With its attractive amenities, hospitable staff and perfect location at the heart of Chapala’s promenade (malecon), the Lake Chapala Inn rates as one of lakeside’s most appealing destinations for discriminating Mexican and foreign travelers.
The venue of this unique and luxurious B&B; is one of the stately waterfront homes built during Chapala’s turn-of-the-century Golden Era. Today it houses four ample guest rooms, along with elegantly appointed common areas that include the sunny dining room where full breakfast is served daily, a spacious front parlor, a cozy library with fireplace and shelves stocked with books in three languages, a breezy second story roofed terrace overlooking the lake, and an intimate ground level garden patio complete with lap pool.
Operating under the slogan “English Elegance with Mexican Warmth and Charm,” Lake Chapala Inn reflects the nationalities and personal style of Alicia McNiff and her late husband Austin, the visionary binational couple who opened the business back in 1997.
Great Britain’s Austin McNiff left his homeland at 22 to settle in Canada. It was there that he met the petite Alicia, a sparky Mexico City native who had gone to Montreal for studies at McGill University. Immediately enchanted, he proposed a month after the pair met.
The love-at-first-sight phenomenon struck again on the couple’s first visit to Chapala in the late 1990’s. Instantly taken by the well-constructed and recently modernized Mediterranean style villa, McNiff wasted no time in signing a sale’s contract with the then American owners. Few modifications were required to turn it into a comfortable guest home. But it was a rather daring move at a time when Lake Chapala’s water level was dwindling at an alarming rate and the entire waterfront tourist zone languished in a dismal state of disrepair.
“He was a very smart man,” his loving widow says, recalling that his business acumen was well rewarded in just a few short years as nature replenished the lake and the city government launched a full renovation of the Malecon.
Curiously, the century-old edifice – originally named Villa Aurora – was once the residence of Paul Christian Schjetznan Hansen, another foreigner who grasped Chapala’s potential as a burgeoning tourist haven.
*Restricted Article* - To view rest of this content, please login or register..
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
