Move over, Los Cabos. There’s a new capital of luxury resorts in Mexico, and it’s along the coastline of Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta. Years ago, the beaches of Riviera Nayarit and those along Puerto Vallarta and the Costalegre were known for their bohemian surfer vibes, budget backpacker bungalows, and off-the-grid secrets.Â
Well, the secret is out, and the investments have followed by the millions. Over the past few years, Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta have received massive injections of investment, which have been poured directly into the development of five-star hotels and resorts. You may recognize names like One&Only Mandarina and Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, the two bookends along a vast stretch of coastline peppered with one impressive resort after the next.
Development is not exclusive to hotels and resorts. Infrastructure has also received massive funding, from the recently rebranded Riviera Nayarit International Airport in Tepic to the new highway connecting Guadalajara with Puerto Vallarta, passing through the state of Nayarit. Puerto Vallarta’s international airport is in the process of expanding to include a new terminal, as well, to bring more tourists to the region and help alleviate the congestion in and around Puerto Vallarta.
Looking ahead towards the end of 2024 and through 2026, the coastline is expecting the debut of some heavy hitters, with big names like Rosewood, Montage, and Ritz-Carlton on the horizon. Here’s a look at some of the biggest five-star development projects coming to Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.
Rosewood Mandarina
Heads turned in 2020 with One&Only opened One&Only Mandarina along Riviera Nayarit. Now the next phase of the Mandarina development is set to debut with the opening of Rosewood Mandarina. Slated for a 2025 launch, this will be Rosewood’s fourth property in Mexico.
The resort will offer 140 guest rooms, suites, and villas, with views across the mountains, beach, and ocean. Three bars and restaurants will be part of the property, including a specialty restaurant and sunset bar, as well as a pool grill and beach bar. The resort will have three pools, a fitness center, a spa with 10 treatment rooms, and event space.Â
Me by Melia Sayulita
While Sayulita has long been known for its boutique hotels and surf bungalows, the bohemian village north of the Bay of Banderas is about to welcome its first brand-name hotel. The ME Sayulita will have 125 rooms and villas, three restaurants, a pool, gym, spa, beach club, a rooftop bar, and a pool venue. It is slated to open by the end of 2024.
Milaroca, A Belmond Hotel
In 2024, Milaroca, A Belmond Hotel will open along the Riviera Nayarit coastline. The resort’s 57 guest pavilions will be shrouded in 105 acres of thick jungle, overlooking a beachfront two kilometers long. The rooms will range from junior suites to one-bedrooms, jungle suites, and 12 three-bedroom villas. Most rooms will have private plunge pools, as well. The resort will have six dining venues, a wellness center, four outdoor swimming pools, and 27 private villas.Â
Zel Sayulita
The Zel brand is a lifestyle hotel partnership between Melia Hotels International group and tennis superstar Rafa Nadal. The brand is bringing its first hotel to Mexico in 2025 with Zel Sayulita. The beachfront hotel will have 145 rooms wreathed around a central courtyard, a nod to the Mediterranean roots of the Melia brand. The courtyard will be the place for socializing, dining, and relaxing.Â
Six Senses Xala
South of Puerto Vallarta, along the Costalegre, Six Senses is readying to make its Mexico debut. Scheduled to open in 2026, Six Senses Xala will be part of the Xala master-planned residential community. The beachfront resort will have 51 bungalow-style villas with private pools, nestled amid coconut palms and mango fields. True to the Six Senses brand, environmental conservation is a huge part of the program. At Six Senses Xala, this includes the reforestation of 590 acres of land and the construction of a new coastal protection reef to create a consistent surf wave, all the while helping to preserve the marine habitat. Sea turtles will be monitored and protected through the sea turtle camp, and local families and farms will reap the benefits of renewable energy and year-round potable water.Â
Montage Punta Mita
Just north of Puerto Vallarta, along the luxe Punta Mita peninsula, Montage is developing its 63-acre newest hotel. Montage Punta Mita will open in 2026 and will feature 140 guest rooms and 91 Montage Residences. Along with multiple dining options, a resort pool, spa, and signature children’s program, this beachfront resort will bring another five-star experience to the Punta Mita peninsula
Pendry Punta Mita
Speaking of the five-star Punta Mita experience, Pendry Punta Mita is another exclusive hotel that is currently under development. The resort will open with 115 guest rooms, six dining concepts, the Spa Penury, a kids club, 30 Penury Residences, and a stretch of beachfront with a brag-worthy surf break. Pendry Punta Mita will open in 2026.
