The Mar de Jade hotel's mission: eradicate a town’s poverty
By John Pint The Mar de Jade Hotel in Nayarit - Photo John Pint I started out looking for a good hotel on the beach and ended up finding out how to make the world a better place: not bad for a weekend aimed at escaping from work! The beach I chose was the little Bay of Chacala in the state of Nayarit, located a relatively short three-hour drive from Guadalajara. The hotel is called Mar de Jade (Sea of Jade), well-known for its yoga and meditation classes, as well as healthy food. That’s from the point of view of their clients. The hotel’s neighbors see Mar de Jade in quite a different light: a source of jobs and training that has given great numbers of them a new lease on life. Among the hotel’s projects are a Waldorf-Montessori school for the Chacala village kids and vocational programs at Tao de Jade, their organic farm and training center. Jackfruit growing at Tao de Jade center. - Photo John Pint The hotel’s view on sustainability has been to make rather than buy whatever it need