Mexico has loads of resorts, more than most people want to know about. But occasionally I come across a place that seems sufficiently different, sufficiently interesting that it cries out for attention. Cuixmala is such a place: more than just a resort, it's a way of life.

Owners Alix Goldsmith Marcaccini and Goffredo Marcaccini are understandably proud of their A-list clientele, which includes Tom Cruise, George Lucas, and Madonna, all of whom have been drawn to the beauty and privacy of this 25,000-acre estate on the rugged Pacific coastline between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo in the state of Jalisco.

But it is not just the unspoiled environment or the luxurious accommodation with all the usual bells and whistles (staffed villas, a spa, private pools, and dining areas) that make this place special. It is, rather, the fact that the property is a working organic farm.

In the past decade many hotel chains have established eco-friendly properties to appeal to a wealthy clientele. The story of Cuixmala is something quite different, since its owners are essentially preservationists who since 2001 have opened up their home to the hotel trade.

Cuixmala is the former private estate of Sir James Goldsmith, the famous Anglo-French billionaire financier and European politician who bought the property in 1987 after attending a New Year’s bash in the area. It was originally a vacation home, a getaway for him, his family, and friends, albeit on a grand scale. The lavish accommodations were designed by French architect-decorator Robert Couturier, and took two years and thousands of workers to complete.

Goldsmith was a corporate raider and hard-nosed businessman with his fair share of enemies. But he was also passionate about conservation at Cuixmala, and his heirs have honored his vision, adding the hotel as a means of making the estate — which employs 250 people — financially sustainable for themselves and their children.

The ecological mission of the owners means that in addition to being able to lie about by the pool, play tennis, horseback ride, get a massage, or ride bicycles, visitors can choose to learn about the property's unique biosphere, which is a vacationing naturalist's paradise. Occupying a semi-deciduous forest that stretches along the Pacific coast, Cuixmala boasts almost 1,200 species of vegetation, 270 species of birds, and hundreds of different animals, including puma, ocelots, and jaguars.

It is also home to some exotic non-native species of animals, including zebras, elands, and black buck antelope that Goldsmith bought and which have since adapted to the subtropical environment and reproduced. Zebra viewing on horseback is loads of fun and best early in the morning before the sun gets too hot. You feel like you are in Africa.

Much of the food at Cuixmala is grown on the property, cultivated organically, and then processed on the estate. Not only does this make the food taste better, but the nutritional value is higher being fresh. The fact that drinking water is sourced from wells makes the estate self-sufficient.

Couturier built three types of accommodation on the property. There are three large villas with private pools, nine smaller casitas with a shared pool, and Casa La Loma, a Moorish and Mediterranean style mansion with eleven bedrooms and private pools.

La Loma is where the celebrities stay — in early April, when I visited, Sir David Tang, the socialite and founder of clothing line Shanghai Tang, was staying at La Loma. It is a villa sited on a cliff overlooking the ocean with more than two miles of private beach on one side and sweeping views of the hinterland on the other. It is truly spectacular.

The rest of the accommodations are more modest but sufficiently comfortable (in a rustic way) and private to provide for a relaxing stay. The casitas share a 48-foot pool that sits on a hillside overlooking the estate, the beach off in the distance. The view is beautiful, and alone worth the trip.

View Slideshow: Where Tom Cruise and Ocelots Relax: Mexico's Cuixmala, an Ecological Playground to the Stars

Cuixmala can be reached in several ways, either directly to a private airstrip on the estate, or by airplane from Mexico City or several international destinations to Manzanillo, from where it is about an hour drive to the property. Prices range from $400 a night for a one-bedroom casita to $10,000 a night for La Loma.