Pug Seal Oaxaca

Pug Seal’s inventive, pocket-sized boutique B&Bs feel like perfect little secrets in the vastness of Mexico City — in the compact historical center of Oaxaca City, however, a 20-suite boutique hotel looms larger, just by comparison with its surroundings. Not to worry: Pug Seal Oaxaca is just as tranquil, just as residential in atmosphere as its cousins in the capital, designed as it is around a central courtyard decorated with colorful murals.

The suites themselves combine high-design furniture and up-to-date boutique-hotel comforts with historic architectural details and more murals. There’s plenty of color, and plenty of richly weathered, handmade texture to supply visual and tactile interest. You’ll have a smart TV and a coffee-making station as well as local snacks and drinks, but the central appeal is the sense of calm, confident tranquility.

And while there’s an impressive breakfast spread, there’s no in-house restaurant — but in a city as flavorful as Oaxaca, that’s no drawback. Unless you’re staying here for a month or more, it’s not at all likely that you’ll want to eat the same thing twice.