Just a note when I was reading Scarlett's reply. I live part time in Playa del Carmen and just returned after a month there. Most people who live there do not spend a whole lot of time just sitting on the beach. In that month I went to the beach three times...there's just too much to do with everyday life even if you're not working. I'm going back in two weeks and already have a list of things to do. It's just like living anywhere else..you get caught up in the day to day living and the rhythm of wherever you are. Personally if I could stay there for the majority of the year I would and plan to when I retire in the next five years. I still plan to come back to the states periodically but would have no problem living life there.

colokid, how do you compare a pacifc ocean venue like Puerto Vallarta to Playa del Carmen?

unfortunately just 1-2 weeks and 1-2 times a year (me in PV)

sure i have loads of places to recommend. what kind of level are you looking for? there are decent 0-star basic local style hotels for $25/night still. $50 gets you a 3-star with a small pool. for a nicer B&B or hotel on the beach you'll need to spring for more like $75+. anything more expensive you'll have to ask someone else for recommendations.

degas,

I can't compare as I haven't been on the Pacific side in many years. I like the Caribbean for the warm water and white sand. One website that gets a lot of locals posting in the Playa area is www.playa.info. There's always someone on who is helpful. Just last week I posted looking for an electrician as I was pulling my hair out trying to get some outlets installed and someone I hadn't seen in two years showed up at my condo and walked around calling my name to see where I lived. He was able to come in and look at the problems and recommend someone else to call who was able to come over and take care of it. Playa is that kind of community. We all share the info to help each other. I'm sure other ex-pat communities do the same.

The best advice seems to be - rent for a year before making any major changes. Keep your USA place while you rent.

Renting is a great idea. Living in Mexico is not easy but it does get under your skin. Renting will give you a good idea of what the lifestyle of a certain place is like but you still have the landlord to fall back on to make repairs, etc. Once a place is yours it's a whole other ballgame. Then you need to take care of problems which can be very different especially if you're not able to communicate effectively in spanish. Plus if you do not live there full time a whole other set of considerations comes into play including: will you rent it and if so how will that happen, how will you pay the bills, will you travel on a FM-T or apply for the FM-3, which property managers can you trust and do you need one, who will handle your real estate needs and the list goes on. Do a lot of homework and research, visit the areas you are interested in and talk to people, find forums online with people who live there already and read advice already given (I say this because some people ask the same questions that have been asked a thousand times and the info is already there)and if it's meant to be then work hard to make your dream come true.

Degas,

Regarding PV, we just got back Monday after nearly 2 weeks. It was HOT and HUMID. The first day I was nauseated from the heat and humidity. (We live in the desert-Palm Springs, and we never got used to the wet heat of PV) I would never go back there in the summer but I would go back to Hawaii in the summer.

I understand you're just in the beginning stages of thinking about this. But when I noticed your having written "warm, dry weather", I had to write because I disagree with Suze on that one count.

suze, we are 3 star hotel/B&B folks except when I travel on business and somebody else is paying. Frugal with a touch of class comes to mind!

We don't have to be on the beach. Would prefer a smaller, quiet place in the romantic zone with a local feel to it. No concrete boxes with tour groups or swarms of kids! A garden setting with friendly staff would be nice. Can it be found for around $60-75 a night?

AG3046 & colokid - agree, rent first. Expect we won't buy a place at all in the end. Its hard for any one place to keep our attention for long periods of time. We might rotate among several places at first.

Pilates, the humidity does drain you. Here in Hawaii, if you get out of the sun you are fine due to all the breezes. When I said warm and dry, I was referring to no long periods of rain.

Simply, no.
Consider Zacatecas; Morelia or Patzcuaro.
The The West coast of Mexico is mostly uninhabitable May-Oct, and San Miguel de Allende is more than expensive.

Thanks loiusa8, Zacatecas; Morelia and Patzcuaro are on my list to check out.

Is the May-Oct weather much better than the Pacific Coast area?

