A fully staffed villa is a phrase that means almost nothing until you look at who is in the kitchen at seven in the morning, and whether that person is in the rate or on the quote.
So here are our own five destinations with the numbers underneath them. Villas only — a condo is not a house — and published only, straight off the listings.
The five, in our own numbers
| houses | chef in the rate | chef at extra cost | sleep 20+ | beachfront | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riviera Maya & Tulum | 137 | 71 | 65 | 21 | 95 |
| Punta Mita | 128 | 75 | 52 | 9 | 8 |
| Puerto Vallarta | 54 | 49 | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| Los Cabos | 39 | 4 | 35 | 2 | 0 |
| Elsewhere on the coast | 25 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Read the second and third columns together rather than the first. The question is not how many houses a coast has; it is what share of them arrive with somebody already cooking.
Puerto Vallarta: 49 of 54. Nine houses in ten. This is the coast where the town is the point — the malecón at night, the restaurants, the food culture, the beaches you walk to — and it also happens to have the strongest service of any coast we work on. If you have never stayed in a staffed villa and want to find out what the fuss is, start here. Our staffed houses in Puerto Vallarta.
Elsewhere on the coast: 16 of 25. Puerto Escondido, Costa Careyes, Acapulco, Huatulco, Ixtapa. We have a handful of houses in each, which is a different proposition from a destination. Come here when you have already done the others, or when being somewhere nobody you know has been is the point.
Punta Mita: 75 of 128. Three houses in five, and the largest number of staffed houses anywhere we work. A gated peninsula for people who want to get away from everything: golf, surf, calm beaches, and a staff that looks after the whole group. There is no nightlife, which is the selling point rather than an apology — you leave the gate to find the town. Our staffed houses in Punta Mita, and what the chef in the rate buys you hour by hour.
Riviera Maya & Tulum: 71 of 137. The most houses, the most big houses and almost all the beachfront — 95 of our 107 beachfront villas in Mexico are on this coast, against twelve on the whole Pacific. White sand, turquoise water, cenotes. It is a coast built for visitors rather than lived in, and we say so: for everyday Mexico, go Pacific. For the water, and for a group of twenty on the sand, nothing else comes close. Our houses in the Riviera Maya.
Los Cabos: 4 of 39. One house in ten. That is not a criticism of Cabo, it is how that coast prices a house, and knowing it in advance is the difference between a budget and a surprise. It is a getaway for golfers and for deep-sea fishing, desert running into sea, big-sky evenings. The ocean beaches are rough — with small children you are better served on the Pacific bays or the Caribbean. Our houses in Los Cabos.
What "fully staffed" has to mean
Three things, and then everything else is a bonus: somebody cooking, somebody cleaning, and somebody whose job is to answer the question you are about to ask.
Beyond that the lists diverge so sharply that generalising is useless. One house gives you a chef for twelve hours and a villa manager on call around the clock. Another gives you two chefs but only until four, so dinner is yours. Another includes a butler, a bartender, a gardener and a maintenance team. Another includes all the food, which almost none of them do. We read each house's own list rather than writing a sentence that covers them all, and so should you, because that page is the contract.
The one line worth finding on any quote is whether the chef's hours are in the rate. Across all five destinations the usual shape is that the hours are included and the food is not — groceries billed at cost with a shopping fee, stated on the listing. A few houses include the food and say so. Budget the groceries separately and the number stops moving.
How to choose, in two questions
How many of you are there? Twenty or more and the field narrows fast: 21 of our Riviera Maya houses are that size, nine in Punta Mita, nine in Puerto Vallarta, two in Los Cabos. Houses for large groups goes through them one by one.
Does anybody need to swim off the beach in front of the house? If yes, you are choosing from beachfront houses with a chef, and you are mostly choosing the Caribbean. If the answer is no — if the pool is the pool and the beach is somewhere you drive to — Punta Mita and Vallarta open up, and Vallarta gives you a town to walk into afterwards.
Then the honest comparisons, which we have written out properly rather than hedged: Punta Mita against Los Cabos, Vallarta against the Riviera Nayarit, and the Riviera Maya against the Riviera Nayarit. Every one of them steers, because that is what the numbers above are for.
If you have only ever booked resorts, the piece to read first is a villa against a hotel — it describes the day rather than the amenity list.
And when you are ready to narrow it, say how many of you are coming and which month, and Rocío will tell you which coast to stop looking at.
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Frequently asked
Which Mexican destination has the most fully staffed villas?
By the share that come with the chef already in the rate, Puerto Vallarta, and it is not close: 49 of our 54 houses there. By sheer number of staffed houses, Punta Mita, with 75 of 128. The Riviera Maya has the most houses of all — 137 — but only 71 of them include the chef, and in Los Cabos it is four out of 39.
What does fully staffed actually include?
At minimum a chef, daily housekeeping and a concierge or house manager. Beyond that the lists diverge sharply, which is why we read each house's own rather than generalising. The thing to check on any quote is whether the chef's hours are part of the rate, because that one line is usually the largest difference between two houses that look alike.
Are groceries included?
Normally not. The usual shape across all five destinations is that the chef's hours are in the rate and the food is billed at cost with a shopping fee, stated on the listing. A handful of houses do include the food and say so. Budget for the groceries separately and the quote stops being a surprise.
Where should a group of twenty go?
The Riviera Maya first — 21 of our houses there sleep twenty or more, against nine in Punta Mita, nine in Puerto Vallarta and two in Los Cabos. Then Punta Mita, where every one of the nine comes with the chef. For a group that size the question is not which coast is prettiest; it is which coast has houses that fit you.
Where should a family with small children go?
The Caribbean or the Pacific bays, not the ocean beaches at Los Cabos, which are rough — that is the plainest piece of steering we give. The Riviera Maya has 95 of our 107 beachfront houses; Punta Mita sits on a bay with calm stretches and surf stretches a few hundred metres apart.