If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (MXN3,136.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
A couple of hours west of Mexico City, La Casa Rodavento is a chic stay in the pueblo mágico of Valle de Bravo, where one enterprising local has decided to open up his home as a hotel – and you’ll be glad he did. A handful of the seven rooms are arranged around the pool and patio, as well as a modern outhouse, which also has a rooftop Jacuzzi that overlooks the town’s cathedral and houses. The town, set around the shores of Lake Avándaro, is delightful: streets are steep and cobblestoned, locals ride around on quad bikes, and there are abundant restaurants, including the creative cuisine at La Casa’s own Nuestro restaurant. Welcome to the real Mexico.
1pm, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm, also flexible.
Prices
Double rooms from £167.53 (MXN3,638), including tax at 16 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of 4% per room per night on check-out and an additional service charge of 15% per room per night on check-out.
More details
Rates don’t usually include breakfast (from 455 pesos a person).
Also
Tourism is pretty new on the Valle de Bravo agenda, but if you want to experience an authentic Mexican community in a crowd-free way, this is the destination to do it.
At the hotel
Free WiFi throughout, car park. In rooms: TV, Nespresso coffee machine, Bose speakers, iPod dock air-conditioning, free bottled water and Rodavento or Bannik bath products.
Our favourite rooms
There are only seven and each has its loveable bits. We particularly admire Room Seven’s two balconies, valley views, private patio and garden-facing bath tub; Room Four’s outdoor shower; and Room Two’s private rooftop terrace. If your needs are modest, Room One’s the smallest. Four of the bedrooms are in a more modern building at the back of the existing house.
Poolside
There are two: a heated pool in the hotel’s central patio and a Jacuzzi up on the roof.
Spa
There’s no spa at La Casa, but guests can access the one at the sister property nearby, Hotel Rodavento. Pilates, yoga and other fitness classes can be arranged.
Packing tips
Bring your quad-bike-friendly clothing and cobblestone-friendly footwear.
Also
There are no specially adapted rooms, but the lobby, pool and restaurant are accessible for wheelchair users.
Children
This grown-up getaway is for guests aged 18-and-over only.
Outside, listening to the trickles of the fountain by the pool.
Dress Code
The hotel attracts a cool crowd – make it minimalist but don’t be afraid of a vibrant flash of colour.
Hotel restaurant
Nuestro serves top-drawer Mexican food in a gloriously laid-back setting. The ingredients are all hyper local and hyper seasonal, which means the menu changes all the time – the only given is that it will taste delicious (and look pretty darn amazing, too). Food is also served on the rooftop. Breakfast is set up in your room (suites One, Three, Four and Six), in your living room (Suite Five) or on your terrace (suites Two and Seven).
Hotel bar
The mixologist was lured from Mexico City and is a master of the mojito, along with everything else – ask for their choice and you won’t be disappointed (especially if it’s mezcal based). Drinks can be served in the bar by the restaurant and on the rooftop, as can tacos, tostadas and gazpacho.
Last orders
Breakfast is from 7am until 1pm. Food and drinks are served any time you want them, provided it’s between 7am and 11pm.
Room service
Food from the restaurant can be served in your room 24 hours a day, but it’s a reduced version of the menu between 11pm and 6am.
La Casa Rodavento is in Valle de Bravo, west of Mexico City.
Planes
It’s a two-hour drive to Mexico City’s airport; Toluca’s airport is 80 kilometres away.
Automobiles
Mexico City is a headache to navigate by car, and the winding cobblestone streets of Valle de Bravo won’t be much fun either (though there is a valet for the brave).
Other
Valle de Bravo’s aerodrome welcomes incoming helicopters and private planes can land at Toluca airport.
Worth getting out of bed for
Once you’ve tried and tested every cocktail on the mixologist’s menu and admired the cathedral from the rooftop, head out to find the magic of this pueblo mágico (a government-bestowed honour upon particularly miraculous Mexican towns), which features the largest Buddhist stupa in the west, as well as a craft market. The Monte Alto reserve is a haven for hiking, biking and paragliding; the concierge at sister property Hotel Rodavento can also arrange zip-lining, kayakingand archery. It’s a good idea, especially if you don’t speak Spanish, to leave the activity arranging to the hotel, who will guide you to the best vendors. Lepidopterology lovers will find sanctuary at the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. You might be able to see its towers from your room, but check them out up close by walking down to the Parroquia de San Francisco de Asís church.
Local restaurants
For a Mexican town, there are a lot of Italian restaurants around, but the real bounty is its street food – ask the hotel to guide you to the best carts. Try Italik Cafe or one of the resident bakeries for brunch. Soleado, Cocina del Mundo on Avenida Joaquín Arcadio Pagaza labels itself a kitchen of the world, and sure enough you’ll find international dishes (but with a subtle Mexican makeover). Tasty tapas awaits at VE Cocina Espanolaon Avenida Rosales.
Local bars
Join the lively local cocktail crew at La Mezca de Valle on Avenida Joaquín Arcadio Pagaza.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this boutique hotel in Mexico and unpacked their mezcal, a full account of their countryside break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside La Casa Rodavento in Valle de Bravo…
Ah, Mexico. Land of mariachis, mole and mezcal… but much as we love all three, it’s good to escape the tourist trail. Thankfully, we’ve found and fallen in love with Valle de Bravo and its boutique bolthole La Casa Rodavento. This small town on the banks of Lake Avándaro, two hours west of Mexico City, is a secret sanctuary away from the crowds. Its winding cobblestone streets are decorated with attractive low-roofed villas, one of which is La Casa, once a private mansion belonging to the owner of neighbouring Hotel Rodavento, and now yours to borrow. The chef and mixologist are the creative kind: both the drinks and dinner menus change all the time to keep up with local produce, but you’re in for some unforgettable tacos and cocktails whenever you stay. The Mexican government thinks it’s magical – the town has been awarded pueblo mágico status – and so do we.
