Playa del Carmen, Mexico (HD)

• published: 06 Nov 2014
• views: 525

Visit Playa del Carmen,Mexico - Playa del Carmen,Mexico Tourism & Vacation Travel Videos HD, World Travel Guide http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=World1Tube Playa del Carmen, or just "Playa", has undergone rapid development over the past two years with many new luxury residential condominium buildings, restaurants, boutiques and entertainment venues. Currently there are plans to develop six luxury boutique hotels, several American chain restaurants including Hard Rock Cafe as well as a small upmarket shopping plaza offering designer boutiques, a small cinema, luxury condominiums and the first international House of Blues entertainment venue. Avenida Quinta is slated to become a cultural and economic stronghold for the Yucatan peninsula with the development of civic venues and up-market retail. Several luxury brands are currently developing retail locations, those under construction or already open including Louis Vuitton, Carolina Herrera, Paul & Shark, and Christian Dior. . Luxury department store Liverpool has opened their Riviera Maya flagship store in Playa del Carmen. Liverpool will anchor a large urban lifestyle center that includes retailers: Zara, Zara Home, H&M;, Massimo Dutti, Armani Exchange and Lacoste. Several international retailers will be new to Mexico including: Design Within Reach, Apple Store, Chipotle Mexican Grill and REI. Playa del Carmen is located within the Riviera Maya, which runs from south of Cancún to Tulum and the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve. Playa is a stop for several cruise ships which dock at the nearby Calica quarry docks, about six miles south of the city. The Xcaret Eco Park, a Mexican-themed "eco-archaeological park", is a popular tourist destination located just south of the town in Xcaret (pronounced "shkar-et"). Tourist activity in Playa del Carmen centers on Quinta Avenida, or Fifth Avenue, stretching from Calle 1 norte until Calle 40, a pedestrian walkway located just one or two blocks inland from the beach. Fifth Avenue is lined with hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants. There are many small boutique hotels on Fifth Avenue as well as just off Fifth Avenue and on the beach, such as Luna Blue Hotel & Bar, Fusion Beach Hotel Bar & Grill, Xtudio, Deseo, Basico, Casa Ticul, Barrio Latino, La Tortuga and many others. The Playa del Carmen local community and government have attempted to retain Playa del Carmen's reputation and charm as a small fishing village and artists' colony, without it becoming as large and metropolitan as Cancún. The city passed an ordinance limiting buildings to five stories. Playa del Carmen is currently expanding north beyond the Colosio section and on the other side of highway 307, the Ejido. Playacar is a residential and tourist development in Playa del Carmen, just south of the main urban area. In this development most of the all-inclusive hotels, the aviary, and the golf course are located. There are two phases, phase 1 is mostly residential with a few hotels and some stores. Phase 2 contains the largest all inclusive resorts along with the golf course and a significant number of residential properties. Playacar was developed starting in 1979 by Mr. Fernando Barbachano's company: Compania Impulsora Turi­stica de Playa del Carmen, S.A., The development was later sold to Aircoa, an American Corporation, which later sold the development to SIDEK of the Martinez Huitron Family and more recently sold to Mr. Ernesto Echeverria. There is a significant Canadian, European and Argentinian influence in Playa, with a number of local business proprietors drawn from the American, South American and European expatriate community. In addition a significant amount of Playa's tourists include thousands of backpackers from around the world, who pass through Playa while touring Mexico and the surrounding region. There are currently three foreign consulates in Playa del Carmen representing the United States of America, Canada and Italy. Recently Playa del Carmen city planners have taken initiative and have begun making the town more pedestrian friendly. A 4 km foot and bicycle path will run the length of the town along 10th Avenue in Centro, along with two additional foot and bicycle paths which will connect two commercial corridors near Centro Maya in south Playa del Carmen and Col. Las Americas where a state of the art municipal facility, city hall and theatre is being constructed alongside the largest master-planned urban development in Mexico. The city has also completed several urban spaces designed to provide a safe environment for families to enjoy outdoor activities, this includes two junior skate parks, an outdoor fitness gymnasium, tennis court, basketball court, volleyball court and children's play zone all of which are located underneath the federal highway, creating a covered space which is shaded throughout the lit at night. This space also provides shelter for pedestrians during inclement weather.