(for PV)
Look at the website for Hotel Posada de Roger, that is my usual haunt & best fits what you describe (3-star, sort of a garden setting as in plants, patio, fountain, a small sunny pool, rooftop sundeck, friendly staff, safe and squeeky clean). It's right in the middle of town so some street-side rooms can be noisy. Rooms aroud $50USD.

Earlier this month stayed at Suites Emperador for the 1st time. Because of summer discount specials on the hotel website, turned out to be only $57/night for a pretty roomy room with a large patio with a full sunset ocean/bay view. And equipped kitchenette. Not fancy doesn't begin to describe and the pool/garden is down the street, it doesn't have the cozy well loved attention like at the Roger, but killer view and location for the price. Do not book a regular room (they stink) only the ocean view suites.

I think "uninhabitable" is a bit of an exaggeration for the entire west coast for all of May-Oct! I love Vallarta in June.

Suze, I definitely wouldn't describe Posada de Roger as 3 star. We spent 2 or 3 nights there a few years ago, and to be honest, I wasn't that impressed. I'm a budget traveller, and that's what I got - a budget room. The pool area was ok, and the area was fine. When we checked in, we were offered our choice of 2 rooms - 1 that was really dark and dreary, but quiet, another that was by the pool, so noisy. Neither were ideal. If I were to go back to PV, I would try somewhere else.

Thanks Suze

Did you ever stay in Hotel Eloisa or Hotel Rio?

Susan, I know you don't think it lives up to it but I'm just saying, as I always do, Posada de Roger *is* a Mexican 3-star hotel. See the sign out front to prove it.

Degas, I have visited both Rio and Eloisa many times but have not stayed at them. Rio is too much in El Centro for me, the pool does not get good sun, and many rooms front right on an extremely busy street. If you try it get a room facing the side streets. Posada Roger's has always similar prices and better ammenities imo.

I would definitely consider Eloisa, it's just a tad more expensive than what I usually pay. Some rooms are better than others there, and you have the option of TV or not, fan only, or air-con, kitchen or basic, price based on number of people which is nice, etc. Make sure you get a room with an exterior view (some of the budget rooms face inward only seem without good ventilation). Also they appeared to be under renovation when I saw the hotel a couple weeks ago, and possibly expanding further down the block(?) was hard to tell just what was going on, so may end up with more room choices, is what it looked like.

Thanks suze - Casa Andrea also looked pretty nice. Playa Los Arcos also might be an option. Looks pretty close to the romantic zone.

Simply come on down.
It's 70F/21C here in San Miguel at 12:15. High expected is 77F and low 56.
Fairly typical June - October at 6500-6700 ft.

degas, Playa Los Arcos is pretty darn close to what you specifically said you don't want (concrete box, packaged tours, lots of kids). It's a very "touristy" hotel in my observation.

This thread thread asking about living full time or extended periods in Mexico. For that surely you would need a normal apartment, not a hotel on the beach?

My husband and I are already making plans to retire to Mexico next year. We have chosen (Santiago de)Queretaro, Queretaro. It is about 1 hour southeast of SMA. We plan on renting for a while, just to be sure. We like it because it a working city. It has Americans and Canadians who work for companies such as Nestle, Gerber, Kellogs, etc. It also has the necessities, such as a Wal-Mart, Sam's, Sear's, etc. It was voted the cleanest city in Mexico and it is one of Mexico's most historic. Just another place to consider. We had been to a lot of Mexican cities, but we both fell in love with Querétaro. My brother (now deceased) and his wife (still there) live in Mazatlan, they have a very nice network of American friends, but I live in Houston, Texas and I visited Mazatlan in September and thought I was going to die of a heat stroke!!! My advice, wherever you decide to live, visit in the winter and the summer.

Suze, looks like we will do a short scouting trip and stay in a hotel. Yes, an apartment is the way to go for an extended period of time. After looking at the pictures, agree about the Playa Los Arcos not being what we
had in mind.

giorgio13, interesting info about Queretaro. That central region has cooler weather than I had first imagined.