INSIDE JALISCO’ S $ 1-BILLION HOTEL INVESTMENT BET.
By MEAGAN DRILLINGER
Six Senses Xala is flanked by five miles of curving white-sand beach. It’ s slated to open in 2027.
Costalegre is not the obvious place to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars in hotel investment. It’ s a remote patch— 150 miles along the Pacific coastline stretching between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo in the Mexican state of Jalisco. That obscurity, however, is precisely why some of the world’ s most selective luxury brands and developers are planting flags on its wild and rugged shores.
Jalisco is home to tourism and economic powerhouses Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara and is currently tracking more than $ 1 billion in private hotel investment across 38 new projects scheduled through 2028, according to the Jalisco
Tourism Board. The bulk of capital is flowing into the aforementioned established markets, where infrastructure, airlift and demand support rapid absorption. But a meaningful share is being directed to Costalegre, a sparsely developed Pacific coastline where density is capped, timelines are long and development friction is part of the deal.
The decision runs counter to prevailing investment logic. Nationally, Mexico’ s hospitality market is projected to reach $ 61 billion in 2026, growing to $ 82 billion by 2031, according to market research firm Mordor Intelligence. In most regions, that growth is translating into more keys, faster cycles
The yoga pavilion at Six Senses Xala.
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