Merida’s Full 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, abundant with historical churches, architecturally unique buildings, delectable flavors, music, night life, shopping and more. Each night, the Historic Center hosts customary folk dancers, right in front of City Hall, dancing to live music, in traditional costume. On Sunday nights, salsa and cumbia dance liven up the streets. Restaurants and street vendors are abundant, 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 unique places we have ever stayed. Located close to the town center, almost 4 blocks from the main square, you’ll locate Casa Mexilio squeezed in amid homes and merchants along one of the typically urban sections of Merida. All of the buildings in this segment of town have no spaces between them and the only way to rapidly separate where one ends and the next one begins is the difference in paint. Each block is therefore rich in unique colors and individual discernible 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 wood doors right on the street. Don’t be fooled by the lack of ordainment outside this fine small lodge. Once inside, the hotel is more museum than hotel with antique furniture, artifacts, books and photos throughout. It really is like stepping back in time. The inn is a modified residence dating back to the late 19th century and is bursting of its personal interesting history as are the structures and city of Merida that surround it.
The central patio of the hotel is situated directly behind the front desk and service area 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 sheltered location, a great place to cool off anytime and very romantic. We went for a swim to cool off before bed one night and the burning scent of copal was a nice affect (this is a local herb and incense well-known 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 gaze. There is even an elevated walkway that connects one of the top sections of the hotel. There are patios, landings and obscure garden nooks everywhere; the place begs to be explored.
Our room was fantastic with very high ceilings and reasonably clean with a comfortable king sized bed, extra pillows, ceiling fan and AC, although we only used the AC for a few hours at night, the ceiling fan was fantastic for air circulation. The furnishings, like everything else we saw while we were there were vintage, antique couches, chairs, dressers, bed and wardrobes, really nice touches. Our room also had diverse tiled flooring. I truthfully don’t know the actual name of our room, but each one has its own unique appeal with similar furnishings from what we could see, one of the nicest Merida hotels available.
Our only disappointment was missing a great breakfast! We got up and about very early…too early for breakfast seemingly as we looked around and did not catch a glimpse of anyone (this was around 7am) so we walked a few blocks to one of the local cafes. Upon our return to the hotel one of the waiters stopped by our room wanting to know if we wanted breakfast. We’ll definitely catch that on our next visit! We will be back to Merida in quest of other attractive sites, sounds and flavors and recommend this hotel to anyone, as it is genuinely a magical space.
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