Getaway gay on the cheap: San Francisco's favorite foreign gay escape on sale

December 17, 11:15 PMSF Gay Travel ExaminerEd Walsh

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the SF Gay Travel Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Staff of the lesbian-owned Apaches bar.  (Photo by: Ed Walsh)  

Psst.

Don’t tell anybody, but the Bay Area’s most popular foreign gay destination is on sale.

Puerto Vallarta is thirty percent off.   You can thank the weak peso.    And thanks to competition from Mexicana Airlines, combined with lower fuel prices, airfares are also way down.

Mexicana began nonstop service between SFO and Puerto Vallarta in December.  I had the pleasure of taking one of their flights recently and the coach-class service was a notch above coach class on other airlines.   Their meals are still free and they also have free booze and soft drinks even in coach class.

Now to the prices.  You can easily find a roundtrip fare to Puerto Vallarta from SFO for less than $350.   And you will be pleasantly surprised by the prices once you get to PV.   Since the summer, the value of the Mexican peso has plummeted.     During my visit in July, I was getting a little less than 10 pesos per dollar.   But in December, I got more than 13 per dollar.   That means that prices in Mexico are 30-percent off.

Gay Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta is by far Mexico’s most popular gay resort destination and it is not showing any signs of slowing down.   A study by the San Francisco gay marketing company, Community Marketing, found that Puerto Vallarta was second only to London as the most popular foreign destination for gays from the US.   But you would get little argument that Puerto Vallarta has London beat by a wide margin for those of us living on the West Coast.   The flight down south to the resort town on Mexico’s West Coast is a about three and a half hours.

The newest kid on the block in PV is the Blue Seas Resort and Spa.   It opened this fall just north of the traditional but unofficial gay beach, the Blue Chairs Beach.     The resort is right on the beach and it has effectively expanded the gay section of Los Muertos Beach.   The resort is first-class all the way.   Winter rates start at $158.

A room at Blue Seas Resort and Spa.

(Photo by:  Ed Walsh)

If you are on a more limited budget, you can’t beat the Hotel Mercurio.    Its high season winter rates start at $94.    Hotel Mercurio is perfectly situated just a short 5 minute walk from the beach and  easily walkable to all the gay nightclubs in Puerto Vallarta.

Pool at the Hotel Mercurio

(Photo by:  Ed Walsh)

For a touch of home, check out the San Franciscan Resort and Gym.   It’s owned by one-time San Francisco resident David Rhodes.   Rates start at $130 plus a 5-percent resort fee.   Rhodes recently opened a comedy club in his resort.

Pool at the San Franciscan Hotel and Gym

(Photo by:  Ed Walsh)

The Vallarta Cora hotel, also known as party central, is for men only.  Its rates start at $95.  You can hang out there 3pm-midnight for its expanded happy hour for just $5.  

The Vallarta Cora Hotel

(Photo by:  Ed Walsh)

If you want to save even more money, keep in mind that the low season in Puerto Vallarta starts in April.  It’s not uncommon for hotels to drop their rates by as much as 40-percent off the high winter rates.

Alejandro Lamas, bartender at the Plasma bar
(Photo by:  Ed Walsh)

The fabulous and upscale Club Manana and  Paco’s Ranch (fomerly Club Paco Paco), continue to be the most popular gay nightclubs in town.   The Blue Sunset Rooftop Bar overlooking the Blue Chairs Beach is a must-stop at sunset.

Pool at Club Manana, Below: Club Manana by day.

(Photos by:  Ed Walsh)

The variety of places to eat in Puerto Vallarta is endless.   You can eat from a street vendor for a couple of bucks or you can sample from a number of the city’s upscale eateries for a lot less than you would pay in the Bay Area.

For authentic gourmet Mexican food, check out El Arrayan,   It is a favorite of San Franciscan Gary Beck, who is a part-time Puerto Vallarta resident and has literally wrote the book on Puerto Vallarta’s restaurants.    Beck’s Best is a great honest guide.  He takes no free meals and calls them like he sees them.  It can be ordered through www.cafepress.com/vallartaguide

Carmen Porras, Owner,  El Arrayan

(Photo by:  Ed Walsh)