I just wrote about a game changing new golf resort that debuted on Barbados last month, and for travelers looking for new and different options for warm weather getaways this winter–whether they play golf or not–I’ve got an interesting one.
I first wrote about Mukul here at Forbes in 2014, almost a decade ago, when it was one of the world’s highest profile new luxury getaways. The dream project of one of Nicaragua’s most successful businessmen, entrepreneur and philanthropist Don Carlos Pellas, Mukul had just 37 luxe villas in the Guacalito de Isla master-planned community, which also featured second homes. It spanned nearly 1,700 stunning, lush coastal acres, with world-class amenities like a David Kidd-designed 18-hole golf course (Kidd famously did Bandon Dunes, the Castle Course at St. Andrews, Mammoth Dunes, Laucala Island and many other “must play” routings around the globe), a surf school by the world’s top operator, Tropicsurf, an award-winning spa, and much more. Mukul means “secret” in the native Mayan Chorotega language, but in terms of luxury travel it was a badly kept secret, featured in just about every top publication covering the space.
I visited a year after it opened, played the course with Kidd, took surfing lessons, sampled the rums (more on that to come), swam, hit the spa and thoroughly enjoyed everything about the place. Unfortunately, its naturally beautiful location in Nicaragua proved a double-edged sword, as political instability, a nationwide crackdown on dissent, and human rights abuses led to Mukul’s closure in 2018. As a resort, it has remained shuttered ever since, though surprisingly, real estate sales for second homes continued.
The reimagined Mukul Resort, still the pride and joy of Pellas, who among many other things (transportation, technology, sugar, ethanol and more) owns ultra-premium Flor de Caña rum, which his family founded, will celebrate its grand reopening in January 2024. A soft opening began this month with limited rental availability as of this week. The ownership proposition has been shifted to a new membership model, but the resort will once again welcome guests for nightly stays.
Source : Forbes
