Rooms

Dotted around the grounds are 12 rustic cottages, many of which housed Chichen Itza's excavation team in 1923. Fully refurbished and extended to accommodate 28 guestrooms (all named after people connected with the dig), they're stylish and contemporary, yet still exude ancient charm. Outside, each room has a terrace furnished with hammocks, rocking chairs, cushions and aromatic candles.

Filled with hand-woven textiles, wooden carvings and colourful locally-made cushions, the otherwise white rooms are bursting with colour. The ensuite bathrooms have a tub or shower, and organic toiletries and fluffy bathrobes are provided. Aside from air conditioning, fans and hairdryers, there are no mod cons - although the absence of a TV is more understandable than the fact that the rooms have no phones but offer room service!

Standard Rooms come with 2 smallish double beds, a table and chairs. Honeymoon Rooms overlooking the central gardens are the same size as the Standard Rooms but feature one queensize bed. The bigger Master Suites have either 2 double beds or one kingsize bed, as well as indoor and outdoor sitting areas and tea/coffee making facilities. The plushest room is the Catherwood Suite, which has a Mayan-style tub in its bathroom and a large patio area.

Features include:

• Bathrobes
• Fan
• Hairdryer
• Minibar
• WiFi

Eating

With an on-site vegetable garden and fruit orchard, you can be sure you're getting the freshest of ingredients in every meal. Breakfast is typically Mexican: fresh fruit and coffee followed by eggs. Huevos rancheros (a mix of fried eggs, tortilla chips, chilli sauce and refried beans) sounds scary, but it's strangely tasty so it's worth being brave.

The lunch and dinner menu, served on the terrace or under the stars in the garden, includes a range of Mexican favourites and regional Yucatacán dishes (remodelled to suit American palates), together with some international surprises like gazpacho. Foodies will enjoy the delicious lime soup, shrimp ceviche, and red snapper with parsley sauce. Children and vegetarians are also well catered for, with a mixture of healthy salads, club sandwiches and meat-free lasagnes.

The quality of the food is excellent, and although the waiting staff definitely run on Mexican time, the only real downside is that the cost of a meal is expensive (presumably the assumption is that most American tourists won't notice much of a difference in dollars to what they'd pay back home). But that's the price you pay for being able to roll out of your bed in the morning straight into the ruins.

Features include:

• Bar
• Breakfast
• Restaurant
• Room service
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Explore the awesome Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, just minutes from the hacienda - the hotel has a private entrance. It's also worth venturing out early before coach loads of tourists arrive (the site is open from 8am)
  
  
• Take a guided bird-watching tour around the hacienda's grounds - watch out for over 150 species, including rose-throated becards and yellow-faced grassquits
  
  
• Cool off in the hacienda's Olympic-size swimming pool, or lie in a hammock and enjoy the peace
  
  
• Buy some jade jewellery or hand-dye weaves at the on-site Toh gift shop - everything is locally made and proceeds go to the hacienda's ongoing wildlife conservation project
  
  
• Admire the ancient buildings in Valladolid, the capital of the Yucatán in colonial times (a 30-minute drive away)
  
  
• Visit the San Antonio de Padua convent in Izamal (a 45-minute drive away). Built on top of 3 vast, partially buried Mayan pyramids, it's filled with ancient murals and was once visited by the Pope
  
  
• Spend a day in Mérida (a 1.5-hour drive away). Stroll around the pretty cathedral and cobbled streets, then treat yourself to some gorgeous hand-embroidered furnishings
  
  
• Visit nearby Ikkil and Balancache and go swimming in the underground cenotes (sink wells)
  
  
• Bliss out at the Yaxkin Spa, which offers a range of indulgent Mayan treatments, massages and beauty therapies. We'd recommend the 'Stress Relief Ritual' (which includes a banana leaf wrap and a petal-filled foot bath), the 'Cocoa Bliss Spa' (the body is brushed with chocolate and coconut oil, then covered in orchids) or the 'Sacred Mayan Hot Stone Massage'

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Birdwatching
• Historical sites
• Museums / galleries
• Plantlife / flora
• Private guided tours
• Scuba diving
• Shopping / markets
• Swimming
• Traditional cultures

Kids

Children of all ages are welcome.

Best for:

All ages

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Hacienda Chichen is 300m from Chichen Itza (with it's own private gate access), and lies almost midway between Cancún (180km to the west) and Mérida (120km to the east).

By Air
Fly into Mérida Manuel Crescencio Rejón International (120km away) or Cancún International (180km away). Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving these airports.

From the Airport
You'll need to hire a car (see below) or take a taxi, though the latter option can be very expensive due to the distances involved.

By Car
For car hire see our car rental recommendations. The journey from Cancún takes around 2.5 hours; from Mérida it's 1.5 hours. Driving from Playa del Carmen takes about 3.5 hours and from Tulum about 4.5 hours.

Detailed directions will be provided when you book through i-escape.com.

More on getting to Mexico and getting around