Casona Los Cedros

Espita lies in eastern Yucatán, near Valladolid, and has been a Pueblo Mágico (one of Mexico’s designated “Magic Towns”) since 2023. It was called “the Athens of Yucatán” for its intellectual past, which lives on in its double-height 19th-century casonas (large traditional houses), its cement-tile floors and its square facing the church of San José. It sits apart from mass tourism: a village where people live, not a hotel zone. From here you can visit Ek Balam, Río Lagartos, Las Coloradas and cenotes run by Maya communities, such as Sac Aua, with a sand island at its center.

Casona Los Cedros’ guide to Espita and its surroundings (opens the official website in a new tab)

The building was a family home in Espita, then a cantina, and stood abandoned for some thirty years. Its restoration kept the spirit of the original house, which now holds the reception and the bar. The rooms, the pool and the terrace were built in a contemporary language, around a tropical garden with aromatic plants.

Stone, chukum (a traditional Yucatecan plaster), lime, wood and natural fibers; objects and furniture made with craftspeople from the region. The rooms open onto terraces over the garden, and the suite has its own pool.

The table is part of the stay: chef Jorge Ildefonso’s restaurant cooks with seasonal produce from local growers and from the house’s own vegetable garden.

Laura Lecué, a French architect, and Alan Montfort founded Casona Los Cedros. Laura found the casona in ruins, signed its restoration with Collectif COMO, and today runs the house and welcomes guests; it opened in 2020. Alan writes about Espita’s architecture on the house blog. The kitchen is in the hands of chef Jorge Ildefonso.

• Explore Espita on foot: the square, the church of San José and its casonas.
• Ek Balam and the X’Canché cenote.
• Community cenotes such as Sac Aua; Río Lagartos and Las Coloradas, on the coast.

• MICHELIN Guide: Selected (opens the source in a new tab)
• ArchDaily: Project feature · 2023 (opens the source in a new tab)
• Food and Travel: Its restaurant · 2026 (opens the source in a new tab)

• To explore the region, look into car or transfer options.
• The Double Queen room sleeps up to four.
• The restaurant serves from breakfast to dinner.

The house and its rooms, on the Casona Los Cedros website (opens the official website in a new tab)