Naked truth about Nude Hotel

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/01/2011 (5361 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ZIPOLITE, Mexico — Naturally, one wonders, just how nude is The Nude Hotel.

The short answer is that the word nude in the hotel’s official name, Nude Bungalows and Sky Lounge, refers more to the birthday-suit bathers on the Pacific Coast beach on which the business is located than to the state of undress of its in-house clients.

Nudity is permitted in all areas of the hotel, except the beachside restaurant. There, at least put on a sarong. You wouldn’t want to drip some fiery Mexican chilies on sensitive body parts.

But most hotel clients tend to be clothed, except when sunning on their balconies, taking a plunge into the small, but cute, backyard pool or swimming in the ocean at high tide, a mere 20 metres or so away.

The Nude, as many Zipolite regulars call the place, is a series of new, gleaming white structures with thatched roofs located on what is Mexico’s only officially nude beach.

Well, maybe the word official is not quite accurate. Perhaps one can say Zipolite is Mexico’s only tolerated public nude beach. North Americans, Europeans and a growing number of Mexicans are shedding their clothes to suntan on this 1.5-kilometre stretch of sand about an hour away from the airports of the much larger cities of Puerto Escondido and Huatulco. (There are also several private naturist resorts, mainly on the Caribbean coast along what is called the Mayan Riviera.)

The sign on the front of the hotel, with the word Nude in tall letters, is a favourite with shutterbugs, especially Mexican ones. You can’t come to Zipolite and not get your picture taken in front of the Nude sign perched above the sunbathers lazing on the swinging beds placed in front of the hotel.

Yes, swinging beds. The beds give the hotel something of an air of splendid decadence. Is there anything more sinfully luxurious than resting, with or without your bathing suit, on a roof-covered swinging bed while sipping a margarita and checking your email via the free Wi-Fi? At night, the area is lit, just barely, by burning torches stuck in the sand. You begin to wonder when the Roman-style orgy will start.

The hotel’s best rooms are the four that face the ocean. The second-floor ones offer the most privacy and have spectacular decks the size of a modest Mexican home. There, one can while away the day listening to the constant roar of the breaking surf and watching the many birds that nest in the area. The scenery also, of course, includes a constant parade of tourists, both clothed and unclothed, taking their daily constitutional.

In the back of the hotel grounds are eight rooms in four thatched-roof bungalows. The ones closest to the front and on the second floor get the most ocean breeze. And, like most hotels in Zipolite, there are fans but no air conditioning, so that breeze is most welcome.

The beachside restaurant, like most of the neighbouring ones, consists of tables and chairs on the sand. A bamboo roof protects diners from the sun.

The food is typical of most low-budget Mexican tourist hotels, with the usual steak, beef and tortilla-based recipes. Try the breakfast burritos encasing scrambled eggs, black beans and ham or bacon. The plate comes with a green salad and is also perfect for lunch.

More adventuresome diners head a few doors to the east to Posada de Mexico, which serves great Italian fare. Another Zipolite favourite is El Alquimista, about 100 metres to the west of The Nude. That popular beachside restaurant offers both Mexican and Continental dining. The bruschettas with such ingredients as Serrano ham, figs, blue cheese, pecans, pesto and other very un-Mexican mixtures are a hit.

Zipolite became famous in the 1960s as a haven for nudist hippies. Accommodations were often no better than chicken coops. Today, the beach is populated by superannuated hippies, diehard European naturists and young backpackers. Accommodations have improved but remain overwhelmingly ramshackle. The Nude is definitely a cut above, but still far below package-tour standards. So don’t arrive expecting reliable hot water, turndown service and the like. Do expect friendly staff, great views and as nude an experience as you want.

Paul Gessell is a writer based in Chelsea, Que. who spends part of each winter, usually clothed, in Mexico.

— Postmedia News