Rooms

There are only 7 rooms at Casa Oaxaca, so the hotel has an air of exclusivity. The Master Suite is on the upper level, with a private staircase and terrace; the Large Junior Suite is spread over 2 floors, with a bougainvillea-filled garden that faces the pool. We stayed in one of the 3 Doubles in the main house - these, and the slightly larger Junior Suite, are elegant limestone-walled rooms with lofty ceilings that lead onto a pretty patio of pomegranate and sapote trees. There’s also a Small Double available for single travellers.

Decorated with eye-catching pieces by local artists - including wooden hand-painted bedsteads, and Oaxaca’s surreal fantasy creatures and famous tin animals (an owl in ours) - all rooms have satellite TVs, phones, ensuite shower bathrooms with stone tiled floors, and a separate area with a desk and chair. They also have WiFi, though we found this worked best just outside our room, at a wrought-iron table set at the edge of the courtyard with its tinkling fountain and pots of flowering cacti.

Features include:

• Bathrobes
• Hairdryer
• In-room treatments available
• Safe box
• WiFi

Eating

Casa Oaxaca’s restaurant is split across 2 locations, with a dining area at the hotel serving breakfast and dinner (from 6-9pm, reservations only), and another a 10-minute walk away in the historical centre, next to the cathedral.

Both serve excellent nouvelle Mexican cuisine (the first places in town to do so), with similar - but not identical - menus. They share a head chef - the charismatic Alejandro Ruíz, who makes regular trips to Europe to study wine and gastronomy and who has personally trained the kitchen staff, who all come from his home village north of Oaxaca. Ingredients used in both kitchens are fresh and organic: fish is brought up daily from Puerto Angel on the Pacific coast (6 hours away), and fruit and vegetables are bought from local markets every morning before the cockerel crows.

We ate dinner at the hotel in the central courtyard. Service was professional and personable - chef Luis Arellano came by our table to chat and explain the ideas behind his signature dishes, which include a mouthwatering seabass ceviche with passion fruit nectar and wild turkey breast with mole.

If you want to eat out there are plenty of other restaurants, cafés and market stands in Oaxaca. Try La Biznaga just down the road for delicious sopa sec (a casserole-like dish made with rice or noodles), and keep an eye out for the tasty pizza-like speciality of Oaxaca called tlayuda - at the open kitchen at Tlayudas Arely Huatulco they're made with blue-corn tortillas in a wood-fired oven.

Features include:

• Bar
• Breakfast
• Organic produce
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby
• Room service
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Laze by the hotel’s pool, then have a traditional temazcal steam bath
  
  
• Join a market tour and cooking class with one of Casa Oaxaca’s chefs
  
  
• Explore Oaxaca’s churches, including the beautiful cloisters of former monastery Santo Domingo de Guzmán, and marvel at the treasures inside the Museum of Oaxacan Culture
  
  
• Go shopping at one of Oaxaca’s famous handicrafts markets
  
  
• Or add an arty element to your stay with a tour of local artisan studios
  
  
• Head to the famous Zapotec ruins at nearby Monte Albán, Mitla and Yagul
  
  
• Visit the mesmerising ‘frozen waterfalls’ (natural rock formations which resemble water tumbling over a cliff) at Hierve el Agua
  
  
• Hire a car and tour the villages surrounding Oaxaca. Stop off in Santa María del Tule to see the oldest tree in the Americas - estimates of its age range from 1,200 to 6,000 years old

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Cooking classes
• Cycling
• Golf
• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Museums / galleries
• Nightlife
• Private guided tours
• Shopping / markets
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Traditional cultures
• Well being
• Yoga

Kids

Only guests over 12 are accepted - this is a tranquil and stylish hotel.

Best for:

Teens (over 12)

Family friendly accommodation:

The Large Junior Suite has 2 bedrooms (1 double and 1 twin) so is ideal for families travelling with older children.

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Casa Oaxaca is located in the city of Oaxaca, 500km south of Mexico City.

By Air:
Oaxaca Xoxocotlán International (11km away) is the closest airport. It's served by domestic flights, plus occasional services from the US. If coming from the US, or wanting to combine Oaxaca with the coast, you'll find there are more flights to Bahías de Huatulco (270km away). If you're coming from Europe, you’ll probably fly into Mexico City (500km away), from where there are about 10 daily flights to Oaxaca.

Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving these airports.

From the Airport
From Oaxaca airport you can either take a taxi (see Rates for an idea of cost), arrange a transfer with the hotel (enquire when booking) or hire a car (see below). If coming from Huatulco, you'll need to drive or take the air taxi service to Oaxaca.

By Bus
First-class bus services operate regularly between Oaxaca and Mexico City (6 hours), Pochutla (7 hours), Puerto Escondido (9 hours), San Cristóbal de las Casas (12 hours), Tehuacan (6 hours) and Villahermosa (14 hours).

By Car
Having the use of a car makes exploring further afield easier, but watch out for the potholed roads. See our car rental recommendations.

Detailed directions to the hotel are provided when a booking is confirmed.

More on getting to Mexico and getting around