June 2022. Although I have been in Mexico before, the last time was in 1994-1995. Twenty-seven years later, Oriol and I are doing a classic tour of the United Mexican States, featuring Mexico City (CDMX); Palenque in Chiapas; Villahermosa in Tabasco; Uxmal, Mérida, Chichen Itza, Ek’ Balam, Valladolid,  and a few cenotes (waterholes) in Yucatán and Tulum in Quintana Roo. We returned via Cancún to CDMX and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

For our stay in Mérida, we were charmed by the Ka’an Room of the Casa Chaká Boutique. The private pool did it. Casa Chaká is a small hotel, actually more a bed & breakfast. Indeed, we booked via Airbnb. 

Architects Karlo Meneses and Carlos Salomón bought the house in 2016 and opened it as guesthouse in 2020, with two rooms. A third is in the works. 

Picture perfect

The house and the room are picture perfect. Just so pretty. Colourful, nice furniture, an inviting bed. A hipster bathroom. 

Facilities

An outside pool, more a large bath, to relax in. A bath tub and shower, a sink with pebbles (which is odd when you brush your teeth and the used toothpaste water stays lingering). 

Air conditioning in the main room. A fridge. A table. Some cutlery and plates, but no bowls. Also no-one thought of how one should do the dishes. 

For a room advertised on Airbnb, no breakfast was provided. Isn’t that the second B in B&B? Anyway, we went to Walmart to get supplies. I love big American supermarkets so it wasn’t a punishment. 

So?

Casa Chaká is a wonderfully pretty spot to stay. We fell in love with the private pool and – finally – decent wifi. But it can’t decide if it’s a hotel (room) or a holiday home. To be the first it lacks a breakfast service. To be the second it lacks some facilities such as a proper kitchen(ette).

Yet it was probably our nicest accommodation. 

Mexico 2022

1. REVIEW | KLM Amsterdam Schiphol to Mexico City on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in economy.
2. MEXICO CITY | Zócalo.
3. MEXICO CITY | Templo Mayor.
4. REVIEW | Hotel Carlota in Mexico City.
5. MEXICO | Teotihuacan.
6. MEXICO CITY | National Museum of Anthropology or Museo Nacional de Antropología.
7. FORMULA 1 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
8. MEXICO CITY | Museo Nacional de Historia at Castillo de Chapultepec.
9. MEXICO CITY | Frida Kahlo Museum.
10. MEXICO CITY | Coyoacán.
11. Mexico City 2022.
12. REVIEW | Mexico City – Villahermosa with Volaris.
13. MEXICO | Palenque.
14. REVIEW | Hotel Zyan Rooms in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico.
15. MEXICO | Villahermosa in Tabasco.
16. REVIEW | Aeroméxico Villahermosa – Mexico City – Mérida on Boeing 737-8 MAX.
17. YUCATÁN | Uxmal.