PUERTO VALLARTA’S HOLLYWOOD LOVE NEST AWAITS YOU

Sixty years ago, two screen legends arrived in Puerto Vallarta. Richard Burton was starring in the John Huston drama, The Night of the Iguana. His Cleopatra co-star Elizabeth Taylor came along because the lovebirds couldn’t bear to be apart.

Both were married to other people; their affair was scandalous. Burton arranged for Taylor to stay in Casa Kimberly – a casita (little house) across from his own (pictured right).

To avoid prying eyes he built an arched bridge, modelled on Venice’s Bridge of Sighs, between them. In 1964, he gifted Casa Kimberly to his violet-eyed love for her birthday, just weeks before they married. Today, this famed love nest in the city’s charming Zona Romantica neighbourhood is a nine-suite hotel with a restaurant and tequila bar. Astonishingly, you can pop inside and stroll over the romantic bridge – known as Puente del Amor – even if you’re not a guest.

Holland America offers an excursion that includes a peep at Puente del Amor in the residential area nicknamed Gringo Gulch. The ship spends about 12 hours in Puerto Vallarta and, if I had my time over, I’d book an early dinner here (available from 5pm) or pop in for a tequila martini. I’d also love to see Huston’s 1964 classic screened aboard the ship.