Rosas & Xocolate Boutique Hotel + Spa

Rosas & Xocolate Boutique Hotel + Spa is a combination of lifestyle, traditions, and culture. Life has always brought Carol Kolozs, owner and director of the hotel, back to Mérida. It’s really difficult to separate the history from the person, so on this occasion we will tell you a bit of both.

In 1966 he made his first visit to the place that he would call home many years later. While serving in the Vietnam war for 14 months, Carol’s sister married a young Yucatecan man. When he met his new brother-in-law and he invited Carol to spend the holidays in Mérida, his fascination with the city began. He felt not only the family’s warmth, openness and cordiality towards visitors but also saw it was a Yucatecan trait. On their visits around the city and he was impressed by the activity on the Paseo de Montejo avenue.

Years went by and his life moved on as well. His visits to Mérida became farther apart, until he came back once after 20 years and found a city completely changed, with a more intense movement in the north part of the city and not so much in Centro. At that moment he had the opportunity to buy some beautiful antique mansions on the same avenue that he had loved during his first visit to the city.

The moment he owned the houses, he knew that he wanted to create a new movement and make a “before” and “after” in the state’s hotel industry. That’s when he decided to open a hotel; so he put together an amazing team of architects, advisors, and restoration experts. Carol always knew that he wanted to include the name of a very special woman in his life to the hotel: Rosa, his mother. But he couldn’t find the perfect combination. The inspiration didn’t come.

Then one day, when he was on a flight to Mérida, he was reading a newspaper that the airline offered him. He read a story about cacao in the Maya culture. At that moment Carol had a revelation: to mix the words Rosa and chocolate.

Thanks to this mix, you can now see, feel, and smell the incredible concept that you’ll notice every time you visit Rosas & Xocolate: while you are staying there, relaxing at the spa, enjoying a delicious meal from the menu of chef David Segovia, or having a drink at the Moon Lounge, which is a rooftop bar under the stars, you’ll live an unforgettable experience. And, if you are a food lover, you must visit the sister restaurant Rosa Sur 32º in Parque Santa Lucía.

The hotel has become a reference point in Mérida, well known nationally and especially internationally, receiving awards every year for the best hotel, best service, best food, and best restoration, among others, and of course being nominated for many more. So when you see these two pink mansions on Paseo de Montejo, in person or in a photo, you will now know a little bit more of its story.

Paseo de Montejo #480 x 41, Centro, Mérida
Tel. (999) 924 2992
www.rosasandxocolate.com

By Natalia Bejarano Calero