Fodor's Expert Review Hacienda Xcanatún

Although this stunningly restored 18th-century henequen hacienda is only 13 km (8 miles) from Mérida, it feels a world away. Guest rooms are decorated with art the owners collected during their travels, and each has a cozy four-poster or sleigh bed topped with fine sheets and fluffy comforters; luxuriously large bathrooms have skylights veiled with cloth and, in the case of suites, bathtubs carved by hand from conchuela-shell stone. Creature comforts include air-conditioning and minibars; if you want TV, however, you'll have to go to the hacienda's original chapel, which now acts as a lounge. The restaurant serves a standard breakfast as well as French and Caribbean dishes with Yucatecan ingredients for lunch and dinner, while the hacienda's spa cooks up innovative treatments like cacao-and-honey massages. Three acres of manicured gardens add to the property's beauty, but the hacienda will arrange tours to Celestún if you can pull yourself away.