June 8, 2011 Purpose of BlogAboutPlaya: My love affair with Playa del Carmen
I’ve spent several posts telling you about Playa del Carmen, and will continue to do so, but I thought it might be time to tell you a little bit about me and my love affair with Playa. I’ve been married to Terry for 9 years, and we have 5 single, adult sons. Terry and I have known each other for 20 years.
I fell in love with Terry on the beach
Our third date was to Cancun for a long weekend and I fell in love with Mexico (and Terry). Since then we’ve gone to lots of places in Mexico: Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, Aculpoco, Cabo San Lucas, Cozumel, Tulum and lots of other little places, but Playa del Carmen grabbed my heart and soul like no other place.
The first time we visited was 1993 when the road from the airport to Playa was a pot-holed and dirt, unlike the 4 line highway there now. We had to slow down so many times or be eaten up by the enormous potholes. The scenery was Mexican jungle (not one of my favorites), but when we pulled into Playa, it had such charm. Cute, white stucco buildings were everywhere as were flowers and tropical plants. It was a small town and you felt like a guest in someone’s home rather than a tourist in a tourist trap. It reminded me of the Italian Riviera.
We stayed at the Continental Plaza Hotel (no longer there). It was on the south end of 5th Ave and we could walk directly out of the hotel either onto the beach or 5th Avenue. The beaches were miles of white sand where the water starts out turqoise, then turns to ocean blue. We’d walk for miles, then stop on the way back and have a drink at the Blue Parrot.
We met a waiter, Edwin, who spoke enough English to have the kitchen make us a grilled grouper sandwich that was unbelievably delicious. When Edwin left the Blue Parrot and went to Coco Maya, we went with him. Every time we arrive in Playa, our first stop is lunch with Edwin. Edwin never forgets a face and waves as he sees us approach Coco Maya.
Soon the drinks, guacamole, and grilled grouper sandwiches fill our table and as we look out at the coastline of Cozumel, we clink our glasses, and thank god for how lucky we are.
Lots of our guests send us pictures of themselves with Edwin at Coco Maya
I traveled a lot for business, and have been all over the world. Terry likes to travel and we’ve done a lot of traveling for personal pleasure as well. I love Europe and South America. I love beaches, mountains and natural beauty. We’ve been to Australia, the French Riviera, the Italian Riviera, the Caribbean, the coast of Spain, Florida, and California, but the best beach I’ve ever found is in Playa del Carmen.
I like the many colors of the water that starts out clear and light turqoise, then becomes lighter and darker in spots moving offshore, depending on the reefs below the surface. I love the texture of the white sand: it’s not too grainy, not too soft. I loved how beautiful Cabo was, but was so disappointed when we couldn’t do long beach walks because of the rocks and cliffs. The town of Playa is similar to Puerto Vallarta, but the beaches in Playa are so much cleaner as is the water.
Town in Playa really focuses on 5th Avenue, a pedestrian only street that starts at Juarez on the south side and continues north a couple of miles. When we started going to Playa in 1993, 5th was about 1 mile long. Over the years we’ve seen it grow pand develop. We always used to eat dinner on the south side of 5th – that was the only option. Now we walk north where there is almost every type of restaurant possible: Cuban, Italian, Mexican, French, Argentinean, Brazilean, Japanese, Natural/Organic as well as Starbucks, Hagen-Daz, and pizza places. If you want my restaurant recommendations, click here.
Fifth Avenue is more than 2 miles of pedestrian only open air restaurants and shops
As the daughter of a pipefitter, I always loved walking construction sites as buildings were going up, so every time we were in Playa I would drag Terry through condo’s and timeshares as they were being built. We looked at a lot of properties over the years and came close to buying a condo a couple of times. Finally in 2003, we saw Villas Sacbe as it was being completed and were drawn to it because of the architecture, flowers and lighting. We rented condo’s at Sacbe and took our 5 sons and 2 girlfriends in 2004. They also fell in love with Playa and all that it has to offer and have been back multiple times for vacations. It was at that point that Playa felt as much like home as home does.
In 2004 we purchased a two-bedroom condo under construction in Porto Playa, one block north of Villas Sacbe by the same builder and architect as Sacbe. Who knew it would turn out to be one of the largest and best condo’s in Porto Playa? We’ve enjoyed Porto Playa over the years and when the builder said he was going to build a property on the beach, we were one of the first to buy in El Taj Ocean.
We considered both properties to be investments, not retirement or 2nd homes, so we rent them out as do most of the owners. We have a Property Management Company that runs the properties as hotel/condos with all the amenities of a hotel: 24 front desk, 24 hour security, daily maid service, concierge, etc. There are now almost 100 units in 5 properties that we refer to as the El Taj Collection: El Taj Ocean, El Taj Beach, Porto Playa, Villas Sacbe, and Maya Villa. All five properties are offered at different price ranges but are similar in architecture and appearance. They all have large, wavy balconies, high ceilings and stunning lighting and landscaping. Guests at all the properties receive complimentary beach chairs at Asi Beach Club located at El Taj Ocean and complimentary use of The Gym, located at Porto Paya. That’s probably the best deal in Playa whether you stay on the beach at El Taj Ocean or not.
Although the Property Management Association does their own marketing and handles all of the reservations, I had ideas that I wanted to try out, so I started a website in 2008 and listed my properties on several sites including VRBO and Trip Advisor. As I mentioned, this is a business for us, an investment. Within a short time, my units were booked most of the time so the Property Manager suggested I rent out any and all of the 100 units, and that’s how I got into the rental business. I currently bring in about 25% of the rental business in the 5 properties. I would be happy to help you find the right unit for your needs, and help you with any detail you need assistance with. Even if you don’t book through me, you might find my websites to offer helpful information on things to do, places to see, restaurants to try out. I’m here to help.
My promises to you:
1. I respond to all emails within hours.
2. I want you to have the right property for your needs and desires even if it means renting you another unit (not ours) in any of our 5 properties: Porto Playa, El Taj Ocean, El Taj Beach, Maya Villa or Villas Sacbe, or someone else’s property
3. I will be honest with you on any and all questions you may have.
My goal is for you to have a fabulous experience and come back again.
That’s me in the Aqua Spa at El Taj Ocean