The Treehouse vs The Master Casita
Templo Saladita has five spaces. Two of them are flagship accommodations that attract different guests for different trips: the glass treehouse in the palm canopy — copper soaking tub, private barrel sauna, the most singular room on the Mexican Pacific — and the Master Casita, a full-kitchen, multi-room suite that sleeps four to six and sets up a week of self-sufficient surf living at the world's best longboard point.
| The Treehouse | The Master Casita | |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 1–2 guests | 4–6 guests (full private group) |
| Key features | Glass walls in the palm canopy · copper soaking tub · private barrel sauna · high ceiling open to the canopy and lagoon | Full kitchen · multiple bedrooms · private courtyard · the infrastructure for a week of living rather than staying |
| Position | Suspended in the palm canopy — elevated, surrounded by the tree layer, the lagoon visible beyond | Ground level — courtyard-facing, garden access, the property organized around you |
| Architecture | Glass, local brick, repurposed container elements — the most singular construction on the property | Natural brick, private courtyard, full domestic infrastructure — designed for extended occupation |
| Best for | Solo traveler or couple; an occasion; the trip you have been planning for a specific reason | A group of surfers; a family; a week-long commitment to the wave with cooking flexibility |
| Surf relationship | 100m walk to the point, same as the rest of the property; the treehouse is the evening and morning, the wave is the day | 100m walk to the point; the kitchen means you can eat before the dawn session and after the afternoon session without leaving |
| Recovery | Private barrel sauna · copper soaking tub · ice baths (shared property amenity) · pool | Private courtyard · ice baths (shared) · pool · kitchen for recovery nutrition |
| Food culture | No kitchen — dining at nearby village spots or property cooking arrangements | Full kitchen — market shopping in Zihuatanejo (45 min), cooking your own at the casita. The self-sufficient surf week |
| Price | Higher per-night (premium for the singular room) | Higher per-night at full rate; lower per-person at full capacity |
| When to book | For the anniversary, the celebratory surf trip, the first-time visit when you want the most specific version of Templo | For the group trip, the repeat visit, the week you want to live at a longboard point |
Where they diverge
The treehouse is the property's architectural argument. It was built first — the glass-walled room in the palm canopy was the founding vision that established what Templo Saladita would be before any other space existed. The copper soaking tub, the private barrel sauna, the ceiling open to the canopy and the lagoon beyond: these are not luxury amenities added to a basic surf property. They are the reason the property exists. The builder designed the treehouse as the version of La Saladita she wanted to have experienced, and everything else at Templo was added to serve the same vision at different scales. The treehouse is Templo's most condensed expression of what it is trying to do: to put the guest inside the landscape rather than adjacent to it.
The Master Casita answers a different question: what does a week at La Saladita look like for a group of surfers who want to live there, not just visit? The full kitchen is the load-bearing element. When you can cook your own meals, the rhythm of a surf trip changes: you go to the Zihuatanejo market on Monday, you have fish ceviche before the dawn session on Tuesday, you cook rice and beans for the group after the afternoon session on Thursday, you eat out in the village on Friday. The casita imposes no restaurant schedule, no dining room obligations. It organizes itself around the surf and around the group's preferences. This is an older model of surf travel — the house rental, the self-catered week — and the Master Casita is its most considered version at Templo.
Both spaces share the property's common amenities: the hexagonal yoga shala, the two ice baths, the pool, the edible gardens, the 100-meter walk to the point. The shared amenity access means that the Treehouse guest is not giving up the sauna by choosing the singular room rather than the casita — the sauna is the treehouse's private amenity, and the ice baths are accessible to everyone on the property.
Who should book The Treehouse
The treehouse is the choice for the solo surfer who has been reading about La Saladita for two years and wants the most specific possible version of arriving at the wave. It is the choice for the couple who want a specific anniversary or occasion to be the trip that defines that year. It is the choice for the guest who has stayed in boutique surf hotels from here to Sumba and wants to know if the Mexican Pacific has produced anything singular — the treehouse is the answer to that question. The copper tub after an afternoon session on the left point, with the canopy above and the lagoon beyond, is one of the more complete surf hotel experiences available anywhere at any price. Book it when the moment is right and the occasion justifies the specificity.
Who should book The Master Casita
The Master Casita is for the small group that wants a week in La Saladita at the wave: two couples, three surfer friends, a family with older children who surf. The full kitchen makes the week self-sufficient in a way that is genuinely different from hotel living — you are not guests at a hotel, you are occupants of a house at a longboard point. The cost per person at full capacity is significantly lower than the treehouse rate, which makes the Master Casita the value proposition for the group trip. It is also the right choice for the repeat visitor who has stayed in the treehouse and wants to return with a different configuration — the casita is the everyday Templo, the treehouse is the special occasion Templo.
Our verdict
Book the Treehouse if you are one or two people with a specific reason to make this trip a singular experience — the architecture of the room and the position in the palm canopy earn the premium unconditionally. Book the Master Casita if you are a group of four to six surfers who want to spend a week living at a world-class longboard point with a kitchen and private courtyards and the shared amenities of the full property. Both are the correct choice for the guest they are designed for; the question is how many of you there are and what the trip is for.
Either way: the wave is 100 meters from the door. The yoga shala is on-site. The ice baths are ready. The point is running from May through September on the South Pacific swell. The choice of room is secondary to the fact of being there.