Anticavilla Hotel

Mexico’s got its share of ultra-modern design hotels, and it’s got its share of splendid old houses turned luxury hotels. And in Anticavilla Hotel it’s got a little bit of both. This stunning colonial-era property in Cuernavaca has been not just lovingly restored, but positively reconfigured by the efforts of architect Bernardo Gómez Pimienta, whose modernist interventions in the old house’s interiors lead to some ultra-modern external spaces, including a new spa and a dazzling open-air restaurant and lounge facing into the hotel’s gardens.

Anticavilla’s guest rooms retain plenty of their colonial character, but Gomez Pimienta didn’t shy away from opportunities for improvement. Modernist furniture livens these antique spaces, and each room is named for, and features artwork inspired by, a different 20th-century Italian artist.

That’s hardly the only Italian influence on display here. There’s a touch of Rome in the architecture, once you’re primed to look for it, while the rooms are stocked with Bulgari bath products. And it’d be impossible to overlook the Italian wines and the Italian cooking on offer at VerdeSalvia, the strikingly modern open-air restaurant under the soaring concrete roof — which is itself a testament to the mild climate of Cuernavaca, the City of Eternal Spring.

Please note: Anticavilla Hotel can only accommodate guests over the age of 12.

How to get there: Anticavilla Hotel is located 90km (1h30min) from Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City. Transfers can be organized for U$325, one way.