Luxury travel in Mexico gets upgrade with US$1 billion project – will it poach clients like Tom Cruise, Madonna from a neighbouring celebrity-loved hideaway?

Xala, a US$1 billion development in an unspoilt part of Mexico, will include luxury hotels and estate-style holiday homes, all next door to a new airport

The price tag places it among Mexico’s most expensive tourism projects. A nearby luxury hideaway draws A-listers Cara Delevingne, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna

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The 1,200-hectare site of Xala on Mexico’s Costalegre coast south of Puerto Vallarta. Xala, a US$1 billion development, will include luxury hotels and holiday homes. Photo: Xala

Published: 7:15pm, 9 Dec 2023

The developers who transformed Mandarina, an unspoilt spot on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, from rugged beach to a bastion of luxury travel complete with the eighth-best hotel in the world, are aiming higher with their latest project: Xala, a US$1 billion development in the state of Jalisco.

Set on 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) in the 240-kilometre (150-mile) coastal region of Costalegre, Xala will include one or two highly luxurious hotels and about 100 estate-style holiday homes, all next door to a new international airport built to support the development.

The site itself is a patchwork of mangroves and estuaries some 145km south of Puerto Vallarta and 130km north of Manzanillo. Developer Ricardo Santa Cruz, managing partner at real estate developer Actur, says that stitching the land together required him and his partners to strike 68 separate ownership deals over four years.

The vision, he says, is now to create the lowest-density development project ever carried out in Mexico.

The Costalegre is a coastal region in Jalisco, Mexico. Photo: Getty Images

Up first is the Chalacatepec International Airport, already constructed as part of a public-private partnership but not yet open; it is just 10 minutes from Xala.