Merida’s Abundant History is Worth the Trip, Merida is an ancient colonial city and the capital of the Yucatan state located to the west of Quintana Roo, rich with historical churches, architecturally unique buildings, delicious flavors, music, night life, shopping and more. Every night, the Historic Center hosts traditional folk dancers, right in front of City Hall, dancing to live music, in traditional attire. On Sunday nights, salsa and cumbia dance liven up the streets. Restaurants and street vendors are plentiful, as is the shopping. Staying near the Main Square is recommended.
My wife and I had the delight of staying at Casa Mexilio, in Merida, over the first weekend in August, 2009 and it was one of the most distinctive places we have ever stayed. Located near the town center, nearly 4 blocks from the main square, you’ll discover Casa Mexilio squeezed in amid residences and businesses along one of the typically urban sections of Merida. All of the buildings in this section of town have no spaces between them and the only manner to quickly separate where one ends and the next one begins is the variation in paint. Each block is therefore rich in unique colors and personal distinguishable window boxes, signs, benches, and the like.
The main entry to Casa Mexilio, a Merida hotel, is relatively non-descript, with a few metal gates fronting wooden doors right on the street. Don’t be fooled by the lack of ordainment outside this exceptional small inn. When inside, the hotel is more museum than hotel with vintage furnishings, artifacts, books and photos throughout. It really is akin to stepping back in time. The hotel is a modified house dating back to the late 19th century and is bursting of its own interesting history as are the buildings and city of Merida that surround it.
The focal patio of the hotel is situated directly behind the front desk and service locale where you will find a thriving garden and “grotto” like pool with a Jacuzzi. It always stays nice and cool due to the shade of the gardens and secluded location, a splendid place to cool off anytime and very romantic. We went for a swim to cool off before bed one night and the burning smell of copal was a nice affect(this is a regional herb and incense noted for its cleansing properties). This section with the trees and plants almost reminds you of being in a jungle cenote except there are stairs and balconies just about everywhere you look. There is even an elevated walkway that connects one of the top sections of the inn. In attendance are patios, landings and secret garden nooks everywhere; the place begs to be explored.
Our room was astonishing with very high ceilings and very clean with a comfortable king sized bed, added pillows, ceiling fan and AC, although we only used the AC for a few hours at night, the ceiling fan was wonderful for air circulation. The furniture, like everything else we saw while we were there were traditional, antique couches, chairs, dressers, bed and wardrobes, really nice touches. Our room also had eclectic tiled flooring. I honestly don’t know the actual name of our room, but each one has its own unique charm with similar furnishings from what we could see.
Our only disappointment was missing a great breakfast! We got up and about exceptionally early…too early for breakfast seemingly as we looked around and didn’t catch sight of anybody(this was nearly 7am) so we walked a few blocks to one of the local cafes. Upon our return to the inn one of the waiters stopped by our room asking if we wanted breakfast. We’ll definitely seize that on our next visit! We will be back to Merida in search of more interesting sites, sounds and flavors and suggest this hotel to anyone, as it is sincerely a magical place.
No related posts.
