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Ocean Home | Coastal Openings Clipped from: http://oceanhomemag.com/coastal-openings-7/

Coastal Openings

January 28, 2013 by OceanHome · Leave a Comment 

Secret Retreat – Boutique luxury debuts in Nicaragua

The first luxury boutique hotel in Nicaragua opens in February at Guacalito de la Isla, a 1,670-acre, $250 million low-density private beach community created by Nicaraguan entrepreneur Don Carlos Pellas. Located on a four-mile white sand beach on Nicaragua's Emerald Coast, Mukul Luxury Resort & Spa features 37 freestanding accommodations, with ocean views, pools, and private staffs.

The Emerald Coast is a 30-mile stretch of Pacific shoreline dotted with jungles, cliffs, fishing villages, and untouched beaches. Mukul Luxury Resort & Spa sits directly on the beach and encompasses more than 1,600 private acres of lush vegetation. Facilities include Spa Mukul, a beach club, a swimming pool, nature trails, and the 18-hole Guacalito Golf Course.

Spa Mukul comprises six spas in one location. Guests can reserve a spa casita for several hours, during which they can enjoy a series of treatments, then relax in its private garden, which features shaded lounging areas and a monsoon shower.

The open-air Mukul Luxury Resort & Spa Beach Club allows guests to enjoy tastings of rare Flor de Caña rums in the split-level lounge, as well as lunch and dinner at the Beach Terrace Grill or Mukul Restaurant. Much of the food will be locally sourced from the resort's organic farm, daily catches by local fishermen, and grass-fed Nicaraguan cattle. The beach club also features a lounging area, swimming pool, and kids' area. A casita by the beach provides surfboards, paddleboards, snorkel gear, and kayaks.

The first luxury property in the country, Mukul, the Mayan word for "secret," is an eco-friendly paradise ready to be discovered. Real estate opportunities are also available at Guacalito de la Isla.

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Posted by Editorial Team on 9:34 a.m. in Beach/Playa, Destinations/Destinos, Hotels/Hoteles, Rivas

From Evernote:

Where to Go in 2013: Travel Agents’ Edition | AFAR.com Clipped from: http://www.afar.com/magazine/where-to-go-in-2013-travel-agents-edition

Nicaragua
Nicaragua certainly deserves to be noted as an up-and-coming destination for 2013, especially thanks to entrepreneur Carlos Pellas and his new luxury Mukul Resort and Spa. Nicaragua offers a diversity of virtually untapped adventure, the splendor of hiking volcanos, canopy tours and zip-lines, biking, scuba, and the best surfing in Central America. Plus, easy access from the United States. Enjoy Lake Nicaragua, with numerous fresh-water islands and views of Mombacho Volcano, howler monkeys, and an abundance of  tropical birds. Visit the colorful colonial city of Granada, dating back to 1524, with immaculate, colorful historical buildings. —Susan Sparks, Points of Interest Travel/Brownell Travel

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• Luxuious $250M Mukul Resort and Spas in Guacalito de la Isla will put Nicaragua on the world tourism map

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:51 a.m. in Beach/Playa, Destinations/Destinos, Hotels/Hoteles, Mukul Resort, Rivas

From Evernote:

9 Most-Anticipated Hotel Openings in 2013 | Travel News from Fodor's Travel Guides Clipped from: http://www.fodors.com/news/9-mostanticipated-hotel-openings-in-2013-6362.html#.UP9tWYcZllg.mailto

Mukul Luxury Resort & Spa

Rivas, Nicaragua

Opening Date: February 2013

Details: Enough with the rustic eco-lodges. Soon travelers to Nicaragua will have a premium option: the country's first boutique hotel, with a dozen beachfront villas. Mukal Resort, along Nicaragua's Emerald Coast, will have all the bells and whistles of luxury lodging, including a spa (where all massage treatments use a locally grown blend of organic therapeutic herbs and plants) that includes a hammam, "healing hut," rainforest setting, and a two-story crystal casita (with crystal singing bowls and a gemstone bath). Lodging is in beach villas with chandeliers crafted from mussel shells, or private homes or the penultimate: a 20,000-square-foot oceanfront compound (Casona Don Carlos).

Posted by Editorial Team on 8:38 a.m. in Destinations/Destinos, Hotels/Hoteles, Rivas

The 46 Places to Go in 2013 - Nicaragua is #3 - NYTimes.com

From Evernote:

The 46 Places to Go in 2013 - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com Clipped from: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/10/travel/2013-places-to-go.html?pagewanted=all

Oswaldo Rivas for The New York Times

Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Eco-Lodge.

If the name Oliver North means anything to you, there's a good chance that Nicaragua doesn't jump to your mind when you think of a relaxing, high-end, spa-filled vacation. For the past 30 years, the country has been fighting its image as a land of guerrilla warfare and covert arms deals. At first, only travel writers took note; over the past several years, various publications have declared the country the next great destination. However, if the booming eco-lodge business is any indication, Nicaragua's moment might finally have arrived. In and around the coastal towns of San Juan del Sur and Maderas, new lodges like the Aqua Wellness Resort, the high-end (and soon-to-open) Mukul Resort and Jicaro Island Eco-Lodge are cropping up near old-time eco-lodges, like Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Eco-Lodge. The food scene is getting a high-end makeover as well, with top chefs opening restaurants. The most exciting ones — El Segundo, La Casserole, Ciudad Lounge and La Finca y El Mar — are proof that Nicaragua is becoming an impressive food destination in its own right.  — Danielle Pergament

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Posted by Editorial Team on 9:59 p.m. in Destinations/Destinos, Tourism/Turismo