Thanks to our Advertisers
| |
|
|
Anyone have a crystal ball handy?
| It wasn't hard to see where things were headed when Hugo Chavez started consolidating power, taking over private industries, and demonizing the west. Like a bad movie we're forced to watch again, we all knew what this would lead to: a brain drain, foreign companies bailing out, a fall in productivity, and high inflation. Sure enough, it's all coming to pass. This year Venezuela, a country with one of the best conditions in the world for growing coffee beans, became a coffee importer after imposing price controls and watching output plummet.
The question is, what will happen in the countries where other leaders lean more toward the backpedaling of Chavez than they do toward progress? Bolivia has hewed closely enough that I don't see any reason it will become a better place for upscale travelers. For now it's a lost cause. But what about the ones on the borderline, like Ecuador and Nicaragua? They've been putting through some of the same constitutional changes meant to keep the current administration in power and seize more private assets for the government. Time will tell if that means just more stability or another entrenched dictatorship. With Ecuador being a major tourism destination and it becoming a real estate investment and retirement destination for foreigners, I'm hopeful that it won't turn into another Venezuela. Hopefully the country's citizens are just looking for a stop to the revolving door at the top and they won't end up with Hugo 2.
If you're living in one of these countries and your crystal ball is well-polished, shoot me a e-mail back with how things are looking. If I get enough feedback I'll post something on the blog.
|
What's New in Luxury Latin America?
| This past month most of our new additions have been new luxury hotels opening in Mexico, Colombia, and Chile.
The long-awaited St. Regis in Mexico City is well out of the soft opening phase now and seems to be humming along impressively. It's a fine alternative to the Four Seasons and Las Alcobas and will surely be popular with all those travelers trying to use or earn Starwood loyalty points. Fortunately, it's no cooking-cutter chain hotel as you'll see in our review.
In Cartagena, Colombia the boutique hotels are popping up left and right, but the one designed by Colombian fashion icon Silvia Tcherassi is a clear step above. See our review of Tcherassi Hotel + Spa.
There have been lots of glossy magazine reviews of The Aubrey in Santiago, Chile, but as is often the case in these long-lead-time publications, some junior editor in New York wrote the text before anyone had actually stepped inside. Our man in Chile stayed there the week it opened in March and says this is a fine boutique hotel in an unbeatable location.
|
Coming Soon
The best way to keep up with new items as they go up is to subscribe to the RSS feed of our blog. There I also toss in notable travel news from Latin America, reviews of airlines active there, and the occasional relevant book or spirits review. You can also follow us on Twitter at LuxLatinamerica.
Soon we'll be adding a feature on golfing in Costa Rica feature, a review of the new Le Meridien in Panama City, a new jungle lodge in Costa Rica, and some new and notable hotels in Uruguay.
And as always, we'll have some of our expert writers out exploring the horizons with select luxury tour companies.
Stay tuned!
|
Hasta Luego,
Timothy Scott
Editor, Luxury Latin America
305-428-2681
|
|