Cuernavaca, Mexico: Hacienda de Cortes; hotel review

Hacienda de Cortes  

Plaza Kennedy 90, Col. Atlacomulco, Jiutepec, 10 minutes by cab from downtown, 52 777-315-8844.  23 rooms; 2 stories.  All fireplaces.  Unheated pool; 2 unheated hot tubs; fitness room. 

exquisite dining room at the Hacienda de Cortez in Cuernavaca, Mexico

Once owned by conquistador Hernan Cortes, the grand hacienda was built by him for his Indian interpreter and lover, Malinche.  It is believed to be the second-oldest post-conquest building in Mexico (the oldest is reputedly the nearby Hacienda San Gabriel de las Palmas).  The exquisitely romantic setting of Hacienda de Cortez is built around the remains of the original sugar mill and features mature trees and protective high stone walls that surround the property. 

Gardens are extensive and well-tended and include long-lived sea grape and banana trees, and you can hear the water that still runs through ancient viaducts.  A dramatic pool features stone pillars and resembles a ruins. 

Guest rooms have stone floors, whitewashed adobe walls, high ceilings, antique furnishings, and a sofa serving as an additional bed.  Suites also get a large marble bathroom with a step-down whirlpool tub-shower combo (the tub/whirlpool can be awkward to use since it is square and made of stone).  All rooms have both air conditioning and ceiling fans.  Suites have magnificent wrought-iron-encased glass doors that open to the beautiful grassy central courtyard (#19 and 20 are favorites), while studio balconies look over the street.  The spectacular Shaw Suite, where the Shaw of Iran once holed up, features vaulted ceilings and thick stone arches.  New rooms are being completed in a 4-story unit behind the pool.

The shell of the 400-plus-year-old hacienda’s main building is overgrown with roots and vines and now serves as the stunning La Casona/The Old House restaurant.  A spectacular soaring skylight ceiling is grown over with the lacy branches of very old strangler figs (amate trees) that have encased themselves in the crumbling stone walls.  The menu is composed of refined Mexican dishes, and prices are reasonable.


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image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers