Category: Travel

Photo courtesy Westin

The transformation of one of Puerto Vallarta’s long-established beachfront properties signals a broader shift in how luxury hotel brands are approaching the Mexican Pacific coast. Westin Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta, a fixture on the destination’s hotel zone for decades, is undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation that will see it emerge as an all-inclusive resort by spring 2026.

The 281-room property will operate under a new name, Westin Playa Vallarta, an All-Inclusive Resort, when the renovation wraps up in May. The rebrand positions it alongside Westin’s two other all-inclusive properties in Latin America: Westin Reserva Conchal on Costa Rica’s Guanacaste coast and Westin Porto de Galinhas in northeastern Brazil.

New Room Categories and Pool Access

The redesign introduces accommodation options previously unavailable at the property. Thirty suites will feature private plunge pools on their terraces, while 16 rooms will offer direct swim-up access to dedicated pool areas. These additions reflect growing traveler demand for in-room water features, a trend that has driven construction at competing resorts throughout the Banderas Bay region.

The remaining inventory will receive updated furnishings and finishes, though specific design details have not yet been released by Marriott International, Westin’s parent company.

Dining and Entertainment Expansion

Food and beverage operations are expanding significantly under the all-inclusive model. The resort will operate 10 culinary and entertainment venues, a substantial increase from the previous configuration. 

While individual restaurant concepts have not been announced, the number suggests a mix of specialty dining rooms, casual options, and bar venues spread across the property.

Distinct Zones for Different Travelers

The redesigned layout will separate the resort into adults-only and family sections, each with its own pool areas and facilities. This zoning approach has become standard at high-end all-inclusives throughout Mexico, allowing properties to serve couples and families simultaneously without the friction that sometimes arises from mixing the two demographics.

Sports and Wellness Facilities

Athletic facilities will include both pickleball and padel courts, the latter being the faster-growing racquet sport in Mexico. A WestinWorkout fitness studio and Heavenly Spa round out the wellness offerings. The spa brand is a Westin signature, found at properties throughout the chain’s global portfolio.

Pool areas throughout the resort will receive updates as part of the renovation scope.

Reservations and Timing

The property is currently accepting bookings for stays beginning May 1, 2026, the target completion date for construction. Travelers booking before the renovation concludes should confirm current conditions and any construction activity that may affect their stay.

The all-inclusive conversion follows a pattern seen across Mexico’s resort markets, where established hotels are repositioning to compete with purpose-built all-inclusive properties that have dominated new development for the past two decades. 

For Westin, the Puerto Vallarta project expands its limited all-inclusive footprint while leveraging an existing beachfront location that would be difficult and expensive to replicate with new construction.

Find out more here.

The plan to merge Mexico’s two main low-cost airlines, Viva, formerly Viva Aerobus, and Volaris, is encountering a major regulatory hurdle. 

While the companies announced the deal last December, promising more low-cost flights and better connectivity, experts warn that creating a single budget airline giant could harm competition. This concern is amplified by the significant consolidation of Mexico’s low-cost market in recent years.

The current situation where Viva and Volaris dominate low-cost travel didn’t happen by accident. It followed the disappearance of other carriers that had once competed on many of the same routes. Notably, Interjet, a major hybrid carrier that offered many low-cost-style fares, ceased operations in 2020 due to severe financial difficulties. Before that, Aerocalifornia, which served many regional routes, also vanished from the skies. Their exits left Viva and Volaris as the primary players for budget-conscious travelers on numerous domestic and cross-border routes.

This history is central to the current regulatory challenge. Juan Carlos Machorro, a partner at the legal consultancy Santamarina & Steta, explains that the proposed merger qualifies as a monopoly under Mexico’s competition law. 

With the two airlines already controlling nearly 100% of the dedicated low-cost market, regulators are on high alert. “This would set off red flags for any antitrust authority in the world,” Machorro said. The concern is that consolidating two competitors into one could lead to higher fares and fewer choices for passengers.

This kind of market consolidation is not unique to Mexico, and looking at how regulators in the United States and Europe have handled similar situations is informative. In the U.S., a wave of mergers over the past 15 years combined major carriers like Delta with Northwest, United with Continental, and American with US Airways. Regulators approved these but often required airlines to relinquish valuable takeoff and landing slots at congested airports such as New York and Washington, D.C., to other airlines to preserve some level of competition.

In Europe, the attempted 2000s merger between budget giants Ryanair and Aer Lingus is a direct parallel. European Union regulators blocked the deal multiple times, arguing that it would create a monopoly across many routes to and from Ireland and significantly reduce consumer choice. The EU’s strict stance was a clear example of regulators prioritizing market competition over corporate growth.

