Hotelito Desconocido (, "Little Unknown Hotel") was a Mexican boutique hotel and ecotourism resort in the municipality of Tomatlán, Jalisco. Formed in 1995 by an Italian architect, Hotelito Desconocido used an architectural style of that combined both rustic and luxurious designs. It was built on an UNESCO-designated natural reserve that was home to a number of endangered bird and turtle species. The hotel won international and domestic awards for its unique architecture and sustainable energy model, and it was a famous getaway spot for international tourists and celebrities. Its construction, however, created tensions with a local group of fishermen that protested against the alleged ecological violations caused by Hotelito Desconocido's construction and expansions.
In 2007, Hotelito Desconocido was acquired by W&G Arquitectos, a company headed by Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo. She is the wife of Gerardo González Valencia, a former suspected drug lord of Los Cuinis and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, two allied criminal groups based in Jalisco. After years of resistance from the local fishermen, three members of their group went missing in Guadalajara, Jalisco in 2011 after attending an ecological preservation meeting. They had reportedly previously received death threats from the hotel's management and local farmers who were also opposed to their protests.
The hotel was shut down for money laundering on 19 August 2015, when the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Hotelito Desconocido under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. In 2018, however, it was revealed that three months prior to the hotel being shut down, W&G Arquitectos had sold the hotel to Immobiliaria Anfe, a property management firm based in Jalisco. Immobiliaria Anfe has brought a lawsuit against the Mexican federal government to have property returned to them.
Origin and location In 1995, Marcelo Murzilli, an Italian architect and businessman, formed Hotelito Desconocido. His decision to create a solar-powered resort made of clay and bamboo was inspired by replicas of lake villages in Veracruz that he had seen at the National Museum of Anthropology. For three years, he worked with the municipal, state, and federal authorities in the Mexican government, along with locals from Tomatlán, to get the construction plans approved. His goal was to make a resort that was environmentally and ecologically friendly. The hotel was built along Costalegre in Tomatlán, Jalisco, Mexico, close to a fishermen village known as . This location was in the UNESCO-designated natural reserve area Playón De Mismaloya, on Bahía de Banderas bay, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Madre Occidental, just 96.5 km (60 mi) south of Puerto Vallarta. A typical drive from Puerto Vallarta to Hotelito Desconocido took about two hours. Private transportation was available upon request for guests.
Hotelito Desconocido was closed for visitors from May to October due to low season. During this time, it employed around 20 people, mostly security guards, carpenters, artisans, and cleaning staff. The hotel opened its doors once the water temperatures decreased during autumn because this was the time of the year when turtles started arriving from the northern parts of the ocean. October to the end of April was considered high season and had a large influx of visitors. The hotel used to employ around 75 people during this time. La Cruz de Loreto also experienced a large number of visitors this time of the year. According to local residents, the town's street food vendors and other hotels were busy during high season.
Style and accommodations The hotel had 29 rooms and suites built on palafittes located on the edge of an estuary. The rooms were named after Mexican lotería card riddles; each room was decorated according to the theme of its card. To reach their rooms, guests had to use rowboats on a waterway, and raised a flagpole for means of communication. Morning coffee was given to guests after they pulled a rope from their room that erected a red flag. The absence of mobile phones and telephones was intended to provide an isolated experience. In addition, Hotelito Desconocido did not use external electricity and was secluded from nearby human settlements. During the night, the hosts lit candles, torches, and lanterns to light the hotel and pathways. The illumination of the moonlight was also an intended part of the night experience. Throughout the afternoon, guests were encouraged to ride on horseback along the beach, bike through the palm trails, kayak, and play volleyball or billiards. There were also opportunities for bird-watching and baby turtle release activities since the area had over 150 bird species and 3 different turtle species.
Once their day activities were over, Hotelito Desconocido offered guests baths and spa services including aromatherapy or stone therapy. The water used in the spas and baths was heated through the solar-powered panels the hotel had on its roofs. Each room was non-smoking and equipped with small battery-powered fans. The restrooms were open-air and had walls made of bamboo. Frames on the walls were made of unfinished tree trunks. Other furniture and decorations had a rustic Mexican style.
Hotelito Desconocido was a boutique hotel and ecotourism resort that pioneered the "ecoluxe" architecture style in Mexico, which championed rustic architecture along with ecofriendly and luxurious designs. The hotel had daily housekeeping, two restaurants, free breakfast, and courtesy bottled water for guests. The restaurants offered a wide range of Mexican cuisine dishes. The meals were prepared by Federico Tobares, an Argentine citizen and the main chef of the hotel. Most of the guest rooms were painted, tiled, or decorated with Mexican colors or handicrafts. The stools and chairs, known as equipales, were made of wood and leather. They originated from the region's cattle ranchers.
