Rafael Sainz Skewes
All Roads Lead to Paradise

Words Vidula KotianImages Nada Lottermann & Vanessa Fuentes

When Rafael Sainz Skewes’ motorcycle brought him to the perfect beach, he knew he had to find a way to stay.

Taking your destiny in your own hands is something Rafael Sainz Skewes knows a thing or two about—after all, his favorite book “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand is all about radical self-reliance. When he arrived on the virgin shores of Troncones, up the coast from the more popular Acapulco, “it was love at first sight,” he explains. “This place has a special energy… it’s magical.” A few hours in and he was already looking for a beachfront property to buy. He knew that someday he wanted to settle down in this enchanted place between the mountains and the Pacific—both alluring to the adventure-enthusiast who loves swimming and mountaineering.

It took 19 years of coming back regularly for Sainz Skewes to figure out what he wanted to do with the place. “That was the tough part,” he reflects. The actual building of the hotel only took a year, however. “I find, hospitality is a very interesting business. I don’t have any background in it. I’m learning a lot of new things but it has all been a really good experience. The idea was to move out of a big, crowded city to a totally different place. I love the beach and nature and so I wanted to change my lifestyle. The hotel became the perfect excuse to do just that,” says the MBA graduate.

Sainz Skewes was born and raised in Mexico City and spent 25 years working there. Since his childhood, he’s been at his happiest out in the elements—whether swimming, playing tennis, or later riding his motorcycle wherever the roads would lead. “Believe me, after 25 years of living in Mexico City, you will ask yourself ‘What are you doing?’” Surprisingly, this intrepid traveler is a low risk-taker. “I try to do everything with caution,” he admits. “I’ve had so many adventures over the past 15 years, riding my motorcycle everywhere. The most important thing is to find peace within yourself because you don’t know what will come next—deep in the jungle, on top of a mountain, or in the middle of a storm. You have to be there and enjoy what you’re doing.”

That’s exactly what he’s done with his labor of love—Lo Sereno, in Troncones, Mexico. “We’ve created something very different here in terms of architecture. The locals were very curious about what we were constructing. But once the project was finished, they were really happy to have something like this here. I like the combination of clean lines and barefoot luxury. Two extremes on the same line—that’s my philosophy in life. Fear and courage or clean design and bohemian.” It’s a motto that’s held Sainz Skewes in good stead as both locals and guests rave about the hotel. In a typically self-effacing manner, he adds, “Lo Sereno was meant to be here. Everything has been so smooth…it was destined.”