Rancho Viejo Undergoes New Ownership and Facilities Upgrades

Rancho Viejo Resort & Country Club, a waterfront resort and golf community located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of tropical Texas, recently changed owners and began a two-year plan for proposed upgrades of its facilities, including the championship golf courses, extensive fantasy pool, elegant Villa guest rooms, fine-dining restaurants and more. The new owners also bring with them a new attitude of accessibility and a positive change in customer service as well as an expansion of the country club’s membership categories.

The new President of Rancho Viejo Resort & Country Club is Xavier Montemayor. Also, with over three decades of experience working with three of the hospitality industry’s leaders, Andy MacLellan, President and CEO of Scottford Enterprises, serves in a consulting capacity for Rancho Viejo. Scottford Enterprises has specialized in management, asset management and consulting on hotel and resort properties and communities, since 1995.

Montemayor states, “Rancho Viejo has so much to offer—from world-class golf and fine dining to an award-winning swimming pool and a variety of other activity options—that we want to be accessible to the general public, not just the community’s homeowners and existing corporate clients. We hope that our current remodel and proposed changes for the near future will entice locals, Texas travelers and Mexican nationals alike to join our country club and utilize all of the features of our resort.”

Along with this new attitude of accessibility, the new owners bring new membership opportunities. Membership now includes the following categories: Dining, Social, Recreational, Young Professional Golf (under 40 years of age), General Member Golf and Corporate (encompassing up to 10 memberships). Initiation fees span from $750 to $5,000 with monthly dues ranging from $55 to $375. While Dining Membership entitles one to restaurant access and delivery, Social Membership includes Dining privileges plus pool access and access to golf with special green fees. Recreational membership includes all Social privileges with two free green fees per month as well as access to the fitness facility, tennis courts, golf range and putting green.

Members and visitors alike will notice a wide variety of upgrades throughout the resort over the next couple of years. For starters, the two 18-hole championship golf courses (“El Angel” and “El Diablo”) will undergo extensive landscape work, return of the water features that were previously abandoned, new tee and yardage markers, new cups and flags, and continual repairs to infrastructure.

Besides golf, a main recreational draw to Rancho Viejo is the Alberca Grande, the Club’s 6,000-square-foot lagoon-shaped “fantasy” swimming pool featuring an impressive cascading waterfall, a swim-up bar, an oversized whirlpool spa and a kids’ play area. Nestled amidst the lush, tropical landscaping of palm, ebony, citrus trees and bougainvillea, it is a picturesque place to relax, get some sun and “take it easy”.

The immediate pool renovation will include a new pool deck, increased seating and family areas, and kitchen updates that will allow for an expanded poolside menu that will feature fresh fish tacos, cold ceviche, hot grilled items and more. The season opening of the pool is tentatively set for March 31, 2012, for the Semana Santa (Holy Week) break in Mexico.

According to Rancho Viejo’s General Manager, Kelly Cuff, “We hope the improvements to the golf courses and pool will bring an immediate influx of guests to our resort. With Spring Break right around the corner and the start of peak season at Memorial Day in May, we want to be prepared to offer our guests and potential members upgraded amenities. To that end, we are also planning changes to our guest rooms and restaurant.”

The hotel rooms at Rancho Viejo consist of 58 individual guest rooms housed inside 17 private villas. The Spanish Colonial styled villas are designed with a central suite and bedrooms on each side and are conveniently located by the lush fairways of the “El Diablo” golf course or the serene waters of Resaca del Rancho Viejo, a waterway that used to be a part of the Rio Grande River Delta.

The 58 individual guest rooms offer the privacy of a conventional hotel room with all the amenities of home. The Villa Room remodel will be a total remodel including new Saltillo tile floors, new carpet, European Kitchens, new furniture and beds, and upgrades in the bathrooms. Also, there will be an addition of high-speed wireless Internet access and new room phones.

To top off all of the improvements, Rancho Viejo will re-open their fine-dining restaurant, Casa Grande, for three nights a week plus Sunday Brunch. Casa Grande will still offer authentic regional specialties, classic continental cuisine and a connoisseur’s collection of fine wines and spirits, in an elegant setting. The restaurant upgrades will include new china, glass and silver as well as new menus created by the new Executive Chef, Ronald Ange.

In addition to all of the current proposed changes and improvement initiatives, other planned upgrades on the horizon include additions to the fitness facility, a new beach club and additional kids’ activities.

Carved through citrus groves and built along resacas, the ancient waterways of the Rio Grande Delta, Rancho Viejo Resort & Country Club is a golf-oriented community and resort boasting two championship 18-hole golf courses, tennis courts, a fantasy swimming pool, two restaurants, hotel accommodations, boating and other recreation. Rancho Viejo offers the area’s only private country club featuring a conference center with meeting and party rooms, including the area’s largest ballroom. Rancho Viejo stretches across 1,400 verdant acres in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of tropical Texas. At 26.04 degrees latitude, the Lower Rio Grande valley is at the southernmost point of the mainland United States, practically due west of Miami. For more information or to make reservations, visit www.rvrcc.com or call 956-350-4000 or 800-531-7400.