Hacienda de San Antonio
Colima, Mexico[view map]
Reviewed by Mr & Mrs Smith.
Mr & Mrs Smith have just returned from an anonymous review trip to this boutique hotel in Colima, and, as soon as they've unpacked their bags, a full account of their stay in Mexico will be with you. In the meantime, just to whet your wanderlust, here’s a brief postcard from highland hideaway Hacienda de San Antonio…
Like its sister property in Jalisco, Cuixmala, Hacienda de San Antonio is a spectacularly decorated boutique hotel, boasting every-whim-met personal service and swathed in fabulous flora. Lovingly maintained by the Goldsmith family, the hacienda’s buildings are hewn from coral pink volcanic stone (the mountainous origin of which looms dramatically in the backdrop, regularly wreathed in smoke), and, inside, are ornamented with priceless antiques, ceramics and paintings in every room, and handmade rugs adorning the walls and floors. Sir James Goldsmith was a big chap, and it shows – everything in Hacienda de San Antonio seems oversized, from fluffy towels that would dry a giant to beds you can lose your partner in, and chairs that leave your toes inches from the floor. The sunken bath tub alone could fit a family of four.
It’s a working hacienda, meaning that, in addition to the 70 staff, (outnumbering the guests by two-to-one even at full capacity), there’s a veritable army of gardeners, all of them engaged in sprucing and manicuring the grounds and harvesting the produce that makes up 90 per cent of the kitchen’s ingredients. The landscape is another big draw – great green lawns streaked with streams give way to orange and palm trees, hills roll away into the horizon, and colour soaks the scenery in every direction. It’s like Eden all over again. Let’s hope it works out better this time…