Now, the focus is on Mexico’s National Antitrust Commission. They must decide if the benefits of a stronger combined airline outweigh the risks of severely reduced competition. The decision is further complicated by international relations, specifically with the United States.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation took a tough stance, removing the antitrust immunity that allowed the commercial alliance between Mexico’s Aeromexico and the U.S.’s Delta Air Lines. The U.S. argued that competitive conditions in Mexico had worsened since the alliance was first approved. This action creates a difficult context for the Viva-Volaris merger. If Mexican regulators approve it with few conditions, it could be seen by U.S. authorities as another step in reducing competition in Mexico’s aviation market, potentially leading to further diplomatic friction.

The CEOs of Viva and Volaris argue that their similar operations using Airbus A320 aircraft will create efficiencies and help democratize air travel in Mexico. However, the core issue is no longer just business logic. The merger’s fate now depends on a complex calculation by regulators who must consider a shrunken market, international precedent, and the warning from recent U.S. actions. 

The coming months will reveal whether the desire for a larger national champion prevails, or whether concerns about competition and consumer prices ground the deal.

Photo courtesy Voco Hotels

IHG Hotels & Resorts is making a big push into Mexico‘s upscale hospitality market, with six new Voco Hotels announced for 2027. The conversions, developed in partnership with property owner Alliance Hotels, will add 848 rooms across the country’s most active commercial centers, positioning the premium brand as a serious contender for the growing business travel segment.

These new Voco hotels in Mexico will be located in Cancun, Guadalajara, Ciudad Juarez, San Luis Potosi, Torreon, and Nuevo Laredo. Once complete, they’ll bring Voco’s Mexican portfolio to 10 hotels, with an additional five properties already in the development pipeline.

ANew Voco Hotels in Mexico

Voco launched in 2018 as IHG’s upscale conversion brand, designed to transform existing independent hotels into part of a global network while maintaining local character. The model has proven successful: by mid-2025, the brand had grown to more than 100 hotels worldwide, with conversions accounting for 57 percent of IHG’s global room openings during the first half of that year.

Each Mexican property will undergo renovations to incorporate Voco’s signature design elements, including updated social spaces, distinctive arrival experiences, and what the brand describes as “thoughtful touches” intended to make guests feel comfortable from check-in.

Guadalajara: Conference Capital of the West

Voco Guadalajara Expo Area will feature 163 rooms directly opposite Expo Guadalajara, Mexico’s largest convention center. The facility, located on Avenida Mariano Otero, hosts more than two million visitors annually and accommodates events ranging from the Feria Internacional del Libro (the world’s second-largest book fair, drawing over 800,000 attendees across ten days) to the EXPO PACK packaging and processing trade show, which attracted 22,000 attendees in 2025.

The hotel will include meeting rooms, a business center, and a restaurant serving both regional Jalisco cuisine and international dishes. Its location puts guests within walking distance of the shopping and entertainment district surrounding the convention center.

Cancun: A Business Alternative in the Hotel Zone

Voco Cancun represents something of a departure for the Caribbean resort destination. The 160-room property will focus on corporate travelers rather than vacationers, offering lagoon views across Nichupte Lagoon, the natural waterway that separates the Hotel Zone from downtown Cancun.

The Hotel Zone itself stretches approximately 14 miles (22 kilometers) along a barrier island formed by the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. While most properties along this corridor cater to leisure tourists with all-inclusive packages, Voco Cancun will provide meeting spaces and wellness facilities, with convenient access to Cancun International Airport, government offices, and the downtown commercial district.

Ciudad Juarez: Gateway to the Borderplex

With 146 rooms, Voco Ciudad Juarez targets the steady stream of manufacturing, logistics, and government travelers passing through this binational industrial corridor. The city sits directly across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, forming what’s known as the Borderplex, the largest binational metropolitan region along the US-Mexico border.

Ciudad Juarez is considered the birthplace of Mexico’s maquiladora industry, which began in 1965. Today, more than 320 manufacturing sites operate in the city, employing nearly 281,000 workers under the IMMEX export program. 

The hotel’s proximity to the US Consulate General makes it particularly suited to government and diplomatic travelers, while its location within the industrial corridor serves executives visiting automotive, electronics, and medical device manufacturers, including operations run by Aptiv (formerly Delphi), which maintains its largest global technical center here.

