Puerto Vallarta’s famous Zona Romántica surged with cameras, confetti and queer joy Friday night as pop icon Demi Lovato delivered a rooftop performance of her hit “Cool for the Summer” to christen The Tryst, a 55-room luxury hotel designed by and for LGBTQ+ travelers.
After a quick strut down the red carpet in reflective shades and high-waisted jeans, Lovato, 32, climbed to the eighth-floor pool deck where DJ and songwriter Leland had already ignited a dance-party vibe. Cell-phone flashlights lit up as the singer belted her 2015 summer anthem against a backdrop of fireworks arcing over Banderas Bay.
“I wanted to be here because places like this feel essential right now,” Lovato said in a statement released moments before she took the stage. “Knowing there’s a space where you’re not only safe but celebrated means everything.”
Star-studded guest list
The opening-night party drew a cross-section of Hollywood names and queer-culture royalty:
- Jennifer Coolidge, fresh off The White Lotus, holding court with drag queens in sequined caftans.
- Real Housewives personalities Erika Jayne, Cynthia Bailey and Sonja Morgan swapping selfies with Laverne Cox, Antoni Porowski, Julia Fox and fitness entrepreneur Sam Asghari.
- Drag icons Gottmik, Violet Chachki and Drag Race México host Taiga Brava, who took over DJ duties as midnight struck.
The three-day launch continues Saturday with a drag-brunch emceed by RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Shea Couleé and a pool party curated by Erika Jayne.
Inside The Tryst
Conceived by tech and hospitality entrepreneur Tristan Schukraft—nicknamed the “CEO of Everything Gay”—The Tryst is housed in a sleek concrete-and-glass mid-rise repurposed from a former 1980s inn. Highlights include:
- 55 rooms and suites styled by architecture firm Estudio Esterlina, mixing minimalist lines with Oaxacan textiles.
- A rooftop infinity pool and bar with 270-degree views of the bay and Sierra Madres.
- “Ocho,” an eighth-floor cocktail lounge that flips into a DJ-driven dance venue after dark.
- A marble-clad spa and a courtyard restaurant featuring modern Baja-Pacific cuisine.
“You can be who you want to be here without any judgment,” Schukraft told reporters, hinting that sister Tryst properties are already in the pipeline for Fire Island, N.Y., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2025.
A boost for Vallarta’s rainbow economy
Puerto Vallarta earns an estimated 25 % of its annual tourism revenue from LGBTQ+ visitors, according to the local hotel association. The Tryst’s upscale positioning is expected to raise the destination’s average daily room rate and cement the Romantic Zone’s status as the “Palm Springs of the Pacific.”
Travel analyst María Fernanda López notes that luxury LGBTQ+ travelers spend about 35 % more per trip than the market average. “A property with this type of star power can help smooth out seasonality and attract new direct flights,” she said following the ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Source: PV Hotel Association data, April 2025)
Local LGBTQ+ advocacy group SETAC applauded the hotel’s promised donation of weekend proceeds to its HIV-prevention clinic, while neighborhood residents welcomed the facelift of what had been a dormant property since 2022. Some activists, however, urged The Tryst to commit to fair-wage guidelines for its 110 staff members—an issue Schukraft said would be addressed in an upcoming social-impact report.
With Vallarta Pride less than a month away (May 22–29), The Tryst will serve as the official host hotel for the BeefDip Bear Week pre-party and several drag-brunch fund-raisers. Booking channels list opening-weekend rates from US $289 for a king room, climbing to $449 during Pride. Early packages sold out within two hours of release online.
For reservations or event schedules visit trysthotels.com.
