ACAPULCO
Like the Countless Actresses Who Have Graced Her Shores,
This City by the Sea is Ready for a Comeback
by Mark Chesnut
Any gay traveler worth his or her weight in boarding passes
already knows about Acapulco’s star-studded history.
This city on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, after all, was
one of the world’s first jet-set resort destinations,
attracting the likes of Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor,
Elvis Presley, and Lana Turner, to name a few. In recent
years, however, the city took a lower profile when faced
with competition from Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, and Los
Cabos. With a new infusion of luxury accommodations, as
well as a growing gay scene, Acapulco is once again showing
up on the itinerary of gay globetrotters.
GAY ON THE BAY
It’s 3 A.M. on a Friday night. At the aptly
named dance club called Moons, a shirtless young
man writhes against a brass pole, his long false eyelashes
fluttering to the beat as he stomps his knee-high white
platform boots. They perfectly match his tiny white
bikini as well as the luxuriant feathers sprouting from
his carefully coiffed hair. A few feet away, a muscular
guy in a thong showers on a separate stage, a dark blue
spotlight bouncing off the tepid water that flows from
the wall above him. Halfway down the block, drag performers
in Las Vegas-style showgirl costumes parade across a
stage at Savage, as well-built patrons dance
to loud techno music upstairs at Demas, and pose
in the smoky trendiness a few steps away, at Shurakk.
Nearby, a younger crowd shimmies to the latest Mexican
and US pop music at Cabaré-Tito Beach
on a runway originally built for a straight strip joint.
It’s just another Friday night in Acapulco. Who
says this city has lost its glamour and excitement?
If I were a tourism consultant, I would
say that Acapulco is missing an opportunity as golden
as its sun-soaked beaches. The city has all the elements
to make it a top gay destination: an infrastructure
that includes gay-owned hotels and nightlife, a growing
range of stylish restaurants and mainstream hotels,
plus a star-studded history and renewed celebrity presence.
Add to all this the friendly gay vacationers from Mexico
and abroad, the gay beach at Playa Condesa, and
the stunning scenery of this hilly city on the bay,
and you’ve got more than enough to attract even
the most demanding gay or lesbian traveler.
If you look online, it’s hard to
find all this information in one place (with any luck,
this article will remedy that a bit). There is no centralized
gay website for Acapulco, and most of the gay nightclubs
don’t even have websites. Mainstream hotels, which
generally have no problem checking same-sex couples
into the same room, do little to package themselves
as attractive to gay travelers. Imagine the extra business
that the group of hotels closest to the gay beach and
the gay nightlife (Fiesta Americana, Fiesta Inn,
El Presidente, and Calinda Beach) could gain if
they actively marketed themselves to the GLBT community.
Even the centrally located gay beach,
Playa Condesa, lacks a gay pride flag. This again is
a missed opportunity for one of the many beach vendors
who rent out chairs, umbrellas, and sell drinks. As
long as we’re at it, some tour operator should
set up a Hollywood-style “star tour,” which
would make it even easier for visitors to see noteworthy
celebrity stomping grounds.
Even with the less-than-organized information
available about Acapulco as a gay destination, there
is plenty to attract visitors. When US native Roy Cooper
first visited Acapulco nearly three years ago, he stayed
at Casa Condesa, one of the city’s gay guesthouses,
which is just a couple big blocks up the hill from the
gay beach. “When I arrived at Casa Condesa, I just
fell in love with the place, [the owner] James, and
the staff.”
His first visit to Acapulco soon led
to another, and another, until finally he did what many
only dream of doing: he moved there. This year, he became
manager of the Casa Condesa, “I have traveled to
other areas [of] Mexico over 20 times, and I feel the
scenery and beach in Acapulco is so beautiful,”
he gushes. “I just feel I am at home here. We have
such wonderful guests that come to Casa Condesa, and
the main thing I hear from them is Acapulco is a place
to relax, experience the sun, enjoy the beach, the gay
bars, and all the beautiful attractions around the area.”
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Casa Condesa is undergoing renovations
that include a new, 3,000-square-foot thatched-roof
palapa that will serve as a happy hour gathering place
open to the public and provide an early-evening option
for gay travelers. The new happy hour is just the latest
in a series of recent additions to Acapulco’s gay
nightlife. Today, there are no less than seven places
to sit back and order a cubetazo (a bucket of beer),
or a michelada (beer with hot sauce and lime), take
to the dance floor, or see a drag or strip show.
Among the newest nightspots is Shurakk, which opened
in 2007. Shurakk’s owner, Javier Cruz Muller, was
born in Acapulco but lived in the nation’s capital
for several years. “Since I lived in Mexico City
and I came to Acapulco frequently, it was depressing
to see that the places that existed had no class, so
I decided to try to revive the gay Acapulco of the 1970s
and 1980s,” he says.
The result is impressive. The bar, located
on a block where the majority of Acapulco’s gay
nightlife resides, offers a stylish ambiance and a loungey
open-air deck. Cruz Muller complains that the competition
is fierce in the gay nightlife scene, particularly since
three gay nightspots, Demas, Savage, and Moons, belong
to the same owner. If all the competitors do well, it
will certainly be to the benefit of Acapulco’s
gay and lesbian visitors.
Another new dance club is Cabaré-Tito
Beach, which also opened last year, not far from
the gay beach. “We decided to open Cabaré-Tito
based on the success of our business in Mexico City,”
says David Rangel, general director of Grupo Cabaré-Tito,
“and based on a market study that showed that in
Acapulco we wouldn’t have competition. The spaces
that existed, and still exist, are totally different
from ours. At Cabaré-Tito, the ambiance is young,
relaxed, and full of color and diversity; gay people
can invite their friends without problems.” Indeed,
Cabaré-Tito Beach offers a lively atmosphere,
popular with young patrons, that features dancing on
the stage and runway.
Several straight dance clubs also attract
gay clientele, including Palladium, a giant disco
dramatically tucked into the hills overlooking the bay,
and Baby O, where stylish crowds wait outside
to gain entrance.
Rangel says that Acapulco differs from
other gay-popular destinations in Mexico. “Vallarta
has a service infrastructure created for the LGBT community,
which Acapulco still lacks.” He also notes that,
“Acapulco is changing, and it will continue growing
in a natural way. It has many advantages over Vallarta.
Acapulco is already the preferred place for people from
the capital to vacation. Acapulco will always be an
excellent tourism destination. Its reasonable prices
and the warmth and hospitality of its people make it
unique.” Grupo Cabaré-Tito also operates
a travel division, Turismo Diferente (http://www.turismodiferente.com.mx),
which is based in Mexico City and offers a package that
includes accommodation, tours, and nightlife visits
in both Mexico City and Acapulco, as well as roundtrip
transportation between the two cities.
Continued
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