Hacienda San Francisco Tzacalha — Hotel in Yucatán

We booked a room here based on the glowing reviews in TA and Booking.com. We're still scratching our heads to trying to figure out if this is the same place, as we had a much different experience (new management?). We have stayed at multiple hacienda hotels in our three trips to the Yucatan and this one was, well, just different, to say the least. Some have described this as a family-run business, but they need to hire a professional manager, IMHO. For example, when checking out a "Thank you for staying with us!" would have been nice instead of an indifferent shrug.||||When we arrived no one offered us a welcoming drink as others have described. The receptionist gave us a campers headlamp, I suppose to navigate the stone driveway (BTW, it's not cobblestone as some other reviewers have described), but our room was so dark (even with the small lights on) we had to use it there as well, and you will need it to read the menu in the restaurant. ||||Shortly after we checked in a male receptionist came to our casita and in a rather testy tone told me our room had not been pre-paid, even though I gave them the Booking.com invoice clearly marked "paid" during check in. We went to the office to try to sort it out and when he logged on to the Booking.com page (hotel's version) it clearly stated (in Spanish) that the reservation had been paid for. The guy still refused to concede his error or issue an apology, but at least the young lady receptionist agreed with me.||||The room descriptions in Booking.com are a little confusing and the pictures are not always in sync with the rooms themselves. We had booked a two-bedroom "villa" but it was just another casita with a poor layout. BTW, the majority of the rooms are casitas along both sides of the stone driveway seen in so many pictures. After realizing our mistake I asked if we could switch to another casita that had a better floor plan, but the young lady insisted we couldn't be moved because the other rooms hadn't been cleaned. Seriously? We were the only guests that night in a rather large complex. We peeked in the windows of several vacant casitas and they all had fresh linens, towels, etc.||||About our "villa." It just didn't have a comfortable or efficient floor plan; the first room had two beds and two exterior entrances, but only one door had a lock. The second bedroom had a king-size bed and could be locked. It had a small, galley style bathroom with a sink that only had cold water. Fortunately, though, the shower had hot water and the pressure was fairly decent. The small outdoor "kitchen" area had a sink and dish soap, but it too only had cold water (so much for washing dishes if you were cooking for yourself). Our "kitchen" had a small cabinet and an old-fashioned hot plate and a refer. Conversely, the casita next door had a nice wide kitchen cabinet, microwave, coffee maker, and refer, plus a glass-walled wind breaker. Likewise, its bathroom was very large and bright unlike our narrow bathroom. And you have to love the "Thank you for your tip" sign left on the nightstand; that's pretty tacky. Another oddity, the bed was pulled away about a foot from the wall and didn't have a headboard, so that meant your pillows were bound to fall off the bed during the night. I fixed that with a little elbow grease. And another nit-noid was the terribly noisy ceiling fan; we didn't have a choice but to leave it turned off and use the almost as noisy air conditioning unit.||||This hacienda, unlike most in the Yucatan that are set back well from main roads, is right off a main road, so we heard trucks, motorcycles, and barking dogs most of the night. And for certain times of the day, you may have to put up with smoke from burning garbage and debris from neighboring properties. ||||Other reviewers raved about the restaurant, but since we were the only guests that night I suppose they had the B-team working. The food wasn't bad and was fairly priced, and the mesero was very pleasant, but the overall experience was just not that great. BTW, the "dining room" is actually a large, dark roofless warehouse filled with empty tables; nice views of the sky, but that's about it. Next, we showed up for breakfast at 8:00 AM the next day as we were told, but no one was there except a young lady sitting in an outer room reading text messages. We went back to the office and asked the young lady if she would call the cook and see if he was coming to work. He showed up a few minutes later and we went through a slow process of trying to order breakfast. Granted, my Spanish is not that strong, and as other reviewers have noted, it works best here if you have some degree of fluency in Spanish. But it all worked out for the best and our omelets were among the best we have had in a long time in Latin America.||||While it's easy to be critical of the hotel management (or lack thereof), this is a beautiful place. The majority of the buildings have been renovated or at least the ruins have been painted. There was some type of restoration taking place at the "casa principal" and it would be interesting to see the finished product. This appears to be a family-oriented hotel, as there is a tennis court, basketball court, a game room (ground floor of the casa principal, and plenty of bicycles were seen around the property. There are no "gardens," per se, but it is an oasis of sorts in the normally hot and dry Yucatan.||||Given the uniqueness of the property and fairly close proximity to Merida and the gulf, you may want to give it a try. We just didn't have a good time overall, but perhaps you may have...

