The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist suntribune saturday may 25 2602 25 advertising feature passport to 1 na mmtmwmm by bart card acapulco where movies are made and dreams come true i had visited acapulco a few times previously by ship but because of the time restrictions only spent the odd day ashore enough to make me want to return and spend some time sight seeing getting to know it better my initial impression on my day trips was of a big busy hot city with a lot of shops selling mainly leather goods and pottery well i am happy to say i was given the opportunity to spend a week and what a simply lovely place to visit mike taylor manager of public relations for fairmont hotels and resorts and claudia cano de jaime public relations director for the fairmont acapulco princess and the fairmont pierre marques extended an invitation to come down and spend a week getting to know acapulco and the princess hotels being brought up in bermuda with two princess hotels the hamilton princess and the southampton princess and knowing what a great job fairmont is doing running these prop erties i thought to myself this is a great opportunity so off i went although the charter flight down was a tight fit for a big guy like me i arrived safely on a very hot day acapulcos norm thankfully i had my cool tilley hat the first of many inter esting experiences was their novel cus toms system after retrieving your lug gage you are prompted to press a but ton which randomly selects a green or red light red you get your bag checked green no check and off you go mine turned green a princess hotel representative met me on arrival the hotel was just as the movies reviews and pictures por trayed and i couldnt believe i was actu ally going to spend one week enjoying this lovely hotel and acapulco i love breakfasts one thing i especially enjoy when i am traveling is a good hearty break fast i love going into the hotel dining room and taking my time enjoying both the meal and getting a feel for the clientele i am an early riser so i took the opportunity to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee in beautiful surroundings over- looking the sea before i had to meet claudia it also gave me time to have a look at the great things they serve for breakfast everything from fresh fruit to local mexican food for the more adventurous like me there was some thing there for everyone you certainly wouldnt go hungry the food opera tions including both the quality and service are very well run right out of sight of land i was after a sailfish however i did nt have any luck we were out all day for what was an incredible trip we saw quite a few whales but alas no sailfish the whales were majestic to watch acapulco princess the fairmont acapulco princess is executive chef michael dannecker and bart site offering spacious bathrooms large walkin closets and separate dressing rooms resort facilities include five freshwater pools with waterfalls and one saltwater pool overlooking the revolcadero beach in the pacific ocean the fairmont acapulco princess has long been regarded as having one of mexicos best resort golf courses not particularly long at 6350 yards the course however offers a signifi cant challenge as many holes feature sand traps and water hazards deemed one of the 25 greatest golf resorts by golf digest the course has been host to eight different pga sectional proam tournaments as well as proam events from canada england and germany hosting such events stands as testimony to ted robinsons archi tectural skill combining the natural beauty of the area with a challenge that even the most dedicated player can appreciate so with one golf course and nine outdoor and two indoor tennis courts the fairmont acapulco princess has after breakfast with claudia she introduced me to arturo smith corporate sales manager of maritur whose company arranges travel sight seeing and car rentals throughout mexico i had a car for the week with a real character named david as my driver and he knew acapulco like the back of his hand which was great the first place i wanted him to take me was to the local markets 1 wanted to explore the markets and take some pictures to get a feel for the place markets worldwide are a great insight into the lives of the most interesting people in all countries and cultures one night over dinner i mentioned to ian robinson the managing director how much i liked to fish and lo and behold the very next morning he offered me the opportunity to go out on a fishing boat with an early 500 am start i headed down with my driver to the yacht club and there was an absolutely beautiful 46footer with the outriggers all ready to go it had a crew of three but i was to be the only one fishing in my glory i sat as we headed out watching the crew putting out the outriggers and baiting the hooks i could see beautiful acapulco fading in the background as we went bart deep sea fishing a fabled mexican resort that captures the spirit of the aztec heritage set in an enchanting garden overlooking the pacific ocean designed in 1971 by mr william rudolph and leonides guadarrama as an ancient aztec pyra mid the fairmont acapulco princess sits on 480 acres of gardens and palms framed by the sierra madre in the beautiful acapulco diamante area all of the hotels 1017 rooms are exqui- something to offer all sports enthusi asts over the past year the resort has undergone a 14 million refurbish ment program changes include improvements to all guest rooms the revitalization of the hotels restaurants and a soon to be opened spa the readers of travel and leisure magazine ranked the fairmont acapulco princess eighth in the category of the worlds best hotels in mexico central and south america the fairmont acapulco princess and the fairmont pierre marques offer guests creative culinary delights in one of the most privileged sites in acapulco i could not believe how so v many restaurants could run like a swiss clock until i met the executive chef michael dannecker whether interna tional fare or mexican haute cuisine all dishes are carefully cultivated each day by the hotels team of distinguished chefs with a wide range of specialties these culinary experts turn the pleas ure of eating into an exotic adventure featuring flavours from around the world executive chef michael dannecker has dual canadianswiss citizenship and has been chef closer to home at the toronto hilton international and harbour castle hotel before arriving at the acapulco princess hotel one of the hotel restaurants i really enjoyed eating at was la hacienda the fairmont acapulco princess signa ture restaurant it serves exquisite mexican haute cuisine la hacienda features a tequila bar stocked with an incredible selection of over 1 00 differ ent tequilas this restaurant has an excellent executive chef in alain derouin alain is a medal winner winning the gold medal and member of the international club les toques blanches he was a finalist in the national contest bocuse dor for the mexican national team selection and a finalist in the national contest by the us meat federation the fairmont pierre marques and the fairmont acapulco princess are managed by fairmont hotels resorts fairmont is the largest luxury hotel management company in north america with a collection of 36 dis tinct city and resort hotels throughout the us canada bermuda barbados and mexico with over a century of experience fairmont hotels resorts is committed to service excellence with approximately 181 60 rooms and 19600 employees visit the web site at wwwfair- montcom or for information on its hotels wwwfairmontcomacapulco the toll free number for reservations is 18004411414 and who knows you may run into a movie star pity the pickpockets while visiting five countries in the mediterranean over the past three weeks i was the intended victim of three robbery attempts in each your ingeniously designed clothes thwarted the perpetrators robert c petersen silver spring maryland the worlds finest travel clothing has secret pockets security pockets stoploss pockets plus smart appearance ease of care wash in a hotel sink in the evening wear neat and dry to breakfast durability mix and match versatility and exceptional style colour and size options people buy them for travel but wear them for life with this ad and a reasonable purchase youll receive a free pair of comfy guaranteed unh0tfyfor3years and to dry overnight tilley travel socks 16 2 locations in toronto 900 don mills rd 3 lights south of lawrence 2 north of egllnton 416 4416141 ample free parking queens quay terminal main floor 416 2030463 two hours free parking tilley endurable tilley hats and the finest travel clothing in the world wwwtilleycom 18003638737