Yucatan’s Historic Haciendas

Temozon features the Spa Hol-be.

After touring the restored hacienda, visitors watch as the agave leaves are crushed by steam engine and finished and turned into string by hand. It’s a fascinating procedure and the plantation is a labor of love for Adolfo Flores, director general of Sotuta De Peon.

“I’m a country guy,” Flores said. “When I was a kid, I used to see this sort of production everywhere around here. Now it’s all gone. I just felt I had to save some of it.”

In addition to the sisal production and hacienda tour, guests can also tour the agave fields by horse-drawn cart. This includes stopping to meet Don Antonio, a Mayan farmer who lives on the property. Don Antonio teaches guests his language, as well as gives tours of his Mayan home and explains customs of the Mayan lifestyle.

Also on the plantation is a cenote (an underground cave with water). Guests are invited to change into swimsuits and take a dip in the cool underground pool a great antidote for a hot day touring the agave fields.

While Sotuta De Peon will educate clients, there are several haciendas that will pamper them.

One of the best of these properties is Hacienda Xcanatun (pronounced ssh-kana-toon). Once part of a working sisal operation at the turn of the 19th century, and refurbished by Cristina Baker and Jorge Ruiz in 1999, the hacienda is now part of Virtuoso and Mexico Boutique Hotels, and has a Four-Diamond rating from AAA.

Xcanatun has beautiful lush gardens filled with nothing but the sounds of birds, so you feel like you’re the only person there. Baker is usually on-site herself and looks after her guests like they are part of the family. In fact, at times a stay at Xcanatun feels like a stay at a friend’s country home.

The hacienda has 18 suites, all decorated in period furnishings with unique architectural details. For instance, some rooms have a Jacuzzi tub on the porch (in addition to the property’s two swimming pools), and the Patricia Suite has a skylight built into its 17-foot-tall ceilings. The hacienda also features a top-notch restaurant, Casa de Piedra, where President Bush dined on a recent visit to Merida.

Hacienda Xcanatun is also ideal for weddings and small groups. There is a spot in the garden for Mayan marriage ceremonies and vow renewals, and a former chapel can be used for weddings or meetings.

Another option is the Hacienda Temozon, part of the Starwood Luxury Collection and a Virtuoso property.

Temozon is a completely refurbished plantation with spectacular grounds and amenities, including a cenote-fed infinity-edged swimming pool, a billiards room, a party area, a gourmet restaurant and more.

Temozon also features the Spa Hol-be, with some massage tables actually in a cenote, so guests can get spa treatments and take a dip inside the underground cavern. With many of the hacienda’s 28 rooms dating back to the 1600s, Temozon is a creative blend of old Mexico and modern comfort, with tile floors, huge bathrooms, antique furnishings and modern amenities. Some rooms even come with their own plunge pool, and all rooms feature a hammock for naps on a hot afternoon.

According to Mellado, all the haciendas in the Starwood Luxury Collection are growing in popularity. He feels one reason for this is that these properties represent the best of old and new combining unique historic accommodations with Starwood’s management, ease of booking and quality standards, “not to mention Starwood’s points program,” he said. Regardless of what property you book, the Yucatan’s haciendas will give your clients a glimpse into a world of luxury when plantations were at their height, and make them feel like a millionaire of a bygone era.