Stellar Events Blog

Recently I enjoyed the outstanding service and beautiful setting of the five-diamond Grand Velas Nuevo Vallarta,  located about 15 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta’s airport. This beautiful resort offers an elegance that I never expected from an all-inclusive, and our stay was perfect.

Although some guests never leave the resort grounds, I always explore the locale. A highlight of this trip was joining the promenade of locals in downtown Puerto Vallarta on Sunday evening, complete with a band concert in a park gazebo and circus-style performers at a seaside public amphitheater.

On Monday hotel guests who relaxed poolside were surprised to find that one of the locals stopped by for a swim – a pelican, who obviously had very good taste.

Stellar Events can help you take advantage of the extraordinary value currently available at  Grand Velas Puerto Vallarta for a five-star, all-inclusive incentive program or corporate retreat.

The highlight of my recent stay at Dreams,an excellent, high-end all-inclusive resort in Los Cabos, was the sea turtle release, which occurs frequently in the Fall on the shores of the Sea of Cortez. Several hotels in the corridor, including the nearby Hilton Los Cabos (a superb resort with the area’s only swimmable beach) protect nests of turtle eggs with 24-hour patrol.  The eggs hatch in about 45 days, and guests participate in the release.

Each nest has about 60 eggs, and during my stay there were daily hatchings. Observers were totally enthralled by this amazing experience, cheering the reptiles as they instinctively crawled from the beach into the sea.

All seven species of sea turtles, including the Olive Ridley found in Los Cabos, are endangered, and the efforts of the hotels to protect them deserves applause.

Although Bermuda offers the unique charm of its British heritage, the costs associated with hotels, restaurants and an all-around good time are far, far below those of a trip to England. Last summer our client, a television station, marveled at the splendid and affordable incentive trip they could offer their top advertisers. With all prices quoted in US dollars, the budget was never a worry.

The obvious hotel choice for an incentive program or any corporate meeting is the tradition-rich Fairmont Southampton, which is elegantly perched on a hill overlooking the Atlantic on one side and the Great Sound on the other, so every guest enjoys a fabulous waterview.

It’s just a short stroll to Horseshoe Beach’s fabled pink sand. Our Welcome Reception included a croquet tournament on the hotel’s Great Sound Lawn (view pictured at right) as well as a memorable sunset.

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The golf is legendary (this 20 square mile island has nine courses), the shopping is special (Irish Linen Shop  and Dockyard Glassworks, for example) and the location is convenient (just 600 miles east of North Carolina.)  It’s an ideal warm weather incentive trip destination for travelers from the East Coast.

But the feature that most impressed our client’s guests was their very own private yacht, “Spellbound,” which they boarded three times for:

• A snorkeling adventure
• A sunset trip to Hamilton, for Friday night’s traditional “Happy Hour” on the Great Lawn of the Hamilton Princess.
• A leisurely cruise to the Commissioner’s House and Maritime Museum at the island’s western tip for a gala farewell dinner.