Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s premier winemaking region, has long been a major tourist destination in both Mexico and north of the border, especially for Californians. There are dozens of excellent options for luxury hotel stays or lovely independent accommodations that will give you access to the wineries and all the incredible food and drink options of the valley. La Villa del Valle, however, is in a league of its own in terms of services and comfort.
As two of the early pioneers of winemaking in the region, Eileen and Phil Gregory incorporated sustainability into their winery and hotel from the very beginning. Passive solar, geothermal flooring, pigments instead of traditional paint on the walls, and organic gardens surrounding the property were planned from the start. What started out as the couple’s country retreat has morphed into a 6-room B&B with one of the coziest and most home-like feelings of any place to stay in Valle de Guadalupe.
Rooms and common spaces are decorated with the treasures collected by these two British transplants since they came to Mexico 20 years ago. Woven rugs, Mexican crafts, a massive library, and comfortable furniture give Villa de Valle the feel of a friend’s home, and the service, both friendly and professional, only adds to the comfort.
There are no room keys here, making it feel even more like visiting a friend for the weekend. The rooms are each simple yet comfortable, with quality linens, comfortable leather and wood chairs, and bath products from their line of Baja Botánico, made with the lavender that grows on the property.
The breakfast menu is hearty and delicious, but if you want to fully experience the genius of their chef, Cesar Vazquez, and his wife, pastry chef Elsa Olmos, reserve a tasting menu on one of the evenings you are there. Fresh-from-the-ocean seafood, produce from their garden, and an intuitively talented hand in the kitchen produce delectable plates like mushroom risotto-style rice or black cod atop apple puree in a green mole sauce made with capers and wild dill from the property. All of this is accompanied by the excellent wine produced in the on-site winery Vena Cava run by Phil.
Languid afternoons are best spent on the upstairs sunning patios or under the portico of the main floor with an ice-cold Chardonnay or minimal intervention Pet Nat in your hand. From the hotel’s perch atop a hill, you can see much of the surrounding countryside dotted with vineyards and now several developments that weren’t there when they originally opened so many years ago.
If you fancy mingling and chatting, each afternoon the hotel hosts a happy hour. If Eileen and Phil are in town, you’ll have the chance to ask them about their project personally, but even if they are absent, an interesting crowd of visitors is always milling about and happy to socialize.
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It’s imperative to arrange a visit and a tasting at Vena Cava, a pleasant 5-minute walk down the hill. The winery is housed inside a repurposed wooden ship hull that feels both out of place and perfectly right in the middle of the dry, hot semi-desert of Valle de Guadalupe. On the winery’s patio is Troika, a casual food cart that serves simple, delicious dishes like tapenade, hummus, and grilled shrimp.
Once upon a time, La Villa del Valle was quite removed from the goings-on of the Valle, but these days, there is nearby Lunario, an excellent chef-driven farm-to-table restaurant, the cool wine and cocktail bar Bloodlust, and the unmissable Cocina de Doña Estela, which has some of the best Mexican breakfasts I have ever had the pleasure to try. Try the in-house cheese, you won’t regret it.
To get out to the hotel (and really most places in Valle), it’s best to rent a car and drive; not only is there no public transportation, but the landscape itself is part of the area’s charm. Rooms run from $190 to $310 a night, including breakfast, with a two-night minimum on the weekends.
Check rates online at Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda.com, or Hotels.com.
While there are many places to choose from in Valle de Guadalupe, if you want some home-style hospitality, excellent food, and exquisite wine, La Villa del Valle is the proper choice.
