Discover the new concept offered by the haciendas-hotel of Yucatan, beautiful spaces full of history today equipped to offer maximum luxury and comfort to its visitors. They will conquer you!
Approaching an old Yucatan hacienda converted into a hotel is much more than a pleasant experience, where good taste is mixed with history and with a natural environment that is present in every corner; is to live the unique experience of knowing and appreciating an integral space, composed of a helmet, with its stately main house, and a community that surrounds it, full of traditions, which enriches it and gives it life.
The property consisted of a vast expanse of land, all the facilities, the dwellings and the service areas for the workers. The best days of the Yucatan haciendas They included the coming and going of people, the efforts of men and women to win new cultivation areas from the forest, the voices and stories of the old, the scent of the kitchens and the dreams of children. Along with the productive feats linked to the last names of the landowners, there were always the communities that made them possible.
Now, after long years of neglect and the loss of a good part of its facilities, many are being rescued from oblivion, both their helmets, which retain the lordship of their spaces delimited by old walls and huge ceilings, renovated and converted into exclusive hotels. , like their communities, which were plunged into poverty and family disintegration, and now have decent alternatives for subsistence based on the recovery and enhancement of their craft traditions.
All this made us interested in taking a tour of the roads of Yucatan to discover these spaces. Here is our experience:
1 Santa Rosa de Lima: full of stars
We did not want to make a stop in Mérida to get to enjoy the first hacienda as soon as possible, so we got to Santa Rosa. What is most striking when you arrive is the huge open space turned into a garden in front of you. And it is that it conserves its great public square, followed by the typical henequen patio and another square further back from the main house. In 1899 it was acquired by the García Fajardo brothers, who turned it into one of the best henequen plantations in the region and left their initials on the top of the chimney, where we can read: H.G.F. 1901.
In its buildings Santa Rosa combined various architectural styles, in such a way that colonial, classic and modern elements with geometric shapes are appreciated, which were respected in its restoration. Today it offers 11 spacious suites surrounded by greenery and decorated with period furniture; They have large bathrooms and terraces.
On one side of the main house, which is now the hotel's restaurant, there are the old facilities of a garden with a traditional irrigation system using canals. It has an area of 9,200 square meters and today it works as a botanical garden, an idea of the Haciendas del Mundo Maya Foundation to create jobs and to preserve the culture in this aspect, the medicinal. It is divided into eight sections and is attended by six people. Víctor and Martha, health assistants, first taught us about aromatic plants, and then about medicinal plants, and explained in great detail which ones cured digestive, respiratory, dermatological ailments, among others. All these plants are used daily in the health houses, also of the Foundation. For example, they explained to us that in addition to seeing the doctor, they provide remedies such as basil for eye infection, lemon grass for coughs, coffee leaf to lower fever, or oregano of castile for earache. They even prepared a recipe for a friend that we received with all appreciation, sure that the plants were selected by two experts. We were surprised.
But there were still many surprises in Santa Rosa. We walked around the back of the beautiful hacienda, passing through two gardens and we visited the artisan workshops where 51 women work, they baptized the Kichpancoole cooperative, which means beautiful women.
Indeed, they are pretty and beautiful is also their work. They work the henequen with traditional techniques from dyeing with tree bark, to creating pieces with new designs such as nativity scenes, key rings, door ornaments, bags, water bottle holders, among dozens of objects. Everything is sold at the haciendas and it is very nice to find handmade amenities in your room with great quality and creativity. You can take all of them home.
This has meant great personal and family growth. The revaluation of women's work in the communities has been essential for them to feel useful and also love their work. And it shows, believe it. Alongside is the Silver Filigree Jewelry Workshop with 11 members. They also taught us the whole process and we were amazed at the dexterity with which they handle metal to give it shapes and designs, some very modern.