If, like we do, you find that traveling through the Yucatan is a magical experience then this is another great, renovated Hacienda to put on your list of places to stay. It may not have the total luxury of some of the other Haciendas that fly under a certain hospitality flag, but it makes up for it in genuine charm and character as well as value for money.||Located just on the western side of Dzidzantun, a typically sleepy little Yucatan town on rural road 176. Coming from Merida you can drive via Motul, but if approaching from 180 then you might want to think about Izamal which in itself is well worth a visit.||Grecia, at reception could not have been nicer, providing us with a welcome drink as she gave us an orientation and tips of how to enjoy the Hacienda. We had three rooms, all of which were slightly different but all situated between the main reception area and the restaurant and these seemed to be the best rooms on offer. Very spacious with a seating area as well as kitchenette, very nice bathroom and romantic bed complete with mosquito netting. During our visit it was hot so we used the a/c, but in winter I am guessing that you could easily sleep with the windows open, hence the mosquito nets. We also had a dramatic thunderstorm and were happy to be in such solidly built rooms as dramatic bolts of lightening lit up the evening sky. With rain there are always a few bugs, but nothing too bad especially if you use repellant and are aware that the hour either side of dawn and dusk seem to be the moment of peak flying activity for those pesky mosquitos. The rooms also had little private outside areas complete with little cooling plunge pools.||The smiling Eduardo helped us with our bags and was always on hand to get us a bicycle which are free for guests and can be used to explore some of the 190 hectares of grounds, consisting of vast fruit orchards and jungle pathways leading to a wooden observation tower from where we enjoyed a nice breeze as well as watching birds and thousands of multi-coloured butterflies.||After a walk the large swimming pool makes a welcome retreat. This used to be the major water cistern for the working Hacienda and is therefore deeper than some pools, we loved it and if you hang around during restaurant hours the helpful girls will come and offer refreshments. You might want to try a delicious “chelada”, a cold beer served over ice with lime juice and a salted rim to put back what the morning exertions have taken out…||The restaurant is located along a tree lined cobbled pathway, this is not a place for heels ladies, bring sensible footwear, next to what used to be the main machine house of the working Hacienda and it is a splendid setting with tables et up both inside as well as on covered and uncovered terraces. We found the food to be fresh and tasty.||For those looking for additional relaxation there is also a small spa onsite, as well as a games room with a couple of pool tables as well as table tennis.||A couple of parts of the Hacienda are lived in full time and this just adds to the feeling of staying in someone’s rather magnificent, country home. Be sure to take a walk into the gardens where you will be encouraged to help yourself to whatever fruit happens to be in season and a chat with the staff will be enlightening and heart-warming.||We had no idea that the Hacienda’s rooms had little kitchens, so mainly relied on the restaurant, but one night when we were the only guests and the restaurant was not open Grecia volunteered to go get us pizza from town, really going above and beyond… and always with a smile.||As mentioned the grounds are extensive, planted with a great variety of trees and flowering plants that attract birds and other fauna as well as providing welcome shade.||If you seek white-gloved service, gourmet food and Egyptian cotton sheets, this is probably not the place for you. But if you are of the more laid back variety of traveler and want to experience some genuine Yucatan charm then this is definitely a great place to visit,...

The hotel is surrounded by gardens and nature; it is located in a central part of the north of Yucatan coast, near to the beach, natural protected areas and Xcambó (archaeological site); by car it takes less than an hour to arrive from Mérida. The owners are excellent hosts, they take care of every detail; and the complete hotel is decorated with excellent sense of elegance. ||||The rooms are lovely: one called "ripios" and the other are "villas", all of them are well equipped, clean and with option to hang a hammock.||||There are different amenities for spend the time like free bikes, an area for play games (pool table, ping - pong, tv, etc), also a tennis court, basketball court and a fresh water pool. By night the hotel has a cultural activity for the gest, in our case was a show of Jarana, a traditional dance in Yucatán and for the New Year Eve it take place a show of Mexican music and an excellent presentation of a young mexican tenor. ||||The restaurant offers good and delicious meals prepared by a chef but also the villas count whit kitchen. ||||One detail to consider is that ripios are located a little far from the lobby and both the pool towels and remote air controls are requested there, so I suggest asking them since your registration. You can also ask for help to bring the suitcase to the room, if it´s required. ||||This hotel is comfortable for all, you can visit with your kids, there are a lot of space for run, play and explore; but also for couples and friends. We spend 3 days in absolutely peace and joy. ||||I definitely hope to...