Real estate moguls like to impress people with inane demonstrations and descriptors. They’ll gush about the “state-of-the-art” kitchens (aren’t they all at this price point?) and request that you peer appreciatively at a scale model (when you’ve seen one plastic broccoli-floret-sized tree, you’ve seen them all). But it takes a very special developer to woo with chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancakes — with maraschino cherries for eyes and a pineapple spear for a smile.

“I hope you’re not diabetic,” says Basri Emini, CEO of Emini Equities, shaking icing powder over Mickey.

Brawny, with thick dark hair, Mr. Emini is standing over a hot grill at Ayia, his stylish condominium development in Punta Mita, Mexico, just north of Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast. His kitchen helper, a Dutchman, hands me a mimosa, while faint Arabic music tinkles in the background.

Mr. Emini, who is from Chicago (and sounds like another Chicagoan, John Cusack; “I’m hay-pea here,” says Mr. Emini in a fit of glee)moved here in 2006 after being drawn by its beauty. “I love Puerto Vallarta because it’s a real city. It has Spanish architecture and cobblestone streets. It’s lively and the people are just amazing.”

Indeed, there is a lot to see on the 40-minute drive from Puerto Vallarta International Airport. From the inside of a moving taxicab, the view is akin to the looping backdrop of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Peppered with seemingly endless palm trees under a hot sun — the average temperature is 80 F — there are the quintessentially Mexican food stands, and good people-watching. Hello, guy wielding tangle of birdcages with budgies! But it gets very still when we reach the gated community of Punta Mita, a stunning peninsula with azure water and colourful vegetation.