Page 59 - Travel Leisure - USA (February 2020)

Construction on El Blok (elblok.com; doubles from C A R I B B E A N
wild. Vieques has had a tumultuous history, as the
site of conquest, annexation, plantation slavery,
and, famously, dangerous munitions testing by
the U.S. military after World War II that continued
until 2003. In that context, De Marco sees Maria
as just the latest episode in a series of cycles.
I had stayed at La Finca in its previous
incarnation in 2014. Visitors were flocking to
Vieques, a densely forested island with black-sand
beaches and bioluminescent waters, and the place
was flush with development. The W, by far the
largest and most luxurious hotel ever built there,
had opened a few years earlier. The Modernist,
13-room Hix Island House (hixisland house.com;
doubles from $160) had recently expanded.
T+L A-LIST INTEL
“One upside to the ban on cruises from the U.S. to Cuba: fewer crowds in Old Havana. New
casas particulares, such as Casa Chacon, a lovingly restored property, offer great value and
put money directly into the hands of Cubans.”
— CUBA SPECIALIST JOE SANDILLO (JOE@ALMAZJOURNEYS.COM)
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SORAYA MATOS
S P E C I A L
$140)—a striking concrete hotel in the town of
Esperanza—was under way, and everyone was
excited about its forthcoming restaurant by
San Juan chef Jose Enrique.
Maria came as a punch to the gut. If Puerto
Rico was abandoned after the storm, Vieques—
reliant upon ferries for groceries and gasoline—
was doubly so. Many residents left, unable or
unwilling to rebuild. The destination is still in
recovery. Those who remained, like De Marco,
feel a deep sense of loyalty. “Until Maria, a lot
of people had forgotten the potential this island
has to support the community here,” she told
me. “By making us vulnerable, the disaster
helped us wake up.”
Today, De Marco’s 12-room inn and wellness
retreat is completely transformed— save for the
From left: The giant rubber tree still shading the walkway. There
ayurvedic are many millennial-friendly updates: vegan
kitchen at La
breakfast and daily yoga, an honor bar with
Finca Victoria,
a guesthouse locally brewed kombucha, and a boutique market
and wellness stocked with homegrown herbal teas and jewelry,
retreat on clothing, and artwork by Puerto Rican women.
Vieques; a
But De Marco is more interested in cultivating
mango served
on property. long-term success and sustainability than she is
in being on trend.
So is Vieques native Ivan Torres Ortiz, owner
of the Crab Island Rum (crabisland rum.com)
distillery, which De Marco took me to visit.
“I wanted to stay on Vieques,” he explained, in a
room stacked with barrels containing his first
commercial batch. “But I wanted to find work in
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