Many people are asking and wondering where to stay or rent for their short term stay or long term stay in San Pancho (San Francisco) Nayarit. I see in Google, Search terms such as Hotels in San Pancho, hotels in San Francisco Mexico, or San Pancho Rentals Nayarit, or San Francisco Mexico Vacation rentals, and family-friendly accommodations in San Francisco, San Pancho with kids or San Pancho Mexico. All this indicates there is a certain need for information and education of tourists looking to visit San Pancho (San Francisco) in the State of Nayarit in Mexico.
Since San Pancho is not a major tourist destination, although this is changing very fast, there is not a lot of information about where to stay both in terms of property, home or hotel and in terms of specific areas within San Pancho.
There are not any major hotel chains in San Pancho, like Marriott, Hilton or any of the Mexican/Spanish hotel chains Fiesta Americana or Barcelo. This is a great thing from my point of view because this means San Pancho (San Francisco) has not received the “ugly” commercialization we see in major tourist resorts. You will find the beauty of the local village charm of a typical Mexican village. On the other hand, San Pancho (San Francisco), in general, gets “neglected” by the major travel and tour sites.
San Pancho, therefore, tends to be considered as a niche, more for the adventurous type of tourist, and wrongly perceived as not family-friendly, questioned whether it is safe to visit San Pancho with kids or whether it is a wheelchair-accessible tourist and vacation destination.
Let me assure you that San Pancho (San Francisco) in Nayarit, Mexico is absolutely family-friendly to visit with kids and in our case, at San Pancho rentals Selva Suites is both family-friendly and wheelchair accessible vacation rental home. We would not have purchased a property and would not bring our own children to San Pancho if it were not safe. So go ahead and plan to visit San Pancho with the kids. The whole family will enjoy and the kids will love it as there are so many activities for children, playing with the waves, horseback riding, exotic birds and animal watching tours, polo games.
Actually San Pancho is more appropriate for kids than the more famous but hippy (and all that this word brings with it) village of Sayulita. San Pancho is classy and better for children. Every time we visit San Pancho, our children are super excited to be there again. San Pancho is one of their favorite vacation destinations. If you walk through the side-residential streets of San Pancho or one of the main playgrounds, you will see local neighborhood kids playing worry-free and in many cases without parent supervision, like it used to be in our neighborhoods when we were growing up in the 70s and 80s. In such a tranquil place, you as a parent get to also relax your mind seeing that the kids can safely enjoy their time in San Pancho.
What rental accommodation options are in San Pancho?
As mentioned earlier there are no big chain hotels. There are some boutique privately owned hotels in San Pancho, that are decent, comfortable and rather pricey. There are also privately owned mini-hotels-motels type of properties, more modest in comfort and price. There are also very economical hostels that provide very basic accommodations and amenities.
Finally, there are private homes which are rented either on a per room basis or the whole house. Some of these private homes have traditional Mexican decor, some have more modern design and decor. Most of the private homes tend to be upscale, with beautiful views and a little farther away from the hassle and bustle and the night-life noises of the San Pancho village.
Our rental accommodation rooms at San Pancho rentals Selva Suites is a privately owned home, upscale, comfortable, luxurious with beautiful ocean and jungle views offering peace, quiet and immense natural beauty.
In contrast to hotel rooms in San Pancho, as is the case with most privately owned vacation rentals, at San Pancho rentals Selva Suites you will find the comfort of being able to use a kitchen with all the cookware you would expect. There is a full-size fridge where you can comfortably store your groceries, milk for cereal of your choice and drinks. Also, you can store medicines that may need refrigeration.
Most hotels in San Pancho will rent a room which sleeps, two people. If you come to San Pancho with the kids you would be forced to rent two rooms. At our San Pancho vacation rental Selva Suites, the suite has a main bedroom that sleeps two with an adjacent living room which can be used for the kids to sleep in. This way you do not need to spend extra for an additional room.
When you enjoy meals at restaurants in San Pancho or at the surrounding villages of Sayulita or Lo de Marcos, we all know that often kids can be the biggest food wasters. When you stay in a hotel room you tend to leave that food behind because you have nowhere to store it or warm it up later. In contrast, if you stay at San Pancho rentals Selva Suites you can take the food, which at times can be full meal portions, in a doggy bag, store it in the fridge and warm it up the next day either in the available microwave or oven. You save on food, you save money and you have some food right there at your disposal if you get a little hungry at some odd hour of the day or night.