It’s certainly a change in pace for this part of Mexico, which up until recently was known more for its boutique and budget accommodations than for an extreme swing towards luxury. But with hundreds of miles of spectacular beaches, rugged mountainous landscapes, outdoor adventure, gastronomy, and international access, it’s not a surprise that wealthy travelers took notice.
Meagan Drillinger is a New York native who has spent the past 15 years traveling around and writing about Mexico. While she’s on the road for assignments most of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her home base. Follow her travels on Instagram at @drillinjourneys or through her blog at drillinjourneys.com.Â
Just like playa del Carmen and Tulum, big resorts in sayulita will turn the little pueblo into small citiy without good infrastructure. Glad my daughter married in there 5 years ago, when we had to find lodging for 100 people all over the town, and the vibe was still what it was. But that’s progress I guess, time to find a new relaxed beach.
I think is perfect planning. Keep the development density high in areas were infrastructure investment is possible. Please leave the small areas alone. PV, Cancun, Cabo are perfect places to Build to the limits. Sanitation, Roads, Airports, all to support the growth. Leave the small places for those that still want to raise families, experience a beautiful and unique culture. Huatulco, Zihua, Todo Santos, Tequila, Patzcuaro. Let them change as the Locals allow, No big developments, PLEASE.
It’s a disaster – the environmental damage is incalculable and permanent in areas already hit by increasingly severe water shortages, there are a few menial jobs for locals who can no longer to live there. It doesn’t matter to the wealthy tourists who come for a week or so and ultimately, when the environmental damage of aviation is recognized and priced in, the white elephants are left as eyesores on some of the most beautiful places on earth
No mention of sewage treatment facilites. All these places will drain raw sewage into the sea, raising fecal coliform levels that will make the beaches non-swimable and the shell fish non-edible. This is a dissster for Mexicans who live off what they can harvest from the land and sea, they have no currency income with which to replace lost natural foods and not every Mexican wants to be a hotel employee. We need to show more respect for the few Mexicans who already live on the cost with low environmental impacto.
Absolutely critical that such an expansion be accompanied by major infrastructure enhancements, including sewage and water. Don’t wreck the unique charm and vibe of Sayulita.
They are going to ruin Puerto Vallarta!
You sound like you think all this development is a good thing. Have you even considered asking the people who live in those areas what they think about it? Please consider being more of an English-language newspaper with real news rather than advertisements we would find in the living section of any paper.
I for one do not visit Mexico for “5 Star Experiences”
Astounding that a credible news organisation such as Mexico News Daily should publish a gushing, uncritical account without examining the wider issues at play and the ramifications such developments impose on the wider community. Must do better, please. Your credibility is at stake.
Astounding that a credible news organisation such as Mexico News Daily should publish a gushing, uncritical account without examining the wider issues at play such as the ramifications these developments impose on the environment and the wider community. Must do better, please. Your credibility is at stake.
Er, apologies for the double up …
Saulita has been ruined for 10 years. It is not something new. Sorry. The sewage problem is so real that we wont swim in the whole coast for the most part. We are seeing some change Saulita has simple treatment and a long pipe out into the ocean. Sewage is a mexican problem. In Lake Chapala where I live all the sewage is treated at the secondary level which is less than most of the USA and Canada. We are lucky to have any treatment.
Thanks for an informative read.
I remember visiting in 1982. dirt streets and the Flamingo golf course.
Their is no excuse for draining raw sewage into the sea.
This needs to highlighted, prioritized, and fixed.
I’m encouraged to see so many comments critical of uncontrolled 5-star development. Like many others, I travel to Mexico to enjoy its natural beauty and unique culture, and prefer a more bohemian experience that allows interaction with locals over a pampered cookie-cutter resort. These developments offer only the most menial opportunities for local residents while straining infrastructure and degrading the environment.