Haciendas: History & Elegance Restored

A terrace from Hacienda Santa Rosa was one of the covers of our magazine. Take note of the extremely tall ceiling, the arches, the large hanging lamps, the sitting areas, the lush fern plants, shiny floors, tall doorways and stone area outside the terrace. These are the traditional components that make up the main house of typical Yucatecan haciendas.

Yucatán has Maya pyramids, colonial cities, Magical Towns (Izamal and Valladolid) and our own claim-to-fame: the restored haciendas. Dating back to the green gold era of the late 1800’s when the haciendas were the base areas for the huge henequen business, the haciendas’ majestic buildings fell into wreck and ruin just before the mid-1900’s when synthetic fibers came about.

Fast forward to the early 1990’s and we find visionary Mexican banker Roberto Hernandez coming to Yucatán and buying some of the derelict haciendas and turning them into Grand Tourism hotels after carefully, lovingly and faithfully restoring them (under the talented hand of Arq. Salvador Reyes Ríos) to their previous splendor – and splendid they were and splendid they are now.

With no more than 28 rooms, the haciendas are Yucatán’s most luxurious lodgings. Personalized attention, a refined setting, lush gardens, tropical plants, antique furnishings and friendly staffs await you. You will feel pampered.

With three restored haciendas in Yucatán and two in Campeche, and going under the name of Starwood Hotels & Resorts: Haciendas San José Cholul (with 15 rooms), Temozón Sur (28 rooms), and Santa Rosa de Lima (11 rooms) in the state of Yucatán; and Uayamon (12 rooms) and Puerta de Campeche (15 rooms) in the neighboring state of Campeche (to the west) make up the Starwood Hotels & Resorts haciendas.

When you stay at a hacienda hotel you will be assured a wonderfully comfortable bed with bed linens that caress you, a spectacular bathroom with lots of Yucatan stonework, privacy, pampering and large doses of R & R.

Each of the haciendas has a restaurant that caters to the guests. Under the watchful eye of Executive Chef Christian Bravo, a young chef from the Mexican state of Puebla, with several years of experience in Spain, he has brought new dishes and presentations to the hacienda dining rooms.

www.thehaciendas.com