La Villa Bonita: culinary vacation extraordinaire

January 28, 10:20 AMInternational Travel ExaminerRita Cook

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Front Entrance La Villa Bonita

Even if your audience doesn’t know a taco from a tortilla, La Villa Bonita, a cooking school/culinary vacation destination in Tepoztlan, Mexico is an amazing vacation getaway. 

Experiential vacations are becoming more popular with travelers, and in this down economy, unusual vacations closer to home are even better. For these reasons, this 6-room resort is gaining a loyal following and has been rated one of the five best culinary vacations in the world by The Food Network as well as one of “The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life” by National Geographic Books and author Pam Grout.

Since La Villa Bonita is such an intimate place, husband and wife owner operators Robb Anderson and celebrated Chef Ana  Garcia can customize the experience to their guests’ specifications with a mix of cooking, sightseeing and spa services. The all-inclusive prices for four-day and seven-day cooking immersion trips range from $1350 (four-days, double occupancy) to $1750 (seven-days, double occupancy) and include round trip airport service from Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City just one hour away. 
  
La Villa Bonita is surrounded by 33,000 sq. feet of breathtaking gardens at the foot of the Tepozteco Mountain Range where Ana and Robb entertain a clientele from all around the world, and teach authentic Mexican cooking to guests ranging
from food novices with no food prep experience to wellexperienced professional chefs.  Ana uses all locally grown and raised ingredients and livestock with her students, and part of the cooking adventure is purchasing products at the large open market in the village, and then visiting one of the local millers to grind fresh corn into masa in order to make tortillas from scratch.  Margaritas and wine from locally grown vineyards is never far away, and unlike many vacation spots in Mexico, Tepoztlan has retained its colonial charm.