The local mini-markets in San Pancho (San Francisco) have all the necessary supplies you may need. As a health-conscious consumer, I was very pleasantly surprised to find San Pancho mini-markets even sold soy and almond milk for the lactose intolerant or health-conscious visitors. Visiting San Pancho does not mean you have to leave behind your healthy habits.
What are the seasons in San Pancho (San Francisco)?
There are two basic seasons in San Pancho. The high season is from November 1 to May 31. The low season is from June 1 to October 31. The low season has been designated as such because there are fewer tourists visiting San Pancho during that time.
Personally, I find San Pancho (San Francisco) extremely attractive during the low season for several reasons:
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There are fewer people in the village.
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You get better and faster service at the restaurants.
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Accommodation prices and our very own San Pancho rentals Selva Suites offer prices which are 40% to 45% less than the high season.
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One significant characteristic of San Pancho is that it is a surfing destination with really big waves. While this is enjoyable for the surfers, it can be a challenge when you have a family with young kids wanting to enter the ocean. During the so-called low season in San Pancho, the ocean is calmer making the ocean easy to manage, get in and stay in to cool down.
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Taxis are affordable anyway in San Pancho (more so than Sayulita or Punta Mita) and during the low season, they are even more affordable.
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There is the misconception that during the low season there is a lot and constant rain. While it is true that it is the rainy season, it is not constant. It tends to rain randomly (mostly the evening hours), often heavily, however, this is followed by long dry and sunny spells during the day. It is a lot of fun and huge relief when in the middle of the tropical humid heat there is a wonderfull refreshing downpour of rain!
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There are a certain beauty and charm to a rainy San Pancho. It is not cold and although not ideal for spending time at the beach, it is wonderful seating at the patio or living room of Selva Suites with the patio doors open watching the rain and hearing the sound of the tropical rain falling on the jungle forest of San Pancho.
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San Pancho rentals Selva Suites is built on a higher elevation on a hill surrounded by tropical jungle trees and a little more inland, away from the beachfront. As a result, you will never get to be hit by ocean high-surf, the winds will be tamed by the tropical forest. The home is built with strong concrete, Hebel building blocks, and steel rebars.
For all the above reasons I believe it is well worth considering a visit of our San Pancho rentals Selva Suites during the low season of the year.
Which location within San Pancho (San Francisco) is the best?
San Pancho is a place where you can really relax. The pace of life here is very slow and relaxing. San Pancho is a very artistic place, with several art and music events happening throughout the year. The keyword here is “music” 🙂 During the music events, the music is loud…. REALLY loud, and it goes on for many, many, many hours, often lasting until 3 am and sometimes these music events last for 3 or 4 days. This loud music can and does reverberate throughout the center of the San Pancho. So if you are looking to be out and about during the night then it is fine. But if you want to be able to catch some zzzzs and reach the deep REM sleep state, then you might want to look into staying away from the festivities.
Here is a map of San Pancho indicating the potential locations where music is being played and to what distance it can be heard. My experience has 
been that music played at the main plaza, called “Plaza del Sol” across from the church at the San Francisco festival, can be heard very loud and clear all the way to the Tercer 3er Mundo street at 526ft or 161m away. So this radius will have very loud music. At 1052ft or 321m I would expect the decibels to become a little less annoying! This is a radius that covers almost the entirety of the main village of San Pancho.
Our San Pancho vacation rental home Selva Suites is located far from these noises, past the Tierra Tropical Beach Club. We purposefully chose this location because it is the ideal distance from the beach and the village of San Pancho which is not too far to reach on foot, yet it is far enough to enjoy real peace and quiet.
In addition to the tranquility, we chose this lot for the stunning ocean view surrounded and framed by the beautiful tropical jungle within a safe gated community setting.
What if I want a long-term instead of short-term rental accommodation in San Pancho?
It is difficult to find long term lease or rental in San Pancho. This is for the obvious economic reason that property owners typically can earn more on a per night short-term basis. But all depends on the season as well. The low tourist season in San Pancho between June and October it may be possible to find availability and willing property owners to rent for a longer time, on a month-to-month basis. At San Pancho rentals Selva Suites in Nayarit, Mexico we plan to gauge the market and see what the demand is and we will operate accordingly. We are open to both long term renting and short term vacation or holiday renting of the home on a per-suite basis or renting the whole house.