There they told us how close the community of Pomegranate, where there are also workshops and we went there. After 8 km, we arrived just at the moment the library was opening. The satisfaction on everyone's face is indescribable. We got excited about them, there is no doubt. Then we went to the hippie workshops and henequen backstrap loom. The first has a long process, because first the raw material is collected, it is scratched branch by branch to keep the softer part, it is baked with sulfur, washed with detergent and dried in the sun for three days. Afterwards, the hippie is ready to be used by the weavers, who have to shelter from the heat and the sun in a cave and thus prevent the material from hardening and breaking. The most experienced women finish a hat in five days. On the henequen backstrap loom, they make beautiful ornamental pieces such as boxes, jewelry boxes, individual tablecloths, handbags, among others. The henequen is also worked with great patience and dedication and we found that the objects they made were an excellent way to preserve tradition, but with a new air.
How to get: Leaving Mérida, take highway no. 180 heading to Campeche. Then take the Maxcanú exit on the right. Upon reaching this town, advance 6 km to Granada. After passing this town, travel 7 km, until you see the sign for Hacienda Santa Rosa. Turn right and go 1 km until you reach the farm.
2 Temozón: stately and evocative
In the heart of the Puuc route, just 37 km from Mérida, is located this imposing hacienda. It was registered in 1655 as a cattle ranch, its owner was Diego de Mendoza, a descendant of the Montejo family, conqueror of Yucatán. In the second half of the 19th century it was transformed into a henequen hacienda, a time when it experienced its greatest prosperity.
It has a special charm, it recovered its atmosphere and the lifestyle of the late nineteenth century. It has 28 suites that respect the style and reinforce the atmosphere created by its initial builders. Nature is present in the entire environment of the hacienda: flora, fauna, cenotes and caves. It also has a spa with authentic sobadoras mayan and a unique setting.
As in the other cases, the Foundation collaborates with the community, supporting different workshops that have rescued traditional techniques. Here too there are organized women who with great dignity make objects made with henequen fiber and we marvel at the delicate work of the tiny chairs, beds, combs and more, made with bull horn, and we verify the skill with which they embroider by hand or to machine.
Later we went to the Community Library and had the opportunity to talk with its manager, María Eugenia Pech, who is committed to promoting education programs focused on both parents and children. Next to it is the Casa de Salud that has a traditional Mayan pharmacy, that is, with a botanical garden of medicinal species, also perfectly classified.
In the evening we sat on one of the fabulous terraces of Temozón to have a drink and what was our surprise when a group of traditional Yucatecan dance formed by children and their parents appeared before us. Afterwards we greatly enjoyed the farm's pool, which is simply spectacular.
How to get: Leaving the Mérida International Airport, take the peripheral bound for Cancun. Travel approximately 2 km and continue in the direction of Campeche-Chetumal. 5 km later, turn left and continue towards Uxmal-Chetumal until passing through the towns of Xtepén and Yaxcopoil. 4 km later you will see the signs to the hacienda; travel 8 more km of gap and you will be in Temozón.
3 San Pedro Ochil: feast!
The next point to know was Ochil. It is 48 km from Mérida and is worth visiting, although it only works as a parador. We immediately came across a warm and very pleasant atmosphere. After passing between henequen plantations, we come to a corridor where the artisan workshops are located, where products can also be purchased. There we verify the skill of the stone carvers, who also have national awards. Marcos Fresnedo, its administrator, gave us the tour and invited us to eat. The welcome, delicious breads from the wood oven and hibiscus water. Ochil is famous for its traditional cuisine 100% Yucatecan. The meal passed between friends, and we took it easy, as the dishes paraded ... tunich (dumplings stuffed with cochinita), chicken kimbombas, panuchos, black stuffing, chicken and cochinita pibil, abalá chick, pickled venison, polcanes ( pumpkin seed and beans), cheese empanadas, all accompanied by sauces such as jicama and beet with habanero pepper. After such a banquet, the hammocks did not wait.
How to get: It is located at km 176.5 of the Mérida-Uxmal highway.
