Casa Olivia

A Corner House on Plaza Santiago, Four Rooms Deep

Barrio de Santiago is one of the old quarters of Mérida, a grid of low painted houses around a plaza with a colonial church on it and a market behind, and Casa Olivia holds the corner. The house is nineteenth century, and Ivette Beltrán turned it into a hotel of four rooms without stripping out what made it worth keeping: monochrome checkerboard tile, hand painted cornicing, wooden armoires, wrought iron spiral staircases, antique loveseats set against pieces commissioned from Mexican artists. Two of the four are suites. The rooms carry family names: Olivia, Ofelia, Olga, Orietta.

Why It Works

Four rooms is small enough that the house never behaves like a hotel, and that is the whole proposition. Breakfast is three courses and taken in the courtyard, the pool is open at any hour, and the desk is effectively the owner’s family. For a traveller with a dog the scale is exactly right: no lobby to cross, no lift, shade in the middle of the house, and a plaza across the street for the first walk of the morning. Adults only keeps the courtyard quiet.

Why This Location

Plaza Santiago is where Mérida comes out to dance in the evening, under strings of lights beside the church of Santiago Apóstol, and the market alongside it is where the barrio buys its food. Centro’s grid makes the rest simple: the Plaza Grande and the cathedral lie a straight walk east, the Paseo de Montejo with its mansions runs north, and all of it is flat, which counts for a great deal in this heat and with an animal on a lead. Mérida is also the base for the Yucatán, with cenotes, Uxmal and the coast at Progreso within a drive.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Colonial townhouse, monochrome tile, courtyard, adults only

• Rooms: four, of which two suites, named Olivia, Ofelia, Olga and Orietta

• Best For: couples with a small dog, slow city stays, Yucatán road trips

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the old fountain that runs into the narrow terrace pool, open around the clock

• Dining: a three course breakfast included, served in the courtyard; no restaurant, and the plaza cafés supply the rest of the day

• Amenities: terrace pool with loungers and day beds, planted courtyard, a small boutique, air conditioning, free parking, laundry, L’Occitane bathroom products, adults only, pets allowed

• Attractions: Plaza Santiago with its church and market, the Plaza Grande and the cathedral, Paseo de Montejo, the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya, and the cenotes and Uxmal beyond the city

Four Rooms With Family Names

Olivia, Ofelia, Olga and Orietta, two of them suites, each furnished differently out of the same vocabulary: vintage pieces, iron, tile and commissioned art. High ceilings and thick walls do much of the cooling, with air conditioning behind them. In a house of four rooms the difference between categories is space and light rather than rank, so it is worth asking which one opens onto the courtyard before choosing.

The Courtyard, the Pool and Breakfast

The courtyard is the centre of the house: high stucco walls, planting, loungers and day beds, an ornate fountain feeding a narrow pool that is not closed off at night. Breakfast is served here, three courses of fresh fruit, Yucatecan dishes, small cakes and desserts, and it comes with the rate. There is no restaurant, which in this barrio is no hardship: the cafés on the plaza and the market behind it cover the rest of the day. A small boutique sits off the courtyard.

Travelling Here With a Dog

Pets are accepted, and a four room house built around a courtyard is close to the easiest configuration there is for one: no corridors, no lift, shade at midday and a door onto the plaza. Mérida is flat, so distance is not the constraint; the heat is. Walk early and late, keep to the shaded side of the street, and use the courtyard in between. Parking is free, which spares a hunt in Centro. Confirm size and numbers when booking, since a house of four rooms feels every guest.