El Salvador
El Salvador is Costa Rica 25 years ago. It's that place you daydream about, with deserted beaches, quaint mountain villages, friendly people, and -- most importantly -- few tourists.
Many travelers, however, have bypassed this tiny Pacific coast country over the years as a result of lingering memories of El Salvador's bloody civil war and reputation for high crime. But the war is now well past, the economy is among the region's fastest growing, and travel is safe and easy.
The last few years have seen a boom in the country's burgeoning travel infrastructure. Interesting boutique hotels have sprung up along its 191 miles (307K) of Pacific coast, mountain towns have transformed themselves from war-torn territories into arts communities, and El Salvador's capital, San Salvador, is a modern, international city with luxury hotels and restaurants rivaling those of any world capital. The safety and ease of traveling in El Salvador has also increased in recent years with the continuation of its long-term political stability and the construction of a modern, well-maintained and easily navigated highway system connecting the country's main attractions. And though some travelers are put off by El Salvador's reputation for high crime, that reputation is overblown.
Among the most recent finds for travelers detailed in Frommer's Central America are boutique hotels such as Hotel y Restaurante Tekuaní Kal, located along El Salvador's Balsamo Coast. This Maya-inspired lodge sits atop a rocky cliff overlooking the Pacific and includes a reproduced Maya sweat lodge, large Maya-inspired cement sculptures crafted by the hotel's owner and a unique cave bar. Also along the beach in the beautiful fishing village and environmental reserve of Barra De Santiago, you'll find the tiny, luxury eco-lodge La Cocotera (www.lacocoteraresort.com). Opened in April 2008, this six-room resort features ultra-modern rooms (rare outside El Salvador) with flat screen TVs, sleek, Asian inspired bathrooms and custom crafted furniture. The luxurious vibe of this small resort -- which rests on a narrow strip of beach between the Pacific and a palm tree-line bay -- is complimented by its eco-friendly mission, which includes sea turtle incubation and release, brown water recycling and solar-powered hot water.
In the mountains, you'll want to stop in the villages of Ataco, Suchitoto and La Palma, which are developing reputations as arts communities in El Salvador. Ataco is among the country's most unique arts towns as a result of the husband and wife artist team of Cristina Pineda and Alvaro Orellana who have set up shop and begun to paint their signature surreal murals on buildings around town. You can stop by the couple's main gallery, Axul, just off the main square to chat with Christina or Alvaro or watch local artists at work in the back of the shop. The mountain town of Suchitoto is also fast becoming the county's international arts center with an annual arts festival attracting visual and performance artists from around Latin America, numerous art galleries and one of the country's most beautiful hotels, Los Almendros De San Lorenzo (www.hotelsalvador.com/index.php?id=3&L=1). Also high in the mountains is the village of La Palma, where you'll find a small, central avenue dotted with galleries and nearly covered by murals featuring the signature style of El Salvador's most famous artist, Fernando Llort.
The nation's capital has also seen an explosion in recent years of its restaurant and nightclub scene. Among the most current hot spots are the multi-level, flat screen-TV-filled Envy nightclub, located within the thriving nightlife complex of the Multiplaza Mall, and the rare-in-El-Salvador high-end, Brazilian rodizio style Fiasca Do Brasil Rodizio & Grill located in the luxury Intercontinental Real hotel. Like any restaurant or nightclub scene, tastes are fickle and hot spots can change quickly, so check with locals upon arrival for the hippest joints.
Honduras
As tourists look for Central America's next eco-hotspot, more and more are becoming enchanted with Honduras, and rapid development is sweeping across the country. Expect to hear about this relatively unknown and unspoiled nation again and again throughout the next several years.
