Casa Olivia

The huge mirror in the Jungle Library hides a large screen to turn your evening into a cosy cinema night if you wish. Just ask for it, and Ulises will be sure to bring you small snacks to nibble on as well.

From the outside, it’s hard to suspect that one of the finest gems of Mexican design sands behind the large black doors. Not because the neighbourhood is uninteresting—as most of Mérida’s centre, its streets are scattered with artisan shops and cafés, parks, and bright architecture—but because the inside of the house is really uniquely stunning, eclectic, and it combines elements from all over the country. Highly exclusive, Casa Olivia is the fruit of two years of carefully selecting and matching pieces by Mexico’s top artisans. Entering the property feels like being personally invited by owner and designer Ivette Beltran into her house, and it’s an incredible opportunity to share experiences around food, art, and culture. The house showcases a unique combination of pieces, plants, and custom-made furniture from locally-sourced raw materials, and everything tastefully comes together in a colossal homage to both classical and contemporary Mexican craft. 

Each room has its own character and subtly different set of colours, but they are all connected by a majestic feel with warm shades, royally-high beds, and structures and lines that are just asymmetrical enough to be satisfying but never boring. Casa Olivia also has its own scent—designed by a perfumer from Mérida—and the fragrance in the rooms and unique bath products can be bought at the hotel’s boutique. 

The entire building is equipped with abundant air-conditioning and fans, which are more than welcome after a day wandering around the streets of the city known as Mexico’s hottest and most humid. The fans are strong, and the way they make the air move through the plants and curtains amid the still columns and grandiose architecture creates a unique grace. 

We stayed in Olga, the only room that was built specifically for the hotel. Although it’s new, it blends into the historical house seamlessly. Following a traditional style, ceramic floor tiles are arranged in a carpet-like pattern inspired by the Moorish-Spanish culture (and developed specifically to resist humid climates in Yucatán)—but here the design is black and white and contrasts with the softer elements in the furniture. From the king-size bed, you overlook a room filled with restored antiques, fine furniture by contemporary artists, and beautiful plants. To the left is a side-wing with a hammock: because “you can’t come to Yucatán without having laid down in a swaying hammock,” we are told by staff me when first shown around. The bathroom is fantastic with a minimalistic shower as its centerpiece: There is no curtain; only a high shower head that rains onto a circular base—hand-sculpted in the marble-like Macedonia stone unique to the Yucatán peninsula. 

One of the most impressive elements is the lighting. Ivette personally told how she fine-tuned all the lamp arrangements, until the pool water movement shimmered nicely on the walls at night and the rooms seemed golden in the evening. There are many lighting options throughout the house, with light coming either from above, below, or from the sides, making sure that each time you look around this masterpiece of design, it will dazzle.