Cedros Hotel Boutique

If These Walls Could Talk

With a calm, naturally calibrated style, French architect Laura Lecué has transformed Yucatecan architectural history into a dazzling boutique hotel and restaurant oasis, an intimate, small town space where the colonial coexists harmoniously with the new, and a meticulously selected portfolio of locally crafted furnishings and foods steals the show.

Once a prominent family’s home before its reincarnation and ultimate demise as lively local cantina, this classic Yucatecan outpost still channels its colonial architectural history. Today, the property tells a new story. Reimagined by French resident architect Laura Lecué of Collectif Como, this small luxury hotel in Mexico combines the renovation of an ancient building with the construction of serene new suites, all integrated around a leafy, tropical pool garden.

Aligning the ancient with the contemporary inside its eight rooms, the renovation preserved old stones and intricate pasta tiles, natural fibers and local pixoy wood. The property’s pervading serenity is in part because of the architect’s revival of chukum, an ancient Mayan stucco technique that uses tree bark to create the softly-hued earthen plaster found on walls throughout. The minimalist location offers a nostalgic atmosphere, though the property’s restaurant is very of-the-moment, an all-local gastronomical experience featuring an organic, locally-sourced menu.

AROUND

In addition to its on-site gastronomy experience celebrating chef-prepared local foods and its revived community cantina, this small luxury hotel in Mexico features a carefully curated boutique where local artisanal craft traditions are available. Artisans are featured by name and bio, and their offerings include basketry and lamps woven from endemic bejuco, homemade ceramics and hammocks, hand-embroidered Xipil, and other local items.

The village of Espita is a crossroads at the heart of the Yucatán, where colonial architecture and traditional life combine in a simple, slow rhythm. A center for regional handicrafts, the area around Espita is also known regionally for its unblemished nature. This is the Monte Yucateco, home to tourist sites such as Ek Balam (35 minutes), a Mayan archaeological site and jungle-bound pyramid dating from 300 BC. A zipline stretches over the ruin today, and the Cenote X’Canche offers a refreshing turquoise bullseye to dive into amid the dense jungle green. Cenotes, or natural sinkholes in the region’s limestone bedrock that once served as water supplies for the ancient Maya, are part of what define the Yucatán Peninsula, where more than 10,000 of these deep blue swimming holes are located. Each cenote is uniquely beautiful, and hundreds are accessible as lushly camouflaged swimming holes. 

Chichen Itzá, the region’s most famous attraction, is an hour away. Considered one of the seven wonders of the world, the ancient Mayan site includes the pyramid of Kukulcán. Other notable places nearby include the colonial city of Valladolid (50 minutes), where 16th-century architecture stands tall, the yellow city of Izamal, and the striking pink lake Las Coloradas (1 hour 15 minutes), where traditional salt collection and production continues today. The lake is encircled by a foot or cycling path. Explore a mangrove teeming with pink flamingos (and alligators!) outside the small fishing village of Rio Largatos (about an hour away) on a boat for hire.

LOCATION

Espita, Yucatan, Mexico. Nearest airport: Mérida (approximately 165 kilometers)

BEST TIME TO VISIT: Year round