Hacienda Temozon

Located in the heart of the Mayan country of the Yucatán peninsula, the Hacienda Temozon is an authentic 19th-century hacienda, a family-owned farming operation converted into a luxurious hotel that’s at once big and small — with just 28 rooms, it’s intimate, but the rooms themselves are massive, with 18-foot ceilings, and the hotel sprawls over the compound’s grounds, taking in gardens, open spaces and even a 17th-century chapel.

Physically the hotel is gorgeous, its deep red exteriors just about glowing in the strong tropical light, and the interiors traditionally decorated but meticulously kept-up, polished to a high sheen. Guest rooms come with iron beds, hardwood antique furniture and ornate tiled floors, as well as creature comforts like plunge pools and indoor hammocks, the latter apparently something of a Mayan tradition.

But of course there’s more to the Hacienda Temozon than sheer visual beauty. Underneath it all it’s essentially a modern five-star luxury hotel, albeit one dressed as an old sisal plantation — the management is by the Starwood group, no strangers to running a tight-yet-effortless ship. Pool, spa, fitness facilities, restaurant, bar — it’s all here, self-contained, on-site, and rendered with a smile. The only reason to leave the grounds (though it’s a good one) is to see the Mayan ruins; the pyramids of the ruined city of Uxmal are just twenty miles away.

How to get there:
Hacienda Temozon is approximately a 35-minute drive from Merida International Airport.