Hotelito Desconocido (Spanish: [ote'lito ðeskono'siðo], "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 received death threats from the hotel's management and a rural group who stood against their cause. The hotel was finally shut down for money laundering on August 19, 2015, when the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned Hotelito Desconocido under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
Video Hotelito Desconocido
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 from Veracruz lake village replicas he saw 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 La Cruz de Loreto. It was on the UNESCO-designated natural reserve area Playón De Mismaloya, on Bahía de Banderas bay. It laid 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.
Maps Hotelito Desconocido
Style and accommodations
The hotel had 29 rooms and suites built on palafittes that were on the edge of an estuary. The rooms were named after Mexican lotería card riddles; each room was different and was themed and decorated inside according to its card name. 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 bring an isolation experience. In addition, Hotelito Desconocido did not use electricity and was excluded from human settlements nearby. During the night, the hosts burnt candles, torches, and luminaries 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 horseback riding along the beach, biking through the palm trails, kayaking, playing volleyball, or billiards. There were also 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 a spa service using aromatherapy or stone therapy (through the alternation of warm river rocks and cool marbles stones). The part of the hotel where the open-air spa was offered was known as "El Mundo de la Salud" (English: The World of Health). Baths were also offered, and they included local ingredients like sea salt and botanical essential oils for skin care. 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 covered in indigenous mud. Frames on the walls were made of unfinished tree trunks. Other furniture and decorations were rustic Mexican-styled.
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 (El Cantarito, which was on the estuary, and El Nopalito, on the beach), free breakfast, and courtesy bottled drinking water for guests. El Cantarito had a shrine dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Food was provided at an obligatory $US80 charge, with an additional 15% tax. The meals included a wide range of Mexican cuisine dishes. The meals were prepared by Federico Tobares, an Argentine citizen and main chef of the hotel. In the lobby, there was a Czechoslovakian crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Most of the guest rooms were painted, tiled, or decorated with Mexican colors or handicrafts. The styles were based off local buildings and used local materials. The stools and chairs, known as equipales, were made of wood and leather. They originated from the region's cattle ranchers.
Its rustic Mexican and luxurious style attracted mostly international guests. Around 65% of the clientele was from the United States. Another 25% were from Europe, while the remaining 15% 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 secludedness 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 recognitions
On January 18, 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. They won the award for helping redesign Hotelito Desconocido's interior design and external architecture; 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. Among the contest judges were employees from Google, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bloomberg Television, among others. The two Mexican architects explained that their work at Hotelito Desconocido started in 2009 after the owners recognized that the hotel needed a major reconstruction. Since the hotel was initially built using the bajareque 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. In the original model, the architects explained that Hotelito Desconocido's rooms were exactly the same (in terms of size and interior design) and did not have specific themes like the new models did. 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 November 14, 2014, Hotelito Desconocido was nominated by the Food and Travel Magazine as one of the best hotels in Mexico. Though the "Best Hotel with Charm Award" (Spanish: "Mejor Hotel con Encanto") was given to a hotel in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Hotelito Desconocido was among the finalists of the competition. Hotels from Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Nayarit, and Oaxaca, among others, participated in the competition, but the one in Guanajuato won in this category. Other categories included best tourism spots, restaurants, airlines, and cruises. The award ceremony and reception was held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Santa Fe, Mexico City. It was conducted by Mexican beauty pageant Dafne Molina and actress Dominika Paleta.
On February 19, 2015, an art exhibit called 21 Arquitectos Jóvenes Mexicanos, relevo generacional (English: "21 Young Mexican Architects, generational reveal") was held at the Museum of Architecture in Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The exhibit displayed blueprints, mock-ups, texts, photographs, digital catalogs, books, and videos, where they showed the different architectural styles in Mexico. The purpose of this event was to provide a historical documentation and show what contemporary Mexican architecture was like. The group in charge of the exhibit also intended to educate the audience on the social and cultural values that each architecture signified. Hotelito Desconocido was among one of the many hotels showed in the exhibit. The exhibit explained that Hotelito Desconocido had a regionalist architecture style that supported sustainable energy. This exhibit was also held at the University Sciences and Arts Museum in the National Autonomous University of Mexico; in the Tijuana Cultural Center; in the Museum of the City of Mérida; and in the Cultural Center Plaza Fátima, in Monterrey, Nuevo León.
