Congratulations on the purchase of your Jetsetter package at La Villa Bonita. This is a great opportunity to try out our culinary vacation packages at a wonderful introductory price. I am sure you have many questions! Let’s get right to it, shall we?
You just purchased a great culinary and cultural experience made-to-order. With your Jetsetter 5-Night package you can maintain the package as it is or make additions to create your own custom package. You can add hotel nights, additional culinary classes with Chef Ana, tours, massages, tequila tastings, incredible gourmet chef’s table dinners with Chef Ana among other things. It is all up to you. Lets talk first about what your package includes:
(1) Airport transportation to and from the Mexico City airport. Jetsetter packages have arrival on Sunday with departure on Friday. You can extend your stay by adding additional nights (more on this later). To take advantage of our airport pickup and departure service included in your package you must arrive in the afternoon (2-3 being the ideal time to arrive and no later than 4:30 pm) and you must depart from 12 noon on. Please confer with us prior to purchasing your flights if you have doubts. We meet at the very nice American Express Centurion lounge in the public part of terminal 1. Once you have confirmed your reservation with us, we will send you specific instructions to arrive at the lounge to meet with Robb or a member of our staff. If you arrive very late or depart very early it may be necessary for us to arrange transportation to or from La Villa Bonita for an additional fee. It all dependent on our other guests flight times and we give preference to those who follow our instructions. The trip to La Villa Bonita takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes depending on traffic in Mexico City. Sundays are the best days to arrive and depart as it is the best traffic day in Mexico City. Once you have your eticket, please send it to us in its ORIGINAL FORM as we scan it an track it (please don’t edit!). Upon arrival at La Villa Bonita, your complimentary appetizers and wine or homemade cocktails will be waiting for you to take the edge off a day of travel.
(2) Chef’s T
able Dinner on Sunday. On Sundays, Chef Ana offers her award-winning Chef ‘s table dinner made from primarily local ingredients either grown on our property or from local providers. It is a 4-5 course dinner that will show you the modern side of Mexican cuisine in a chef’s table atmosphere. As your meal is being prepared you can chat with Chef Ana, discuss exotic ingredients, techniques, and their origins. This dinner must be reserved prior to your arrival as ingredients are purchased or harvested earlier in the day! It costs $65 USD plus tax per person with an interesting homemade cocktail with appetizers and wine or beer service with dinner. If you have any food allergies or things you do not eat, please advise us beforehand. This dinner is also offered throughout the week so you can enjoy what has been called one of the best “culinary treats in Mexico.”
(3) Your LVB Accommodations. You have 5 nights of accommodations in one of our 6 guest rooms. The guest rooms have the option of two twin (two rooms) or one king sized bed in each room (four rooms). If you prefer two twins, please notify us when making your reservation as we have a limited amount of twin bed rooms. If you do not specify you will be assigned a room with a king-sized bed. You may add additional nights of accommodation at a special $150 USD plus tax per night price. It is a very popular option to extend the Jetsetter package from Sunday to Sunday to take advantage of the best traffic days to return to the airport in Mexico City. You can, however, stay as long as you like so long as we have availability. Let us know as soon as possible to assure availability.
(4) The Fabulous Hands-On Class with Chef Ana. This is what your came for, right? Let’s get going! Your cooking class day with Chef Ana will be scheduled on the first day (Monday) following your arrival. Your class includes the big breakfast at 8:30 a.m., a trip to the market with Chef Ana to select ingredients in the local market, a hands-on cooking session of traditional Mexican dishes from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or so with lunch served of all dishes prepared. Lunch is the big meal of the day so be prepared as it will be difficult to restrain yourself with all of the incredible dishes. If you have special interests or specific dishes, please let us know. We try to accommodate and be as flexible as possible with special guest requests. Additional classes can be added to your stay. Our regular price for a day class is $250 USD per person but for our Jetsetter guests we have a special price of $115 USD plus tax per person per day which includes the trip to the market with Chef Ana to select ingredients and meet providers, 3-4 hour cooking class with Chef Ana, and lunch of dishes prepared with wine or beer. It is advisable to let us know prior to arrival whether you would like additional classes so we can add them to our schedule. You can add classes while you are here but they are subject to availability and Chef Ana’s schedule. If you reserve prior to your arrival you are guaranteed to participate.. There is a minimum of 2 for additional classes.
(5) Chef Ana’s Culinary Vacation Manual in PDF. As soon as you purchase your package and have your voucher ready you can download Chef Ana’s 96 page manual full of family recipes, background information about the area, details about the fruits, grains and vegetables that you will use, a sample schedule of our events for the week as well as a map and tips for your stay. Download it and whet your appetite! Contact us for the link. If you are someone who likes to make notes on the recipes as they are done, please print out the manual prior to arrival.
(6) The Big Breakfast. Chef Ana is well-known for her incredible breakfast spread with homemade jams and jellies, biscuits from scratch, Mexican pastries, coffee, tea, juice, fresh fruit, yogurt and a different main breakfast dish every morning. As an added incentive to purchase your Jetsetter package, we are including her big breakfast free throughout your stay with us. This is an up to a $200 USD value added to your Jetsetter package.
(7) Other Tasty Additions. You can do lots of things when you are here. You can add a tour of the ruins of Xochicalco and the silver city of Taxco among other destinations. The guided tour costs $95 USD person per day including entrances, the guide, and transportation and takes place after breakfast at about 9:30 until 5 or so in the afternoon. You can also get a manicure/pedicure, tequila, pulque and mezcal tasting, massage in your room, horseback riding, hiking, among many other options. As well, you can add lunch (without class) if other guests are cooking that day at a price of $30 USD per person including wine or beer service.
We are ready to go! We look forward to meeting you very soon at La Villa Bonita. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-866-687-9933 US toll-free or 646-216-8604 US or by email at reservations@lavillabonita.com.
