Photo Du Jour: An Eye On Carnival Puerto Vallarta

This photo comes to us courtesy of Puerto Vallarta Carnival, which took place earlier this year, but we loved the colors and the sexy look of this disguised stranger.

It’s not a gay event per se but with all those feathered, bejeweled and made-up guys, there’s certainly something at least a bit queer about it.

Speaking of PV, we recently covered their upcoming Pride. Click here for more information.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Flexes Its Pride

I’ll go if they’re there!

Puerto Vallarta’s annual LGBT event “Vallarta Pride” will take place this year on the weekend of May 24^th, 2013.

Events will start with a cocktail kick-off at Puerto Vallarta’s Casa Cupula Hotel Boutique and continue for three days, celebrating LGBT culture and Puerto Vallarta’s welcoming community with music festivals, beach parties, fashion shows, mass commitment ceremony and activities in participating bars and clubs.

To get your planning going, download our iPad app here and purchase the October 2012 issue.

Parting Shots: Behind the Scenes in Mexico

The last section of our magazine is “Parting Shots,” which are photos taken by our Global Correspondents, subscribers and other friends who send us their favorite image relating to that month’s theme. Our April theme was architecture. Here’s the story behind one of our favorite pictures of the Museo Soumaya in Mexico from Global Correspondent Paul VanDeCarr.

The museum opened in March 2011, and I visited and took this photo in June 2011. On the inside are enormous white galleries divided up by movable walls, and some excellent pieces (and some not-so-excellent). But it’s the exterior that I really like. It’s got a honeycombed pattern of reflective glass on the outside, so fluid and organic-looking that I want to lick it or eat it. It was designed by Mexican architect Fernando Romero, and funded by another Mexican and the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helú — the museum is named after the latter’s late wife.

World’s First Travel Discount Website For Gay Travelers

Picture yourself on this Cancun beach. Ahhhh

OffTo.com is the first website that offers deals on customized getaways specifically for LGBT travelers. The travel experts behind OffTo bundle accommodations with activities tailored to the interest of lesbian and gay travelers. Best of all they negotiate the best possible prices, which translates into savings of 40%, 50% or more below retail.

The most important vacation decision a lesbian or gay traveler can make is where to stay. One homophobic raised eyebrow at the pool or comment from an insensitive check-in clerk that “there must be some mistake here: there is only one bed on this reservation, Mr. Jones” can ruin a trip.

So all of OffTo’s partners – accommodations, venues, activities, cultural attractions, etc. — are required to meet industry standards of LGBT-friendliness, sensitivity and community support. Click here to learn more about OffTo’s commitment to LGBT travelers.

OffTo’s chief communications officer, Brian Goldthorpe says that the site will offer deals all over the world, and that getaways “include 24-hour escapes, multi-week vacations and everything in-between. We work with accommodations of all sizes and styles,” Goldthorpe continues “and the activities and diversions in our packages correspond to specific LGBT leisure interests, including outdoor excursions, city history tours, arts and culture, spa services, dining, LGBT events, live entertainment, nightlife and more.”

There are currently five deals included in the site, with more being added regularly. Current savings range from 47% off retail (for a five-night Disney getaway for only $425 — a savings of $370 off retail) to a whopping 81% off for a four-night Cancun beach escape for only $159.  That’s $680 less than the retail price. That’s a lot more margaritas you can enjoy!

I heard about this terrific new site through colleagues in the industry. Later OffTo asked me to write up some of their getaways since I’ve visited so many of them. Check out these two getaways in Atlantic City, New Jersey that I wrote. For a quick gaming/hotel resort fix, AC is a New Yorker’s very own east coast Vegas!

• Atlantic City Thursday-Friday deal
• Atlantic City Sunday and Monday deal

Get a Taste of Gay Puerto Vallarta

Vallarta Fever presents The White Party November 25, 2011

Gay Taste is Best.  We know that.  You know that.  And now Puerto Vallarta agrees.  It was one year ago that Casa Cupula, the city’s upscale gay boutique hotel, opened its first restaurant to the general public.  And now, Taste Restaurant is being honored as the “Best New Restaurant in Puerto Vallarta” by the readers of Vallarta Lifestyles Magazine.

