Mexico: My Favorite Hotels

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The Viceroy Riviera Maya (Photo by Brad A.Johnson)

“What’s your favorite hotel in Mexico?” That’s a question I get asked a lot.

It’s a loadeded question to which my answer changes daily. I’ve stayed at so many hotels and resorts in Mexico that I can’t possible count—or even remember—all of them. A favorite? I hesitate to pick just one. However, when pressed, I can usually come up with a short list of the places I most want to go back to again and again. This is, of course, a very personal and subjective list, one that varies wildly from glam to rustic, high-end to low. And it depends on whom I’m traveling with, too. So when asked about my favorite hotel, I generally respond with, “What are you in the mood for?”    Continue reading

Exclusive Sneak Peek: Las Ventanas’ Menu Revamp (All Mexican! No More Baja-Med)

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Tres leches from the upcoming menu at The Restaurant at Las Ventanas al Paraiso (Brad A Johnson)

Worldwide exclusive: Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos has been serving so-called “Baja Mediterranean” cuisine (a term it coined) at its signature Restaurant since the resort’s inception in 1997. But come January, that not-quite-authentic approach will be jettisoned in favor of a new, more genuinely Mexican menu inspired by regional classics (still incorporating the finest local ingredients), thus creating a far more authentic sense of place and local culture at the resort. Continue reading

Challenge the Chef: Tortilla Soup at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Los Cabos (recipe included)

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Texas Meets Yucatan-style tortilla soup (Brad A. Johnson)

I challenged the chef—and I won.

Well, sort of. Las Ventanas al Pariaso in Los Cabos offers a program called Challenge the Chef. To be honest, it’s not exactly what I thought it was going to be when I first heard about it. Initially I thought it was going to be a head-to-head competition, and I thought to myself, “Bring it!” More specifically, I was thinking of tortilla soup. I’ll pit my tortilla soup against anybody’s, even the chef of a five-star resort in Mexico. Continue reading