This Gorgeous Boutique Stay in Merida Is One of the Most Exciting New Hotels in Mexico

"Even on a pristine day in November-one of Mérida, Mexico's most agreeable months-the city's famous heat picked up just before noon. Around its leafy central plaza, no fewer than three ice cream shops were doing brisk business. I, however, was comfortably cool nearby, supine on a daybed by the Hotel Sevilla's pool. The new 21-room boutique stay is housed in a 16th-century manor that, of course, didn't initially have air-conditioning."

"When Ingrid Moye of Berlin-based architecture firm Zeller & Moye first saw the hotel site, it was derelict. "There was something really special about the as-found condition of the ruin that we felt it would be great not to lose," Moye says. The antique elements Moye and her husband, Christoph Zeller, preserved add a museum quality to the property: peeling frescos adorn the walls by the restaurant, the courtyard columns still show their chips and cracks."

"Today, the hotel, part of Mexico's Grupo Habita and a member of Design Hotels, is poised to become the favored haunt of the city's most stylish arrivals. Like the finest urban hotels, it invites on-campus lingering and gently guides guests to explore. During my visit, that meant breezy meals at the hotel's French restaurant and a relaxing session at the hammam-inspired spa before stepping out to tour the nearby Plaza Grande, one of Mexico's largest plazas."

Hotel Sevilla occupies a restored 16th-century manor one block from Mérida's central square on the Yucatán Peninsula. The 21-room boutique property centers on a shaded courtyard pool framed by thick, worn walls. Architects Ingrid Moye and Christoph Zeller preserved antique elements such as peeling frescos and chipped courtyard columns while introducing modern concrete interventions and backboard partitions to divide rooms. The hotel is part of Grupo Habita and a member of Design Hotels. On-site amenities include a French restaurant and a hammam-inspired spa, and staff encourage guests to linger on property and explore nearby Plaza Grande.

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