San Luis Potosi: Heart of Mexico’s Automotive Corridor

The 135-room Voco San Luis Potosi positions itself at the center of one of North America’s most concentrated automotive manufacturing regions. The state ranked second nationally in automotive investment for 2025, attracting more than $300 million in new projects and generating 3,800 jobs between January and September of that year.

Major manufacturers with operations in the region include General Motors, which assembles the Chevrolet Aveo and Trax, and BMW Group, which opened its San Luis Potosi plant in 2019 and plans to begin production of its Neue Klasse electric vehicles in 2027. The plant will become the first facility in Mexico to manufacture fully electric vehicles and high-voltage battery modules. Other significant employers include Draexlmaier Components, Mabe (the appliance manufacturer), and Robert Bosch.

The hotel’s central location offers access to the area’s major industrial parks, including the Logistik Industrial Park, WTC Industrial, and Colinas de San Luis Industrial Park, which together house more than 350 automotive-related companies.

Torreon: Serving the Comarca Lagunera

Voco Torreon will bring 124 rooms to this northern Mexico manufacturing hub, located in the heart of the Comarca Lagunera, a metropolitan region spanning portions of both Coahuila and Durango states with a combined population exceeding 1.4 million.

The city has transformed from its roots in cotton and dairy production into a manufacturing center with particular strength in automotive, textile, and agro-industrial sectors. Global companies operating locally include John Deere, Johnson Controls, Caterpillar, and Hyosung GST, the Korean manufacturer of automotive airbag textiles. The Automotive Cluster Laguna operates a training facility on Boulevard Diagonal Las Fuentes, preparing workers for positions in the region’s high-tech manufacturing plants.

The hotel will include workspaces designed for business travelers, multiple meeting rooms, and a full-service restaurant and bar.

Nuevo Laredo: The Trade Gateway

The smallest of the six properties, Voco Nuevo Laredo will offer 120 rooms near one of North America’s busiest commercial crossings. The World Trade Bridge, which connects Nuevo Laredo to Laredo, Texas, processes approximately 15,000 to 18,000 trucks on busy days, handling nearly 40 percent of all US-Mexico land trade at a single crossing point.

In 2024, Port Laredo ranked as the number one port of entry in the United States among more than 450 airports, seaports, and border crossings, with $339 billion in total trade value. The crossing surpasses even the combined Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex in container equivalent throughput.

The hotel targets professionals engaged in logistics, freight forwarding, manufacturing, and cross-border commerce, offering meeting spaces suited to the transactional nature of border business.

Photo courtesy Ennismore / Hyde Mexico City Reform

Ennismore, the lifestyle hospitality group operating as a joint venture with Accor, has announced plans to open three properties in Mexico by the end of 2026. The expansion includes two hotels in Mexico City and a beachfront all-inclusive resort in Cancun, marking a significant push into the Latin American market for the company’s portfolio of 16 brands.

Hyde Mexico City Reforma

The Hyde Mexico City Reforma is scheduled to open mid-2026 along the capital’s iconic Paseo de la Reforma, the tree-lined boulevard that stretches nearly nine miles (14 kilometers) through the heart of the city. The 106-room hotel will feature Niko, a Japanese restaurant, alongside the Sun & Moon cocktail bar. Guests will also have access to a fitness center and meeting rooms.

The Hyde brand, known for its social atmosphere and design-forward approach, currently operates luxury properties in cities in Florida and the United Kingdom. 

Mama Shelter Mexico City

Also slated for a mid-2026 debut is Mama Shelter Mexico City, a 100-room property in the Roma Norte neighborhood. This area, characterized by its early 20th-century architecture and café culture along streets like Calle Orizaba and Avenida Álvaro Obregón, has become one of the city’s most sought-after districts for both residents and visitors.

The hotel will include a restaurant and bar, a courtyard featuring a performance stage, and a rooftop bar. Meeting spaces, a gym, and private event facilities round out the amenities. The Mama Shelter brand, founded in Paris in 2008 by the Trigano family, operates more than 15 locations worldwide and is recognized for its playful interiors and accessible pricing.

Rixos Cancun

The largest of the three openings, Rixos Cancun, is expected to launch by late 2026. The 345-room beachfront resort will operate on an all-inclusive model, offering multiple dining venues, live entertainment programming, sports and fitness activities, a spa, and dedicated facilities for children and teenagers.

This property represents a milestone for the Rixos brand, marking its first venture into the Americas. The Turkish-founded luxury chain has until now operated exclusively across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with flagship properties in destinations such as Sharm el Sheikh, Bodrum, and Dubai.