Hotel des Artistes del Mar in Punta de Mita, Nayarit, Mexico

We’re getting a new identity!

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:16:12 +0000

Psst! We have some exciting news to announce soon -- we’ll be changing our name to Hotel CINCO!

Think of it as Hotel des Artises… reimagined. While we will be changing our name, we are not changing anything about us that has made us the place guests love to return to again and again – our style, service, management and ownership remain the same – but we wanted our name to better reflect our guests. Vibrant, active, and in pursuit of an ocean-oriented experience.

And, importantly, we are still proudly the home of the award-winning Café des Artistes del Mar restaurant.

What is CINCO?

A lifestyle boutique hotel for surfers and travelers who enjoy the ocean lifestyle. We are the world’s premier Stand-up Paddle destination hotel, located on Mexico’s Pacific coast, in Punta de Mita.

Enjoy world-class surf and SUP breaks, exotic eco-adventures, local-harvest dining and a friendly, community spirited atmosphere. CINCO is dedicated to connecting adventurous, fun-loving, environmentally conscious travelers who share a passion for an active lifestyle and the ocean.

CINCO (the number “five”) is our address. It also represents the five elements of our guest experience:

Active
Accommodations
Dine & Drink
Art & Culture
Lifestyle

Welcome to CINCO!

BIOGRAPHY -ALEJANDRO MONDRIA-

Jesus — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:40:10 +0000

Born Mexico City in 1973.
Alejandro spent his childhood in Mexico and Switzerland.
He graduated from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, USA and then
studied on a years’ scholarship at the Instituto Piazza Cenci in Rome, Italy. His work has been featured in galleries and museums in USA, South America, Europe, China and Africa. He has also been included in collective exhibitions in museums throughout Mexico including a major solo exhibit at the highly respected Museo de Chopo in Mexico City in 2004. In 2007 Mondria was invited by an association of galleries in Beijing to participate in a festival promoting interaction between artists from all over the world.
This endeavour inspired his involvement with digital art as well as his installation pieces of large dimensions . 2010 brought the prestigious opportunity to represent Mexico at The Football World Cup in South Africa. Alejandro was invited by FIFA to create a piece that reflected his style and imagination of what the games meant to him.
“Until Reality” was on tour in capital cities throughout the world and its 120 reproductions were signed .
Today Mondria has a large international collector base. He resides near Punta Mita on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.
The sea has always represented a vital force in his life. One of the main elements of his work is water and the way it interplays with light whilst portraying the solitude of the journey of the human condition.
The art of Alejandro Mondria could be summed up in two short phrases “Seeking the infinity of innocence” and “Examining the beginnings of the eternal”.
His canvases are generally multi layered with heavy texturing. Sometimes he will have over thirty layers of paint on a work.
The canvases are layered in a combined effort of building up the texture whilst scraping away paint for the lower layers to show through.
He often reworks paintings several times in the pursuit of the universal visual dialogue that he is seeking. Sometimes the ghost of the former image might be allowed to reveal its ethereal presence as part of the new creation, yet within the specific focus towards the eternal.
Mondria covers a great deal of subject matter exploring many diverse scenes in a variety of techniques in formats that range from small 6’’x 6’’ pieces to striking 90’ murals. The general themes of family, parental love and one’s life journey are part of a larger tapestry that forms Mondria’s body of work always with a specific focus on the eternal.
He usually integrates a naive image of a sailboat, or its basic outline. The boats have become integral symbols of his paintings and they represent his philosophy that “life is a navigation,” a journey.
“A sailboat floats, sometimes propelled by the wind, sometimes caught in a lull but always floating in the unfathomable vastness of the ocean”.
Some of the paintings have faces reflected from the water that act as a self portrait in the most sublime sense.
Many have an old photograph collaged onto the canvas. All act as a focal point simultaneously guiding and mapping the path to unravel a particular visual journey.

GERRY LOPEZ CAMP IN PUNTA MITA, OCTOBER 20-21-22

Jesus — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:57:23 +0000

Standup Paddle (SUP) and Yoga camp in Punta Mita, Mexico. The perfect vacation; Yoga and SUP sessions led by Gerry Lopez, great surf conditions, perfect food and friends. Our next 3-day camp we be held October 15th – 17th. Before we open the camp to the public, we wanted to give our friends first shot at joining us. The camp is limited to only 12 people so, needless-to-say, it fills quickly. If you are interested in signing up let us know.

The clinic is geared towards all ability levels in both yoga and SUP. Cost of the three-day clinic is $1,395.00 per person, covering all standup paddle instruction, daily yoga classes, all meals, special evening social functions, equipment rental, use of boats to get to great surf spots, and camp swag (gifts) worth hundreds of dollars! (Airfare, hotel or condominium accommodations, , land transportation are not included.) The Hotel de Artistes is the official site of the camp.

Below is the camp schedule. Take a look and don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions. Feel free to pass this along to our network of friends. I hope you can make it.

Gerry Lopez Paddle Surf Lifestyle Camp
Camp Schedule – October 2011 camp

Evening Prior to the Start of the Camp – October 14th
7:00pm – Meet and greet – Camp Introductions – On the roof of the Hotel de Artistes. Dinner in town.

