Reviews

L.A. Times Travel Section
April 30, 2000
by Jim Smith

The well-equipped and lovingly maintained house we rented is called Regalo del Mar (Gift From the Sea). It is owned by a Canadian couple, Cam and Bev Gesy, who reclaim the prime front suite from January to March.

We spent a week there at the end of December, luxuriating in an affordable, elegant and virtually solitary escape. We swam in the private pool of the villa we had rented with a few friends. We read pleasantly mediocre paperbacks while rocking lazily in hammocks just a few feet from the ocean. We cooked fresh fish on our barbecue in the outdoor communal kitchen. It was the height of the winter vacation season, yet we never saw more than two dozen people on the beach.

We found fresh flower petals strewn around the bathroom sink each day, and big, thick towels made showering a pleasure. The thatched-hut style is popular in Troncones, a new resort on the Pacific north of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. The rustic look hides such amenities as a dishwasher in family-size units at Regalo del Mar.

We kept meaning to check out Zihuatanejo. But day after day went by, and we never did get up the energy to make the journey--what with moving from the hammock to the swimming pool to the beach and back. Friends who did go regretted it.

The Portland Oregonian
January 25, 2004
"Regalo del Mar: Paradise Found"

Troncones, population 300, is raw and unspoiled, with small bungalows, private homes and small hotel-ettes. It's a village. With no traffic.

We wanted “someplace where the ocean was warm, the beer was cold and the days would be an endless string of no agendas, abandoned wristwatches and gorgeous evening sunsets. No Cabos, no Vallartas, no touriste enclaves.”

Regalo del Mar looked like a private compound suitable for rock stars and reclusive CEOs. We all thought we had found paradise. Near our house, we had rocky coastline, with tide pools and sea creatures. Fifty yards south was an endless stretch of white sandy beach, perfect for boogie-boarding and surfing.

The Round House was a large one-room palapa-style building with its own bath and view of the ocean. It included a king-size bed as well as a couch, a couple of chairs and a table. This would be our private room, where we would spend hours reading, looking up at the intricate rope-and-palm-frond roof, gazing out at the ocean.

The master suite was also palapa-style, with a huge living room, bedroom and bathroom. It faced out to the pool, and overlooked the ocean.

Regalo del Mar also has a separate, elevated kitchen that would serve as our dining room and morning-coffee area. We were able to save money, buying groceries and cooking many of our meals. And we were at a place that was a vacation all by itself. We didn't have to leave if we didn't want to, and there were plenty of days when we didn't.