Its combination of rustic Mexican decor and luxurious accommodations attracted mostly international guests. Around 65% of the clientele came from the United States. Another 25% came from Europe, while the remaining 10% of the visitors were from Mexico or other countries. During low season, prices varied between $US350 and $US625, while high season prices were between $US410 and $US790, depending on the room of choice. This did not include the 17% tax added on each reservation. Because rooms could book quickly during some parts of the year, reservations were strongly recommended by travel agencies. The hotel also attracted celebrities and millionaires from across the world because of the privacy and seclusion offered by the resort. Hotelito Desconocido's staff and management had a strict privacy policy and refused to comment on the celebrities that visited the hotel.
Awards and recognition On 18 January 2012, SPRB Arquitectos, a Jalisco-based architecture group led by Laura Sánchez Penichet and Carlos Rodríguez Bernal, won a contest sponsored by the International Hotel Awards and Bloomberg Television in London for their work redesigning Hotelito Desconocido; the award granted Hotelito Desconocido a five-star status, and was voted by the contest organizers as the best hotel in terms of architecture in Mexico and Latin America for the 2011–2012 edition. The two Mexican architects explained that their work at Hotelito Desconocido started in 2009 after the owners recognized that the hotel needed major renovations. Since the hotel was initially built using the model, which uses guayabillo trunks tied together and compressed with mud, the owners decided to demolish the original construction and build the hotel on palafittes. It was also during these renovations that the rooms of the hotel were given their individualized lotería themes. For the landscape design, they kept the agave and fruit gardens; they decided to change the look of the entrance and beach by adding 200 palm trees. They also added additional gardens and new sand.
On 14 November 2014, Hotelito Desconocido was nominated by Food and Travel Magazine as one of the best hotels in Mexico. They were finalist of the "Best Hotel with Charm Award" (Spanish: "Mejor Hotel con Encanto"). On 19 February 2015, Hotelito Desconocido was part of an art exhibition called 21 Arquitectos Jóvenes Mexicanos, relevo generacional (English: "21 Young Mexican Architects, generational reveal"). The exhibition intended to show contemporary Mexican architecture; Hotelito Desconocido was described as regionalist architecture style that supported sustainable energy.
Ecological violations
1990s According to a local group of fishermen, the Cooperative Society of Fish Production La Cruz de Loreto, Hotelito Desconocido had violated environmental laws since 1995 and was damaging the ecosystem. Fisherman from the area filed a complaint to the (INECC) saying that the construction of the hotel damaged the jungle and estuary known as Ermitaño in La Cruz de Loreto. The INECC later conducted an investigation and discovered that Hotelito Desconocido had only obtained an endorsement from the Tomatlán municipal authorities at the time of its inauguration. This meant that the hotel had lacked permission to operate from state and federal authorities since its opening. The INECC also discovered that Hotelito Desconocido had been violating several municipal ecological laws since 2010.
The hotel was also in violation of a presidential decree issued on 28 October 1986. According to the law, the Mexican government designated sixteen ecological reserve areas along the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Mexican coast along the Pacific Ocean where Hotelito Desconocido was located. The decree also included a number of regulations intended to protect these areas from contamination or other damage. Hotelito Desconocido was located on part of a 69.3 km (43 mi) stretch of beach where construction was legally prohibited. This construction ban was put in place to protect the nesting grounds of sea turtles. By constructing wooden platforms and palafittes on the beach area, Hotelito Desconocido also violated Mexico's Federal Maritime Land Zone Law (ZOFEMAT).
Local fishermen complained to municipal authorities that Hotelito Desconocido's construction was illegal and that Murzilli's plans had not been legally approved. However, municipal officials reportedly told them that the investment brought by the construction was important for Tomatlán's economy. The group decided to establish a working relationship with Hotelito Desconocido; they allowed the construction to continue because they believed that Hotelito Desconocido would bring new jobs to Tomatlán. The hotel ownership was eventually passed down to another Italian national, Giuliano Gasparotto. The group of fishermen stated that once Gasparotto was in charge of Hotelito Desconocido, he ignored the previous concessions and stopped compensating fishermen MXN$10,000 for every day they could not fish in the sea.
2000–2010s