The Family Home

The roosters began their crowing around 8:30 in the morning. I threw open the wood shutters to the French doors and gazed out over the Juliet balcony to the nearby paddock, where a couple of horses were nibbling grass.

A tiny bell kept ringing, and when I opened the door to my room, a waitress wearing a beautiful long skirt and rebozo told me coffee, tea and juice were set up in the common sitting area on the second floor. The moment I showed interest, however, she insisted on serving me. So I sat on the couch by the open doors and drank my first cup of coffee watching a hawk trail across the sky.

Hacienda Sepulveda has been a working ranch for 360 years. The present owners, the Serranos, have had the property for three generations, using the house as a weekend getaway from their home in Leon, a half-hour away. Now guests of the 11-room hotel quickly find themselves feeling at home, assuming that home is filled with exquisite antiques.

One of the hacienda’s greatest attributes is its proximity to some of Mexico’s most beautiful colonial cities your clients will find daytrips to Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende and Querretero are quite doable, and the international airport at Leon-Bajio is a mere 30-45 minutes away. It’s a three-hour drive north to Zacatecas, the original silver city, and just under three hours to Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, which is the mother lode for interior decorators. The toll freeways are excellent, and the drive is easy.

But it’s tempting never to leave the hacienda.
Each room in the hacienda has its own personality, and all have either a fireplace or antique wood-burning stove for those nippy winter nights. Many of the rooms have arched brick ceilings, and each has its own unique chandelier. Since a number of the rooms have separate full beds, clients should specify if they prefer a single or king-sized bed. But whatever they choose, they’ll enjoy elaborately carved furniture and fantastic details.

The spa, which uses only fresh local products made to fit each guest’s needs, is as beautiful as they come, built within the thick stone walls of the former hay storage barn. Inside there are three small pools for use in hydrotherapy, plus steam rooms and a temazcal, the ancient Mexican sweat lodge.

One of the hacienda’s four courtyards surrounds a swimming pool, from which the next-door stables can be seen but not inhaled through a heavy glass wall. All the activities, except for the spa and the bar, are included.

Mariquita, who has cooked for the Serrano family for 30 years, provides the traditional cuisine for which the hotel is known. Your clients may find a starter empanada is filled with jamaica (a jam made from hibiscus), or they can try nopale cactus and huitlacoche (the mushroom-like fungus from corn) topped with cheese.

Offbeat or standard fare, it’s all delicious.
In the nearby town of Lagos de Moreno, clients can visit the Serrano’s original family home, an elegant mansion that’s now an antique shop. Or they can drive to the hilltop convent for a gorgeous sunset and a chance to buy rum pope (pronounced po-pay), an egg-nog-like liqueur made by the nuns.

Rooms range $160-$198, plus 17 percent tax. The full meal plan is $60 per person. Book through Mexico Boutique Hotels. Agents get 10 percent commission.

877-278-8018

www.mexicoboutiquehotels.com