Hacienda San Jose Cholul, an IHG Hotel, San Jose

We had a great time at San Jose Cholul. Mario, the administrator, set up a cooking class for my wife who learned how to make Cochinita Pibil. He arranged for a special meal for us with the pathway leading to our table in a wooded area near the restaurant lit up by candles. He set us up to go bike riding. He set up a birdwatching walk early in the morning and a tour of the hacienda. He really made our stay great. And the room we had was large and quiet and air conditioned. The grounds were very attractive as was the pool. This is not a massive hacienda on a majestic scale. There is no “big house” and the owners probably stayed here infrequently. It was a working hennequin plantation. On a certain level, this made it more intimate and charming.

This is a stunning place to stay for a couple of nights. We stayed here for a couple of nights as part of our honeymoon and had a fantastic time. The Hacienda is small, intimate, and peaceful. There were only a few guests when we stayed which meant we received fantastic service throughout our stay. The best part of our stay was the staff. Rodrigo, one of the waiting staff, went above and beyond to make us comfortable and make our stay extra special. The reception team were great, organised taxis for us, and talked us through the history of the resort. We also received excellent service from Aitor, another member of the waiting team. Not all of the waiting staff speak English, but all of them try their best. The on-site restaurant is excellent, we were able to walk over anytime for both breakfast and dinner, and found the food to be fantastic with good portions, with plenty of traditional Yucatan dishes on the menu. The cocktails were also surprisingly good, including the complimentary drink on arrival. We paid extra for the Banyan tree dinner. The location was magical, and was one of the highlights of the trip. There isn't much information on it on the IHG site, but it was a 4-course meal where you get to choose from a selection of options, with a bottle of wine and a private waiter. We had to ring up to organise it, as we couldn't work out how to email the Hacienda directly. We stayed in Room 3, a large and spacious king suite within the old owners building. A complimentary coffee service is provided to your room every morning, and bottled drinking water was topped up every day by housekeeping. A plug-in mosquito repellent was provided, but recommend bringing plenty of repellent yourself given the location of the Hacienda. The IHG site isn't great for listing the activities on offer - when we were there bikes were available to use, bird watching classes were on offer, and the reception staff talked us through the history of the Hacienda. As some other reviews have pointed out, the grounds are a bit tired in places. In a way, it adds to the charm of the Hacienda - tree roots are growing into the landscaping walls, iguanas burrowing under the steps - but it does mean the paving is uneven in places and there are cracks in a lot of the landscaping. I hope they get some additional investment to properly fix this up, it is a truly magical place which deserves to be restored to its full potential.