The majority of development can be seen in two regions: the North Coast and the Bay Islands. On the North Coast there are two areas that are growing leaps and bounds by way of tourism. First is Tela Bay. The Los Micos Golf & Beach Resort (www.losmicosresort.com) is finally underway, much to the dismay of many environmentalists. We are finally getting some concrete details on what this resort, which could possibly turn the area into the next Cancun, will entail. The property is slated to open in late 2010 with two resorts (one of which will be a Westin), an 18-hole Gary Player-designed golf course, a beach club, and several hundred residential villas. A waterfront complex will also eventually include two other resorts, restaurants, a shopping mall, a convention center, and an exhibition hall. Stay tuned as new details are being announced every day. Closer to La Ceiba, tourism is exploding along the Rio Cangrejal in the buffer zone of Pico Bonito National Park. Everywhere you look there is a new guesthouse, villa, or restaurant sprouting up right out of the rainforest. New trails are being cut into this amazingly biologically diverse area, while rafting trips and canopy tours are now running daily.
In the Bay Islands there is rampant development on both Roatán and to a lesser extent Utila. First, new beach resorts such as Infinity Bay (www.infinitybay.com) on Roatán's West Bay Beach and Utopia Dive Village (www.utopiadivevillage.com) on Utila are already open and are just the start of a long list of projects in development. Several well known international chains have announced major resort projects on Roatán. The Westin Roatán Island Mystic Harbor Resort & Spa slated to open in late 2009, with 164 guest rooms, beach club, spa, convention center and more. The property is located in the center of the island, about 15 miles from the international airport, and will be the first Westin property to open in Honduras. Nikki Beach Resort & Spa is slated to open on Roatán in the fall of 2010, with more than 100 suites, penthouses and villas, plus a marina and nature park. In addition, a slew of new B&Bs, dive shops, gourmet restaurants, island style bars, and many new luxury residential communities will appear.
Getting to the Bay Islands has been altered slightly as well. While airlines Sosa and Isleña are still flying, Atlantic Airlines has been grounded and flights have been harder to come by to/from La Ceiba and the Bay Islands. On a positive note, however, Utila is replacing its high speed ferry with a larger and faster one and the once infrequent ferry service between Guanaja and Trujillo is now on a steady schedule with two trips each way per week.
Cruise traffic is up. Way up. Both Royal Caribbean and Carnival (to be completed in 2010) are expanding cruise ship operations significantly on Roatán. During the 2008-2009 season, the Port of Roatán (www.portofroatan.com) is expected to receive approximately 200 ship calls and over 433,431 passengers with the 13 cruise lines that include Honduras in their itineraries. Expect to see lower cruise prices and a more complete line up of services near the terminals this year.
Elsewhere around the country, services in La Mosquitia, which were practically non-existent in years past, are improving considerably. Thanks to increased demand, Sami airlines has begun offering more frequent flights between La Ceiba and the Raista/Belén air strip. A weekly boat service (cross your fingers on this one) has begun operating from Palacios to Brus Laguna as well.
With the help of the non-profit organization La Ruta Moskitia (www.larutamoskitia.com), the small communities are becoming more organized -- building new ecolodges, offering more tours, and in general improving their services. A visit here is still one of the great adventures in Central America, it is just getting easier.
In the western part of the country, Gracias and the Lenca Trail are seeing increased interest from foreign visitors, which has spurred increased facilities and services. Posada de Don Juan (www.posadadedonjuanhotel.com) in Gracias annexed the colonial building beside it and doubled the amount of rooms in the hotel, renovated the entire property, added a courtyard pool and large restaurant open to the public, and created their own private hot springs facility outside of town. The colonial churches and buildings on the Lenca Trail continue to be restored and the main square of Gracias is being completely restored.
In the Copán Valley there are several bites of news worth mentioning, such as the sleek new thermal spa, Luna Jaguar (www.lunajaguar.com), opening in the hills outside of town and the announcement of a new airport. Scheduled to open in June 2010 to small planes, the new airport will sit in Llano Grande at Concepcion County, approximately 28miles (45k) away from the ruins. At present, most visitors fly into San Pedro Sula, 2.5 hours away, and transfer to Copán by bus. The airport will vastly increase accessibility to Copán, though here is no word yet on what airlines might fly there or from where.
Last but not least, birders will delight in the fact that Honduras was named host to the first annual Mesoamerican Bird Watching Festival, held in February in the Lago de Yojoa basin.