Puerto Vallarta is undoubtedly one of Mexico’s most gay-friendly destinations, yet it’s still unprecedented for the restaurant of a gay hotel to win this distinction.  Then again, Taste is all about options, and everyone likes the spice of variety.

The menu includes Mexican, American, Asian and South American cuisine, available in both entrée and tapas (or “taste”) sized portions.  At Taste you can join the party in the intimate dining room and bar, or enjoy a sun/moon-lit meal on the adjoining terrace, overlooking the Bay of Banderas. Taste serves breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner.

If you are still searching for the perfect dinner partner, Puerto Vallarta turns up the heat over Thanksgiving, when the city hosts Vallarta Fever. From November 23-27, DJs Paulo, Tony Moran and Chi Chi LaRue headline a weekend of parties, dances and events to help you find that special someone.

SUITE DREAMS: THE INTOXICATING HOTEL HABITA

Story and photo by Paul VanDeCarr You might find yourself intoxicated at the rooftop bar of Hotel Habita, located in Mexico City’s upscale Polanco neighborhood. And it wouldn’t be just because of the drinks, such as the tamarind margaritas. There’s also the splendid tapas, the sixth-floor view of the area, the terrace pool, the ambient music, the fire, maybe the fact that you’ve just enjoyed a spa treatment on-site, and of course the presence of a mover-and-shaker crowd. And that’s just the rooftop. Let’s not forget the 36 guest rooms, which have a cool, minimalist design (glass desks, white walls, grey couches, etc.) and ridiculously comfortable beds. Continuing down to the ground floor, try the menu at the hotel restaurant, Lobby, which holds its own in this famously food-centered district.At Habita, you’re within walking distance of some of the finest Mexican cuisine you’re ever likely to try, such as at Pujol (pujol.com.mx) or El Bajío. The hotel itself doesn’t feel especially gay, but it’s got gay-friendly management and sophisticated international guests who won’t blink at homo PDAs. For a luxurious stay amidst world-class eateries and classy shopping (and, of course, a taxi ride to gay nightspots), Hotel Habita is unsurpassed.

THE RED TREE HOUSE: YOUR HOME IN MEXICO CITY

Story and photo by Paul VanDeCarr Mexico City is a thrilling, if sometimes overwhelming, metropolis—a great destination on its own, or on the way to a beach resort elsewhere in the country. I’m pleased to report on The Red Tree House, a super-friendly, comfortable B&B that serves as an ideal base-camp for your excursions into the wider world. (Not for nothing is their tagline “Your home in Mexico City.”) The place exudes warmth—colorful décor, helpful and fully bilingual staff, and common areas for tasty breakfasts and evening drinks that encourage friendly interactions among guests (about 20% of whom are queer, estimates the manager).There are other hotels more convenient to gay nightlife, but the fact is, you’re bound to take taxis anyway; what’s more, the hotel—in the verdant, hip Condesa neighborhood—is a stone’s throw from a sake bar, a chocolate shop, a half-dozen restaurants of various sorts, and nightlife. The place will charm you, and for a reasonable price. (Rooms are $74/night and up for one person, or $89 and up for double-occupancy.)

Puerto Vallarta Gets Tastier

Story by Ivan Quintanilla; Originally published in GPS.OutTraveler.com

If variety is the spice of life, gay Vallarta is simmering with new flavors.  Casa Cupula, the decidedly upscale, boutique gay hotel in Puerto Vallarta, has opened its new restaurant Taste to the public.   Perched on a secluded hillside, overlooking the Bay of Banderas, Taste is all about options. Choose to dine in the newly redesigned intimate dining room or under the sunshine/moonlight on the adjoining terrace.