My spouse and I are seasoned travelers with a ton of time logged over the last two decades staying in vacation villas around Mexico and the Caribbean. In February 2020, when I was looking for a place to celebrate a milestone birthday with 10 close friends, the stakes were even higher than usual, to find a place that could really hit it out of the park for a special occasion. I write about food and travel for a living. I can have exacting, unrealistic standards. I spent weeks upon weeks kicking the tires on villa listings—cross-referencing user reviews, quizzing property managers—having learned from experience that you can hide a lot of flaws behind a gallery of high-toned professional photographs of sunsets and margarita closeups.
Does the wifi work? Right, but does it work in this suite in the back? How cold does the air conditioner get? Is the beach out front swimmable? Can I get fresh fish or is it mostly frozen? Do you have a good mariachi band on speed-dial?
Once we chose Casa Coco, the property staff patiently and competently worked with me to customize a week of celebration, and when we finally arrived at the property, it turned out to be everything I'd hoped for. Every one of the suites was beautifully appointed and clean, the common areas and setting were even more stunning than in the pictures, and the food and drink provided by the villa chef were excellent. (We opted for daily breakfast, plus a few scattered lunches and dinners...and cooked in ourselves or dined out the other meals.) For one meal we cooked ourselves, the villa manager helped us source some snapper from a local fisherman (fried fish tacos!), and for the actual birthday dinner, they set up a table under the stars overlooking the water: grilled whole lobsters with garlic butter, green pipian mole with chicken, hand-cut fries, flan napoletana, Champagne and wine and frosty glasses of tequila, culminating in a perfformance my mariachis and fire dancers!
The villa was secluded enough, but just a short golf cart ride away (we rented three carts for the week) from the thrum of mid-island. Would definitely stay here again. Highly recommended.