outside investors.

“This gives the Villa resort a flavor of Mexican hospitality that clients won’t find in larger chains,” said Villa Group spokeswoman Jennifer Barry, “as well as personality and a high level of service.”

The resorts have proven popular with families, averaging an 80-percent-plus occupancy rate year-round. But with its new properties, The Villa Group is looking to find another niche by offering guests a higher-end, family-friendly product.

Property Ladder

The Villa Group opened its first hotel, the Villa del Mar in Puerto Vallarta, about 20 years ago. Even with its success, the owners felt the resort had a flaw: It lacked direct beach access. To give guests oceanfront accommodations, The Villa Group purchased the adjacent land and built another hotel.

The Villa Group later combined these two properties into the Villa del Palmar Beach Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta. The family-friendly, 560-room Palmar offers clients a range of accommodations including small and large studios to one- and two-bedroom deluxe suites, all with private balconies and a kitchenette or full-size kitchen.

After experiencing success with the Palmar, The Villa Group opted to jump to Cabo San Lucas and in 1994 opened the Villa del Palmar Beach Resort & Spa Los Cabos. Offering similar amenities to the first Palmar, the 458-room resort also aims to attract budget-conscious families.

“That has proven to be a very smart move of the group,” said Jose Manuel Castello, the director of sales and marketing for The Villa Group. “It has brought a product to Cabo San Lucas that it desperately needed.”

Villa decided to go more high-end for its next venture and purchased the property adjacent to the Palmar in Los Cabos to build its flagship resort. Villa La Estancia Beach Resort & Spa set new standards for the company.

Estancia’s high-quality service and atmosphere attract celebrities and politicians alike, including actor Orlando Bloom, U2 (the rock band recently spent two months there) as well as Vicente Fox, Mexico’s president. The hacienda and Spanish-colonial-style Estancia offers guests a range of accommodations from 700-square-foot suites to three-bedroom oceanview villas.

As Estancia opened in June 2004, the company started developing Villa del Palmar Flamingos Beach Resort & Spa Nuevo Vallarta.

Flamingos, which will hold its grand opening next month, creates a new niche for the company by combining the high-end setting and services of the Estancia with the family-friendly perks of the Palmar resorts.

“There are so many sophisticated, high-end travelers today who want to go on a vacation that meets their expectations and still take their children along,” Barry said. “And I think we’re really meeting that need.”

Often, she added, clients looking for children’s programs and perks are limited to all-inclusive resorts and, perhaps in exchange, must compromise on luxury.

“I don’t think there is much competition in the area of resorts that cater to high-end family travelers,” Barry said.

Along with children’s programs, the traditional Mexican-style oceanfront, all-suite Flamingos boasts 117 rooms ranging from deluxe studios to three-bedroom suites all with kitchens and private balconies.

The Flamingos features a multi-level, free-flow swimming pool, oceanfront whirlpool, a full-service spa and equipment for a variety of watersports.

Dining options include the Bella Vista an outdoor terrace restaurant serving Italian and Californian-fusion cuisine and the more casual Pizza Bar. The North Beach Club offers live music from local bands and dancing.

In addition to stepping into a new niche market, the Flamingos also moves The Villa Group into an up-and-coming area of Mexico. Nuevo Vallarta offers clients a quieter alternative to nearby Puerto Vallarta, Barry said, while still giving guests easy access to the city’s shopping and nightlife. Barry added that Nuevo Vallarta is a popular family spot because the area offers golf courses as well as pristine and safe, swimmable beaches away from the crowds.

The Villa Group has also taken strides to make selling its properties easy for travel agents.

Along with working to keep its Web site user friendly and rates competitive, The Villa Group has U.S.-based offices that allow payments to be made promptly from U.S. banks.

A fully equipped and trained reservations center based in the Villa del Palmar Flamingos Resort allows agents to make reservations via a toll-free number supported by a reservation agent able to answer questions about all of the resorts.

The sales and marketing offices, implemented two years ago, have expanded the team with reps in each area of the U.S.

Coming Attractions

In the same vein as the Flamingos, The Villa Group will open its second high-end, family-friendly resort in June of 2007.

Villa del Arco in Los Cabos will offer 159 suites at the same level as the Estancia, but the Villa del Arco will be more aimed to kids. The resort will feature a pirate ship in the middle of the pool complete with slides and a restaurant. For adults, the Arco will offer a self-standing spa equipped with one floor dedicated to a fitness center. The spa will be accessible to guests in Villa’s two other Los Cabos properties, which all will be within walking distance of one another.

“The next property we have on the horizon that I’m allowed to talk about because there are several is the Villa La Estancia Beach Resort & Spa in Nuevo Vallarta,” Castello said.

The Estancia Vallarta is slated to open in the summer of 2007, and like the hotel of the same name in Los Cabos, the resort will target luxury travelers more than families.

The Villa Group also operates two other resorts offering different vacation options. And since the resorts are not part of the Villa’s growing new brand, the properties are marketed separately.

The Hotel Santa Fe in Cabo San Lucas is a smaller budget hotel that caters to families, while the setting of the Sierra Lago Resort & Spa is a departure from Villa’s other resorts.

Located in the Sierra Madre Mountains above Puerto Vallarta, this remote, 23-room boutique hotel offers clients lakefront accommodations and a range of outdoor activities including horseback riding, mountain biking, bird watching, fishing, kayaking and sailing. The all-inclusive, five-star Sierra Lago is designed for weddings, meetings or small groups seeking privacy and the outdoors.

Looking Ahead

The Villa Group’s resorts draw most of their guests from West Coast and Pacific Northwest cities in the U.S., but with new flights, the company is seeing travelers from other areas.

Several carriers plan to increase nonstop service to Los Cabos for the fall and winter seasons. While Alaska and United airlines are offering more nonstops from the West Coast, American, Delta and Continental are adding flights from Midwestern or East Coast hubs.

Even as Los Cabos sees more airlift, as The Villa Group branches out, it has set its sights on Loreto.

“We believe Loreto is a very good area,” said Torres. “We foresee it as the next hot spot for Baja. Aside from it being a beautiful area, it’s close to California and has a beautiful ocean.”

Villa is also looking to grow into Cancun even though its roots so far have been on Mexico’s Pacific Coast although Torres said that the recent hurricanes have slowed any expansion. Mazatlan is also on the company’s radar, but Villa is unlikely to settle there in the next few years.

“Mazatlan as a destination needs to focus more on tourism,” Torres said, and draw more air carriers to the city.

Wherever Villa chooses to set up shop next, luxury travelers and families will likely follow.