4 San José Cholul: deep in the jungle
At dusk we went to see another charming farm: Cholul. Although with the intelligent touch of luxury that the others have, Cholul gives you greater privacy and comfort ... it is perfect for a spiritual retreat or a honeymoon. It is one of the most representative examples of what were the henequen haciendas and deserved a careful restoration, by the architect Luis Bosoms, respecting each of the old buildings, their materials and even the bluish colors of their facades. It is one of the isolated cases in which due to particular historical conditions, a human settlement was not formed around the helmet. It has only 15 spacious rooms, most with an outdoor Jacuzzi. Four of them are Mayan houses, secluded and silent with a unique and cozy design, with hanging beds and a sky blanket pavilion. La Casa del Patrón has a private pool. Among the details that speak of the concept of recovering spaces with respect to the original construction and nature, is room number 9, which preserves an impressive old ceiba in the middle of the bathroom, giving it an exotic and picturesque atmosphere.
The morning surprised us with a breakfast in a beautiful room almost, almost in the garden and with a Mayan lady "throwing" tortillas on the comal a few meters away.
How to get: Leaving the Mérida airport, take the ring road in the direction of Cancun. Take the exit for Tixkoko until you reach the town of the same name. Later, you will pass through Euán, after this town, at km 50 you will see the sign for Hacienda San José; turn left and follow the path to the hacienda.
5 Izamal: pilgrimage and charm
There are many, many reasons why one cannot miss the Magical Town of Izamal. It has one of the most impressive convent complexes of the 16th century and is a basic site for the Marian pilgrimage, the miraculous image has been declared the patron saint of the Peninsula. In addition, because the colonial city was based on the pre-Hispanic one, large buildings remain that today are seen in the center of the city and numerous pre-Hispanic platforms in the surroundings, which look like hills.
In short, it has great architectural and cultural wealth. But now our visit focused on the Izamal Cultural and Craft Center which was opened in a 16th century mansion to accommodate a museum of handicrafts from all over the country, the henequen museum, cafeteria, shop with all the articles made in the workshops of the communities that we knew closely, and a small spa, where we pamper ourselves with a delicious foot massage. This is a great achievement that has incorporated many young people.
This is how we ended the tour of the most spectacular haciendas in Mexico, we lived five days surrounded by intelligent luxury, that which occurs in the small details, in every corner, all with that natural touch, unpretentious, that touch that only people give you local committed to its environment, its traditions, its culture and offers it to the visitor in the only way he knows how to do it, as if he were giving it to a friend. We note that the haciendas are not an isolated entity, their communities give life to them and continue to grow together, as in the past.
How to get: it is located 72 km east of Mérida following highway no. 180 heading to Cancun.
Distance table
Mérida- Santa Rosa 75 km
Santa Rosa-Granada 8 km
Granada-Temozón 67 km
Temozón-Ochil 17 km
Ochil- San José 86 km
San José-Izamal 34 km
Izamal-Mérida 72 km
7 essentials when visiting the haciendas of Yucatan
-Test the chaya water.
-Request a traditional Mayan massage on the terrace of your room, in Santa Rosa, under its starry sky.
-Buy products woven with henequen such as placemats, tortilla holders, napkin holders, key rings.
-Swim under the moonlight in the impressive and warm Temozón pool.
-Walk around the botanical garden of Santa Rosa and ask for some medicine to take home.
-Enjoy an intimate dinner in some corner of the huge gardens of San José.
-Visit the San Antonio Convent in Izamal.
Recommendations
* You can find gas stations in Umán, Muna, Ticul, Maxcanú and Halacho.
* Drive carefully at night as there are many cyclists and cars without lights.
* Wear a hat, sunscreen and at night, repellent for flies.
Haciendas del Mundo Maya Foundation
Those who have made these hotels a reality, understand the importance of not putting the communities aside and from the beginning they incorporated their inhabitants in the reconstruction tasks and later in permanent training that has allowed them to fill the service positions. But this effort does not end there. After contributing to community improvement works, the Haciendas del Mundo Maya Foundation was formed, whose mission is to accompany these communities by supporting sustainable development projects while respecting cultural values.
The results are visible to all, today it is impossible to stay in one of these old farms without looking at the artisan workshops, or stop enjoying the atmosphere of the towns that preserve their chapels and have a library and even, without living the experience of a massage by a highly qualified traditional sobadora.