Ecological violations
According to the Cooperative Society of Fish Production La Cruz de Loreto, a group of local fishermen, Hotelito Desconocido was violating environmental laws since 1995 and was damaging the ecosystem. Fisherman from the area filed a complaint to the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) saying that the construction of the hotel damaged the jungle and estuary known as Ermitaño in La Cruz de Loreto. The INECC conducted an investigation and discovered that Hotelito Desconocido only had an endorsement from Tomatlán municipal authorities at the time of its inauguration. This meant that the hotel lacked permission to operate by state and federal authorities since its opening. The INECC also discovered that Hotelito Desconocido violated several municipal ecological laws since 2010, when locals protested against the violations.
They were also in violation of a presidential decree issued on October 28, 1986. According to the law, the Mexican government designated sixteen ecological reserve areas along the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican coast along the Pacific Ocean, where Hotelito Desconocido was. The decree also included a number of regulations intended to protect these areas from contamination and damages to the ecological conditions. Hotelito Desconocido violated the rule that specified that there could not be construction in the 69.3 km (43 mi) stretch of the beach where it was built. This was put in place to protect the reproduction and nesting 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 were not legally approved. However, municipal officials reportedly told them that the investment brought by the construction was big for Tomatlán. 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.
In 2009, Hotelito Desconocido planned to make a large expansion on the beach and tried to get two concessions from the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) to do the constructions. The first request was to expand the hotel on the beach by 5,577.1 m2 (60,031.4 sq ft) on one part, and 5,330.9 m2 (57,381.3 sq ft) on another. The petition passed through the Tomatlán Customs Agency without many problems. It then went to the SEMARNAT offices in Jalisco, where it was reviewed and passed after they considered that Hotelito Desconocido met the required regulations. The following year, however, the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) federal agency analyzed the expansion project and rejected it after considering that the natural reserve area Playón De Mismaloya would be affected by the construction. It specifically mentioned that the endangered turtle and bird species were not guaranteed to be protected if the construction took place.
On September 28, 2010, the fishermen group filed a complaint with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA) stating that Gasparotto tried to dig up land with a backhoe in Playón de Mismaloya on July 28. They stated that he did it without permission and that he issued death threats against one of the group members who opposed such action. Gasparotto's actions were prevented after the fisherman stopped his backhoe from further altering the land and possibly affecting their fishing activities. By August 17, the fisherman stated that Gasparotto had managed to use the backhoe to alter the beach and that authorities were not aware of this. The fishermen also stated that on August 21, six members of the Mexican Navy saw that staff of Hotelito Desconocido were using the backhoe again, but that the staff fled the scene when discovered.
Mass disappearance incident
On March 24, 2011, three members of the fishermen group, José de Jesús Romero Quintero, Jorge Ruíz López, and Rafael Espinoza Díaz, went missing after attending an ecological preservation meeting in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The three men had previously denounced Hotelito Desconocido's alleged ecological violations to the government. They reportedly received death threats before disappearing. Their family members stated that they were kidnapped by people who knew they were attending the ecological meeting in Guadalajara, and said that state and federal authorities were not interested in helping them locate their relatives. The three men were supposed to go to the Mexican National Water Commission (Conagua) after the meeting but they never made it there. One of the family members stated that it was difficult to file a kidnapping report with Jalisco officials.
After they officially filed the case in Jalisco, the family members sent a letter to former Mexican President Felipe Calderón (2006-2012). Calderón responded to their request and assigned the investigation to the Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR). However, the family stated that the PGR did not follow-up with them for over a month after officially being assigned to the case. The fishermen group had attended a meeting on March 17 in Guadalajara, where they reportedly received death threats from a man named Antonio Vélez. The family members believe that the disappearance of their three members stemmed from conflicts they had with Gasparotto and ejido members from Portezuelos, La Barca, Jalisco in those two meetings. According to their version of the story, former Governor of Jalisco Francisco Javier Ramírez Acuña hosted parties at Hotelito Desconocido and they believe he might be responsible for the mass disappearance. They also said Calderón visited too. The mother of one of the missing members stated that Efraín Aréchiga, the lawyer who was in company of the three men in Guadalajara, did not return to La Cruz de Loreto for six months after they went missing. She believes that his six-month hiatus was suspicious and that he might be involved in the mass disappearance as well.
