Mexican resort where US couple died encourages guests to drink
The Mexican luxury resort where two Americans were found dead in their room Tuesday encourages guests to get drunk as part of one of its wellness programs, according to a report.
Guests of Rancho Pescadero near Cabo San Lucas, are treated to an open bar and told to drink up a series of exotic liquors so the property can show off the effectiveness of its “Mayan hangover cure” the next day, as detailed by Bloomberg last July, ahead of the resort’s re-opening.
It’s not known if Abby Lutz or John Heathco — a self professed “wellness junkie” — participated in any of the resort’s wellness programs before they were discovered in their suite Tuesday by paramedics, who said they had been dead for at least 10 hours by the time they were found.
However, the ritual is considered a “cornerstone” of the wellness program at the seaside resort.
Guests help to prepare the meal that will “cure” them the next day — all the while, guzzling cocktails.
“Of course, we plan to bookend the whole thing with more drinking,” hotel founder Liza Harper told Bloomberg of the experience.
The Rancho Pescadero near Cabo San Lucas reportedly underwent renovations for four years and reopened in September. Business Wire / AP
“The bartender is like our hotel doctor, they know just what to serve to make you feel better and not worse.”
The spirits given to guests include pulque, a mix of agave, the plant Tequila is made of, and fermented pineapple rind.
“We’ll wake guests up at a considerate hour, somewhere post-nine o’clock,” Harper told Bloomberg.
“We’ll kindly come to their room with the very first phase of their cure, which will be one of the tinctures [made the night before], or something that would help them rise to the occasion.”
Before Lutz, 28, and Heathco, 41, were found in their room, the couple had been hospitalized days before with what they believed to be food poisoning, according to Lutz’ realtive.
“She said, it’s the sickest she’s ever been,” Lutz’s stepsister, Gabby Slate told CBS News.
By Monday night, the pair was back at the hotel and reached out to their loved ones for the last time.
41-year-old Heathco is listed as the co-founder of nutritional supplements company LES Labs — based in Covina, California. John HeathcoGithub
The Mexican government says the Southern California couple died from “intoxication by substance yet to be determined.” It had initially been claimed they died from inhalation of gas.
Hyatt, which now owns the property, did not respond to The Post’s request for comment about building inspections.
Meanwhile, the management of the resort where rooms cost $700 a night, worked to reassure guests.
“The safety and security of our guests and colleagues is always a top priority, said General Manager Henar Gil. “Local authorities confirmed there was no evidence of violence related to this isolated incident, and there is no threat to guests’ safety or wellbeing at this time,” he said.
28-year-old Lutz was a resident of Newport Beach and worked as a nanny. Pintrest/Abby Lutz
The property, which underwent a four-year renovation, reopened in the fall.
Natural gas poisonings have claimed lives of US citizens vacationing south of the border in the past, as recently as October when three Americans were founded dead in a rented Mexico City apartment.
Travel expert Kevin Coffey advised Americans headed to Mexico with carbon monoxide concerns to call the property they’re staying at and ask if they have co2 detectors.
“Find out if there is one, and then you just have to make a decision about going,” Coffey said. “I travel and I have a portable co2 detector that’s battery operated, and if I end up staying at a property that doesn’t, I have it.”
Source: New York Post
