With Hotels With Great Taste, we’re pulling back the curtain for a peek at the “special sauce” that hotels use to create memorable, meaningful culinary experiences for their guests.
As you head up the Pacific Coast from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, high-rise hotels and busy traffic give way to dense jungle and views of cloud-topped mountains. The 200 miles of shoreline running around Bahía de Banderas and north to San Blas is known as Riviera Nayarit, and it’s commonly billed as being “untouched,” due to its relative lack of development.
That’s now a misnomer, as an increasing number of visitors have flocked to the area in recent years and new hotels—and a modern highway—have cropped up to accommodate them, but the sentiment remains: Sipping mezcal with your toes in the sand, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’ve found your own personal paradise. But more on that in a minute.
Rosewood Mandarina, which began welcoming guests in May 2025, is located on a plot of terrain where Riviera Nayarit’s three distinct ecosystems (jungle-y flatlands, beach, and mountains) converge—and the brains behind the operation knew better than to try to compete with Mother Nature.
The natural landscape acts as the property’s North Star. Suites are cleverly engineered to blend in with the environment. Furniture and art is sourced from local craftsmen. And while the resort’s four dining and drinking spots draw inspiration from cuisines around the world, their menus are filled with ingredients harvested from the surrounding landscape.
“The seafood is sourced locally from trusted regional suppliers, vegetables and coffee come from local, sustainable agriculture, and eggs are sourced from a nearby organic farm,” says Jose Mascarós, Rosewood Mandarina’s executive chef and head of food and beverage.
Japanese-Peruvian restaurant Toppu is touted as the property’s fine-dining option, but for the biggest flavors and most exciting dishes, you’ll want a table at La Cocina, Mandarina’s Mexican spot. Fruit grown in the resort’s on-site garden, handmade tortillas cooked on a comal, ceviche made from fish caught just offshore—you can’t get any fresher.
Rosewood Mandarina
Mandarina’s libations, too, are locally sourced, and during my visit late last year, I spent a magical (not a term I use lightly!) afternoon tasting agave spirits with head mixologist Ivan Torres Flores. That snapshot described above, with the mezcal, bare feet, and crashing waves? I lived it.
As Flores poured my husband and me generous sips of tequila, mezcal, raicilla, and sotol—the latter two being less common spirits made from plants native to Mexico—he explained how each drink is made and its significance to the local people.