Gasparotto had problems with the fishermen group after he built a canal on the Ermitaño estuary because they believed that this affected the fauna and fish production. Romero Quintero, the president of the fisherman organization, filed a report to the police on November 21, 2010, stating that he and Espinoza Díaz received death threats from Gasparotto. He also complained that government officials were not taking his requests seriously and that Gasparotto acted with impunity. The fishermen group told the press in 2011 they had evidence of Gasporotto's death threats against them. They filed a video and several documents reportedly implicating Gasparotto to PROFEPA. In one of the documents, they showed that the Ermitaño estuary was a protected wetland under the Ramsar Convention. Another document asked authorities to investigate the constructions done by Hotelito Desconocido along with the wastewater discharges in the area. The fishermen group provided economic help to the three widows and ten orphan children left behind after the disappearance of Romero Quintero, Ruíz López, and Espinoza Díaz. Once Calderón's presidency concluded, the family members sent additional letters for help to President Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018).
Money laundering activities
On November 5, 2007, Hotelito Desconocido's ownership was transferred to W&G Arquitectos, a parent company owned by Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo. She is the wife of Gerardo González Valencia, a former suspected high-ranking drug lord of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Los Cuinis, two allied criminal groups in Jalisco. For the land and buildings in the property, W&G Arquitectos paid US$7.7 million; for the construction equipment, they paid US$285,000; and for trademark rights, they paid US$250,000. Each of these transactions included three additional value-added tax payments totaling US$182,250, US$42,750, and US$37,500 respectively. The real estate purchase contract cost $US78,370. This meant that W&G Arquitectos spent over $US8.5 million dollars (approximately MXN$91.3 million in 2007) just to get Hotelito Desconocido. According to a notarized document, W&G Arquitectos got several loans from Bansí, a bank based in Guadalajara, to purchase Hotelito Desconocido.
Gasporotto decided to give up the ownership of Hotelito Desconocido after suffering an accident where he lost his eye. Members of the fisherman group said that Gasporotto left to Uruguay, but they said they lost track of him when he moved to South America. According to local residents, once the ownership of Hotelito Desconocido was passed on to W&G Arquitectos, they began to see suspicious activity near the hotel. One of the members of the fisherman group stated that some of the hotel workers said they sometimes saw helicopters deliver packages at the hotel. He also stated to have seen suspicious convoys of black vehicles in some of the dirt roads leading to the hotel.
On August 19, 2015, the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 15 Mexican businesses, including Hotelito Desconocido and W&G Arquitectos, and 6 Mexican nationals, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (also known as the Kingpin Act). Hotelito Desconocido and W&G Arquitecto were charged with providing financial and material assistance to Los Cuinis and their leader Abigael González Valencia (brother of Gerardo), who was responsible for coordinating international drug trafficking operations. Their assets were frozen in the United States, and U.S. citizens were prohibited from carrying out transactions with the entities and individuals in mentioned. This measure was also extended to Amaral Arévalo and businessman Fernando Torres González, who was linked to Hotelito Desconocido. Amaral Arévalo was also linked to HD Collection S.A. de C.V., a business managed by her and Torres González that was also linked to Hotelito Desconocido.
According to the OFAC, this sanction was part of a joint effort with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in Los Angeles to work with the Mexican government. The intention of this sanction was to dismantle Los Cuinis' business network and uncover the businesses that were operating illegally with drug money invested in the economy. The U.S. government first heard of Hotelito Desconocido through a wire tap phone conversation Abigael had with Diana María Sánchez Carlón, one of his financial assistants. In that conversation, Abigael asked her how his hotel was doing, prompting the U.S. government to investigate what he was referring to exactly. Sánchez Carlón was introduced to Abigael by Jennifer Beaney Camacho Cázares, a close friend of hers and wife of Abigael. Both Sánchez Carlón and Camacho Cázares were sanctioned through the Kingpin Act for their alleged role in money laundering.