Day One – October 20
7:00am – Yoga Stretching Session – Meet on the roof top – Hotel des Artistes
8:30am – Breakfast – Cielo on the roof.
9:15am – Get ready to surf – equipment tweaking
9:30am – Morning session begins – Dryland skills session followed by paddle.
1:00pm – Lunch on at Cielo – Free time to practice/surf, sunbathe, relax, explore.
3:00pm – Afternoon session begins
5:00pm – Free time.
7:00pm – Dinner – Cielo on the roof
8:30pm –Talking Waves – Slideshow by Gerry Lopez showcasing his life surfing.

Day Two – October 21
7:00am – Yoga Stretching Session – Meet on the roof top – Hotel des Artistes
8:30am – Breakfast – Cielo on the roof.
9:15am – Get ready to surf – equipment tweaking
9:30am – Morning session begins – Dryland skills session followed by paddle.
1:00pm – Lunch at Cielo – Free time to practice/surf, sunbathe, relax, explore.
3:00pm – Afternoon session begins
5:00pm – Free time
7:00pm – Dinner out on the town

Day Three – October 22
7:00am – Yoga Stretching Session – Meet on the roof top – Hotel des Artistes
8:30am – Breakfast – Cielo on the roof.
9:15am – Get ready to surf
9:30am – Morning session begins – Dryland skills session followed by paddle.
1:00pm – Lunch at Cielo – Free time to practice/surf, sunbathe, relax, explore.
3:00pm – Afternoon session begins
5:00pm – Free time
7:00pm – Final Night Aloha Dinner – Awards ceremony. On the roof top.

The schedule may change due to weather, waves, tide or other factors.

Interesting Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Week Facts Revealed

Jesus — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:29:51 +0000

The popularity of this Puerto Vallarta annual dining celebration that takes place every year from May 15 to 31 is on the rise, according to information revealed by its organizers at a recent press conference. Vallarta Lifestyles Publishing Group launched the first Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Week event in May, 2005 and has maintained the same formula year after year: very much like similar events celebrated elsewhere in the world, Restaurant Week offers spectacular three-course menus with three options each discounted by up to 50%, at fixed menu prices $189 or $299 pesos.

The first edition of Vallarta Lifestyles’ Restaurant Week featured 33 participating restaurants. Since then, the number of participants has fluctuated favorably. In the upcoming edition of Restaurant Week, 38 restaurants as far north as Punta de Mita and south to Boca de Tomatlán, will offer unique menus for visitors and locals to enjoy. (This year’s menu guide can be browsed here in digital format.) Two of this year’s participants (Porto Bello and Tsunami) have two branches each, for a total of 40 venues to choose from.

This year, an unprecedented 13 restaurants are participating in Vallarta Lifestyles’ Restaurant Week for the first time, offering foodies an even more comprehensive option of new places to discover or re-visit.

The first time the Vallarta Lifestyles’ Restaurant Week Menu Guide was made available digitally was in 2009. By the time the event had reached its conclusion on May 15 of that year, the pages of the digital Menu Guide had been browsed 30,526 times. Available only since April 19, the number of page views for this year’s Menu Guide has already surpassed that number with a total of 56,752 views to date.

How popular is Restaurant Week in Mexico? Not very. A recent Google search of the terms “restaurant week mexico” reveals two interesting facts: there are no similar events in any other city in our country, and an increasing number of international news agencies, websites and blogs are covering the event year after year.

Numbers aside, Vallarta Lifestyles’ Restaurant Week has become an important decision-making factor for an increasing number of tourists that choose the second half of May as an ideal time to visit Puerto Vallarta and explore its gastronomy, paralleled in Mexico only by Mexico City’s

Vallarta Adventures Launches “Dolphin Extreme”

Jesus — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:19:26 +0000

Dolphin Adventure, by Vallarta Adventures, the premier dolphin swim company in the Vallarta area, recently launched Dolphin Extreme Swim—a one-of-a-kind underwater experience designed for those seeking a more adventurous marine mammal encounter. During the Dolphin Extreme encounter, guests equipped with a mask, snorkel and fins become immersed in the animal’s world for a 60-minute interactive encounter. Activities include two free-swim snorkeling sessions, an underwater tow-ride with two dolphins, a power-snorkel session with motorized water scooters, a Boogie Board push and an acrobatic performance by four dolphins. As an added bonus, guests also get the chance to swim and interact with a playful sea lion. Learn more about this exciting new experience by visiting Vallarta Adventures online at www.vallarta-adventures.com.

Dolphin Adventure, by Vallarta Adventures offers safe, interactive dolphin and sea lion programs for all ages and swimming levels at their dolphin center in Nuevo Vallarta. Their fun and engaging programs are designed to educate guests on marine mammals and encourage protection of the animals and their environments. A socially conscience organization, Dolphin Adventure is active in the rescue and rehabilitation of marine animals in the Vallarta area, donating resources and staff. Travel suppliers and travelers rely on Dolphin Adventure, and their sister company in Cabo, Cabo Dolphins, to deliver incredible experiences and lasting memories.