| Central American Hotels |
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Page 1 of 6 Everyone talks about moving to warmer climes and lapping up the good life. These guys actually did it. Presenting six of our favorite boutique hotels in Mexico and Latin America and the entrepreneurs with the vision that made them.  Jeff SpiegelAzul Resort Ambergris Caye, Belize Rooms 2 villas Price $1,875–$2,495/night Luxury 4 1/2 stars Specialties Diving, kiteboarding, helicopter tours Contact azulbelize.com If you had told me ten years ago that I’d be running a resort in Belize, I would have called you crazy,” says Jeff Spiegel, 38, co-owner of Azul Resort, on Ambergris Caye, a remote spit of land 25 minutes northeast by helicopter from Belize’s international airport. Before opening Azul with his wife, Vivian Yu, 34, Spiegel managed the San Francisco indie punk label Fat Wreck Cords. In 2001, on a diving vacation to Belize, they fell in love with the country’s casual pace and stumbled upon a blue shack for sale on an empty beach—straight out of a Jimmy Buffett song. With $15,000 Yu borrowed from her parents, the pair put a down payment on the house and used it as a vacation rental until 2003, when they moved to Belize full-time to build Azul Resort. With little hospitality or building experience between them, they designed a pair of 3,000-square-foot beachfront villas separated by an infinity pool. Atop each four-person villa is a rooftop deck with a hot tub, offering panoramic views of the bay and the Caribbean. Rojo Lounge, the hotel restaurant run by self-trained Spiegel, serves fresh takes on local specialties, like guava-glazed barbecue pork ribs and mango-ginger mahi-mahi. Despite the responsibilities of running a successful business, Spiegel and Yu haven’t lost sight of why they moved in the first place. “Let’s face it,” Spiegel says. “It’s not the end of the world if we take a few hours off in the middle of the day to go diving.” 
RESORT REPORTThe ocean—specifically the second-largest barrier reef off the coast of Belize—is the main attraction at Azul. The seven-square-mile Hol Chan Marine Reserve, home to hammerhead and nurse sharks, 250-pound loggerhead turtles, and spotted eagle rays, sits just a 20-minute boat ride away. And around the full moon between March and June, whale sharks feed in Gladden Spit Marine Reserve, a spectacular 60-minute helicopter flight away. When the wind picks up (between the end of January and April), the soft sand in front of the hotel makes an ideal launchpad for kiteboarding; during calmer weather, there’s water-skiing and kayaking off the beach. Astrum Helicopters (astrumhelicopters.com) charges $1,500 for flights to the resort for up to four people. |
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