Travelers choose the places where they lay their heads at night for different reasons.

Some look for a bed on a budget.

Some search for luxury, amenities, and the comfort offered by the familiarity of an upscale chain hotel.

Others look for quirky, off-the-beaten path lodgings, places with stories.

We tend to fall into that last category.

Villa Sevilla's Chalet (Photo: Francisco Collazo)

Villa Sevilla is certainly off the beaten path-- just 20 minutes from El Yunque, the only rainforest in North America, and 20-25 minutes from the nearest beach--it is tucked away off a local road that runs through the mountains of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. It's 30 minutes from San Juan if the traffic isn't bad, but once you're up the mountain and standing on the porch of the Villa Sevilla Chalet--one of a growing handful of their guest houses--you'll feel as if you've left the city far, far behind.

From your mountain perch you'll be able to look all the way out to the ocean, but there's plenty other activities to keep you busy at the villa itself. The property is surrounded by fruit trees that seem ripped right from the pages of a glossy Caribbean travel catalogue: mango, breadfruit, plantains, and papaya, to name just a few. Red-tailed hawks soar in the sky during the day and rainbows are frequent visitors, so birdwatchers and photographers will be kept busy. There's a salt water pool just waiting for you to swim in. There are hammocks, BBQ grills, and DirectTV and wireless internet for those who can't bear to cut their techno-cords.

But even better than all of the features of the guest houses--now 5 in all--are the owners, Marina and Wally Lawson. A nurse and a respiratory therapist who moved to Puerto Rico from California, investing most of their savings and all of their energies into renovating both the Chalet--a massive three bedroom house--and the land on which it sits, Marina and Wally are a warm, friendly couple who were determined to not wait until retirement to live their travel and business dreams. In the past four years, they have built a reputation for exceptional lodging and even more extraordinary service, which helped them lay claim to the #1 position on TripAdvisor's specialty lodging listings for Puerto Rico. It's a distinction they've held for three of their four years in business.

At the same time, they've been expanding the property offerings from which guests can choose. There's the original property, the Chalet, and a smaller house, appropriately named La Casita (or, Little House), set on the same property. Marina and Wally also rent out another full house and two apartments in the same mountain neighborhood, each with its own charms. We have stayed with them before, at both the Chalet and the Casita-- like many of their guests, we're repeaters. This year, they added another option to the Villa Sevilla list: Villa Escondido, a two bedroom apartment with exceptional views of the ocean on the horizon, comfortably appointed with almost anything guests could need... including things they're unlikely to think of themselves (travel mugs, for instance).

From initial inquiry through the last day of your stay, Marina and Wally are attentive hosts. Marina has hand-selected activity options (horseback riding, snorkeling, sailing, surfing lessons, and more) offered around the island of Puerto Rico, and is happy to assist guests with making reservations at no extra charge. Once at Villa Sevilla, guests with kids will be especially excited by Wally, who invites the little ones to help him feed the chickens and even hunt for eggs each morning.

If there's a choice between staying at a chain hotel and staying at a privately owned, small boutique property, we'll always choose the latter. And in choosing Villa Sevilla, we know we'll never go wrong.

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