Teitiare Estate

How would you describe Teitiare Estate in a nutshell?

TeiTiare Estate is a set of luxury villa rentals close to Sayulita, Mexico. Casa Ninamu and Casa O'te Miti have a total of 9 bedrooms. 4 additional bedrooms are available upon request, making TeiTiare a perfect venue for weddings or any type of event. The houses showcase typical Mexican Pacific Architecture, with cooling thatch roofs, striking colours, views of the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by lush tropical landscape. The estate comes with a butler and a chef, a sauna and even a private wine cellar.

Please tell us a bit a little about how Teitiare Estate started.

We used to come out here on vacation and drive all along the coast looking for properties. Eventually, after about six years, we found Tei Tiare. The whole property is about 16 acres of lush tropical jungle right by the beach. It’s almost like a little bay that’s very secluded and private.

We bought the land about 14 years ago and started landscaping and repairing it. It was just wild rain forest before we built Casa Ninamu, the guesthouse. We then lived in Casa Ninamu while we built the main residence, Casa O’te Miti.

We opened with four vacation rentals in April of 2010. Most customers are Americans and Canadians who are returning guests, or word of mouth references from the people who have been here, but we have a smaller percentage of Mexicans and other international guests, as well.

You were previously in the fashion industry. What was your motivation for this change in lifestyle?

My wife is a fashion photographer and I met her in Miami when I had my business there. We moved to New York and lived there for 16 years doing the whole fashion thing. We wanted to move away from the big city and live a simpler life because we have three young boys. We wanted them to grow up in a more natural environment.

My wife and I always had this vision of stepping back and moving to the beach. Running a luxury guesthouse is something very different to the fashion industry in one sense, yet it’s also a lot about customer service just like fashion is. It’s just a different approach to it.

The property is very colorful. How would you describe the style of Tei Tiare?

We worked with the famous architect Jean Claude Galibert in a style of architecture called Mexican Pacific.

For the interiors, my wife and I took little pieces from all over the world — Morocco, Italy, Tahiti, Samoa, and so on — and combined them into creating something that’s just a little bit different. We basically combined traditional Mexican with Polynesian style.

What’s life like at Tei Tiare?

It’s very nice. You always hear the ocean and in the evenings you have the sun setting over the sea. In the mornings, there are big flocks of wild parrots flying by. And at night, there are the sounds of the jungle animals. It’s magical.

To you personally, what has been most rewarding about running Tei Tiare?

Being out of the city, leading a simpler life and being with my three kids every day. It’s a tremendous privilege. And being able to share this with our vacation guests. When people come here, the thing I hear most is that it looked great in pictures, but it’s much better in person. Just to see them relax and enjoy this beautiful environment is very rewarding.