JapoNeza Retreat Merida Centro

A Transformative Tropical Inn

Named repeatedly as a “best of” (Best Boutique Stay, Best Romantic Retreat, Best Building Design) by architectural outlets and designed by a Forbes 100 creator Fausto Terán, this unique convergence of Asian minimalism and classic Mexican rusticity makes for a winning combination across its ten rooms in three varied suite styles.

A multi-sensory design experience from filmmaker/designer Fausto Terán, this hotel, one of three JapoNeza properties in Mexico, fuses Japanese serenity and architectural spareness with the country's lush natural world and indomitable spirit. One of two Japoneza properties set in timelessly beautiful Mérida, it features classic Mexican styling, generously layered into serene hospitality.  Mexico makes itself known in the form of cenotes and spas, temazcals and lushly undisturbed landscapes teeming with upcycled natural materials. Japan takes center stage in interior design, with the hotel's three room styles revealing clean lined, minimal furnishings and a soothing Zen ambiance.

Suites feature in-room soaking tubs and unobtrusively simple furnishings. Outdoor spaces are pure tropical Mexico, leafy courtyards drenched in natural light and outdoor showers punctuated by a Japanese spa and meditation suite. Cultures combine at the on-site restaurant too, where ramen gets spiced up by local produce and accented with classic regional favorites.

AROUND

As the capital city of Mexico’s Yucatán region, Mérida puts both ancient Mayan and the region’s Spanish colonial heritage on dazzling display. Colonial-era churches and residences occupy the city’s leafy plazas like ancient fortresses and colorful mansions, and one of the World’s Seven Wonders, Chichén Itzá is the most prominent of dozens of other sacred Mayan temple sites accessible outside of town. Centrally located within Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula, Mérida is known as “the white city,” an increasingly happening urban area that mingles 4,000+ year old indigenous Mayan cultural tradition with 16th-century Spanish colonial culture. 

Beyond history and archeology, gastronomy has become Mérida’s main draw, and exotic tropical produce fills local market stands, cocoa farms occupy dense jungle villages beyond the city limits, and pre-Columbian foods have been artfully reincarnated at the hands of hip young chefs. Chichén Itzá stands 75 miles east of Mérida, and the UNESCO-listed Mayan ruin of Uxmal is about an hour and a half south. Dozens of lesser-celebrated pyramids offer tours and a deep dive into Mayan culture, and pueblos mágicos (Valladolid, Izmal) are also close by and worth exploring. 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.

LOCATION

Mérida Yucatán, Mexico. Nearest airport: Merida MID (20 minutes)

BEST TIME TO VISIT: Year round