January and February is whale watching season and there’s nowhere better to view impressive humpbacks than from Verana, the luxury, 8-room, handmade hotel atop Yelapa, thirty miles south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “They come to the Bay of Banderas every year between December and March to have their babies,” says Verana co-owner and designer Veronique Lievre.
This year to celebrate, Verana is breaking out the top shelf tequila. Names such as Jose Cuervo’s Reserva de la Familia (each bottle is numbered and dated) and Don Eduardo Anejo (aged in Jack Daniel’s barrels) will be standing by for nightly tastings at the bar. At dinner on the terrace, perhaps you’ll find a little tequila-spiked sauce in Chef Fabian’s repertoire. While at Verana’s indoor-outdoor spa, tequila might make another appearance in a facial potion, alongside perhaps mango and lemongrass picked from the garden. You won’t even be safe in the moonlight soaking tubs. Here, custom tequila cocktails will accompany you under the stars.
With all this excitement don’t forget the whales. Anywhere on Verana’s lush, 5-acre property carved out of a swathe of jungle – from the individually designed guest rooms, from the swimming or watsu pool, the library or the Yoga palapa – you’re likely to spy a pod of these gracious mammals or hear them blowing bubbles as they cavort in the Bay of Banderas below. Verana’s Panga boat will take you out for a closer look. And, if you’re lucky you might spy dolphin, manta ray, sea turtles and more.
Some more beautiful photos of Verana:
