Sunday, July 25, 2010
Joining the international jetset costs less than you think...
Dear Reader,
Ecuador's premier resort of Salinas sits a on a spit of land just 90 miles from the international airport in Guayaquil. Heading into Salinas, you'll see dirt roads and sidewalks, tiny houses, and even tinier shops, with the owners watching the world drive past. You'll wonder why Salinas ranks as one of Ecuador's top seaside resorts. And you'll wonder how you could possibly join the jet-set here.
Then the scene switches. The beach comes into view and the houses get bigger and more luxurious...a modern shopping mall appears, followed by a swathe of high-rise hotels. This is up-market, beach resort living.
It feels like two different worlds, and it is. The one by the beach caters to the middle- and upper-class Ecuadorian families who have come to Salinas for decades, vacationing and relaxing on the wide sandy beaches. Yet you can still buy a beachfront condo here for $57,629...
Yachting, Deep-Sea Fishing, and Famous Visitors...
Salinas isn't just popular for its wide, sandy beaches. In the 1940s and 1950s, Ernest Hemingway, Harry Truman and Pablo Picasso fished here. A deep-sea fishing port, Salinas regularly holds fishing world records. Hemingway commented that Salinas has "the best damn fishing in the world". Gleaming boats moored at the yacht club testify to the city's continuing appeal as a boating and fishing destination.
Salinas' Yacht Club splits the 9.5 miles of city beach in two. Salinas Beach, where the hotels are located, is the busy side. A waterfront drive (known as the malecón) separates the hotels from the beach. In high season, swimmers and sunbathers crowd the sand, along with vendors selling ice cream, sunglasses, and jewelry. You can rent a beach umbrella and chair, hire a jet ski, or go deep-sea fishing or whale watching during the day.
At night, the trendy casinos, bars and nightclubs open up...and Salinas parties, Miami-style.
Joining the Jet-Set Costs Less than You Think...
Just outside Salinas, is another yacht club--Puerto Lucia Yacht Club--a popular destination with international sailors.
Here, in a condo development called Spondylus, you can live just minutes from grocery stores, a shopping mall, a country club, the yacht club, restaurants, and medical clinics. Plans for the condo community include an oceanfront social area, a gym, pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, and secure parking. Not surprisingly, only a handful of units remain in the first tower which is nearing completion. Ocean-view condos from $57,629, for a 645-square foot unit, aren't going to stay on the market long in a high-end location like this.
In fact, the popularity of those smaller-sized units in the first tower meant a change of plan for the second tower. Originally designed only with larger 1400-1500 square foot condos, and penthouses, the developers went back to the drawing board...and the local municipality...to cut the number of bigger condos, and add some smaller units into the mix. You now have a choice of sizes--from 700 square feet right up to the 2566 square foot penthouse. All the condos are either ocean front, or boast an ocean view. The start price for an ocean view 675-square foot unit in tower two is $59,565.
Amy Pinoargote, one of the developers of Spondylus, recently moved full-time to Salinas with her family. She's more than happy to show you Spondylus, and the Puerto Lucia area, if you want to come take a look. Contact her here to find out more.
Margaret Summerfield
If you'd like more details, contact Amy here. But don't hang around. There's only one ocean-view condo left at the very affordable $57,629.
Posted Under:
ecuador, beachfront, chill weekends
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