Closure and aftermath
The same day the Kingpin Act was made public, the PGR seized Hotelito Desconocido and closed it down. This action by the PGR stemmed from suspicions that the hotel was a money laundering front for the CJNG drug cartel; the Mexican government had leads that Hotelito Desconocido was used as a legal entity by the CJNG in an attempt to invest money in economy and hide the illegal origins of their drug proceeds. They also added that the CJNG may have used the hotel as a meeting spot for its members. The seizure was done following a formal request done through the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit and by the exchange of information with U.S. officials. The National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) also froze several Mexican-based bank accounts from a previous investigation they had open. Torres González's assets were temporarily frozen in Mexico. The 14 other businesses sanctioned through the Kingpin Act were not confiscated by the Mexican government that day.
A few days after Hotelito Desconocido was shut down, local authorities from Tomatlán expressed their worry on the effects it would have on tourism and unemployment; they stated that its closure would impact the economy and make Tomatlán less attractive for international tourists, and that it would cause around 100 people to lose their jobs. The Jalisco Secretariat of Tourism stated that one less hotel in town was a huge loss for meeting accommodation demands for visitors. According to a spokesperson from the agency, Hotelito Desconocido met all the requirements lawmakers were looking for it to fulfill. He also stated that the hotel participated in campaigns to promote local tourism. Another local tourism official said he hoped that the closure of Hotelito Desconocido would not negatively affect the ecosystem of the area (particularly the turtle release programs).
On April 4, 2016, the OFAC sanctioned 7 other companies under the Kingpin Act for being associated to the business network of Los Cuinis and Abigael. One of the companies was Status Administrativo, which was linked to Hotelito Desconocido and W&G Arquitectos. According to the bulletin, Status Administrativo had the same address as Hotelito Desconocido and was authorized to charge its credit card debts on the hotel's behalf. It also managed a parking lot address in Guadalajara that was shared with W&G Arquitectos. This investigation was also a result of a joint operation between the OFAC and the DEA. As a result of the sanction, Status Administrativo's U.S.-based assets were frozen, and U.S. citizens were prohibited from doing business with this entity.
In late 2016, Hotelito Desconocido was put up for sale by the Mexican government's Asset Administration and Disposal Service (SAE) agency. On the gates of the hotel, the SAE affixed a plastic banner stating that anyone caught trespassing the property would be prosecuted. The government appointed a day and night guard to safeguard the premises. A phone number and email address were printed on the bottom of the banner for anyone interested in contacting the SAE to purchase the property.
See also
- Mexican Drug War
Sources
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
- Angulo, Annuska (2003). Lifestyles: Nature & Architecture, Amazing Hotels in Mexico. AM Editores. p. 200. ISBN 9685336334.
- Arieff, Allison; Burkhart, Bryan (2005). Spa: Evergreen Series. Taschen. p. 480. ISBN 3822858900.
- Baird, David; Bairstow, Lynne (2001). Frommer's Portable Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo & Guadalajara (3 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. p. 208. ISBN 0764564366.
- Henderson, Justin (2016). Moon Puerto Vallarta: Including Sayulita & the Riviera Nayarit. Avalon Books. p. 400. ISBN 163121232X.
- Kunz, Martin Nicholas (2008). Cool Hotels Beach Resorts. teNeues. p. 221. ISBN 3832792740.
- Massó, Patricia (2006). Cool Hotels: Ecological. teNeues. p. 399. ISBN 3832791353.
- Onstott, Jane; Mellin, Maribeth (2009). The Unofficial Guide to Mexico's Best Beach Resorts. John Wiley & Sons. p. 480. ISBN 0470379979.
- Onstott, Jane (2009). Puerto Vallarta 2010: With Guadalajara, San Blas, and Inland Mountain Towns. Fodor's Travel Publications. p. 288. ISBN 1400008514.
- Whipperman, Bruce (2007). Moon Puerto Vallarta: Including the Nayarit and Jalisco Coasts. Avalon Books. p. 420. ISBN 1566918499.
- Witynski, Karen; Carr, Joe P. (2001). Casa Adobe. Gibbs Smith Publishers. p. 190. ISBN 1586850318.
Further reading
- Manifestación de impacto ambiental modalidad particular sector turismo del proyecto ampliación del Hotelito Desconocido (PDF) (in Spanish). Tepic, Nayarit: Consultores Ambientales y Ingeniería, S.C., via Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Mexico). January 2008. p. 199. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2017.
External links
- Hotelito Desconocido - official website
- Hotelito Desconocido on YouTube
Source of article : Wikipedia
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