April 30, 2007

Latin America | Mexico | Mexico City

Playa-time in the City

By Mark Jolly

Do you prefer a cityscape or beach front? In Mexico, you don't have to choose — they'll bring the beach to you.

view map

Mexico Boutique Hotels are tailoring their new spring packages as “the best of both worlds”: by combining stays at three beach and three city properties, guests can reap 10 percent discounts plus a complimentary beach bag with pareo and sunscreen. But wait for it — such lucky, lucky guests will even be able to use their seaside goodies in the metropolis. Earlier this month, Mexico City opened up four “urban beaches” in an effort to bring the beach to those who can’t get there. The media, however, went to town: one commentator suggested sunbathers would soak up more bus fumes than rays; the Televisa network had one of their reporters don flippers and splash about in a fountain; and a TV comic dodged between gridlocked cars in his swimsuit.

While many have derided the project as a waste of resources (it cost $200,000 to cart the sand over from Veracruz), the idea was modeled on the artificial beaches created in Paris, Berlin, Rome and Amsterdam. In Paris, the golden-sand plage by the Seine drew four-million visitors last year. In Mexico, the project underscores the stark demarcation between the city’s poorer residents and its vacationing elite: a poll at one of the beaches found that 60% of respondents had never seen the sea.