mindgame

All,

Has anyone been to the Hacienda Santa Rosa? How does it compare to the other Haciendas in the area?

My younger brother is planning a stay in August.

We'd also be interested in any experience in Gold or Platinum upgrades here, given that there are only 11 rooms.

Thanks!

LAFlyer

I will be posting a report on the Hacienda San Jose shortly, if that helps. Just got back from 4 nights. Fantastic experience all around.

l etoile

Anything more here with regard to Hacienda Santa Rosa? In addition to experiences at the Hacienda, I'm particularly interested in if neighboring towns are pretty much too far to go for dinners take all meals at the hacienda. What the menu is like there? Can a vegetarian do OK? Massage rates. Excursions. Overall experience. Thanks.

schriste

There are some related threads on this topic (and other Haciendas). I received a PM and sent that person the following response to some of his questions. I spent 5 days at The Santa Rosa in January 2008. As for upgrades the hotel will upgrade you... no problem there… but with only 11 rooms… you are obviously taking a risk.

---- were you on property for many meals and, if so, what was your general reaction? ----

We had breakfast at The Hacienda Santa Rosa each morning and dinner there 4 of the 5 nights. We also had lunch or a light snack a couple of times. The lunch and dinner menu was the same. I took a look at the site sc flier posted, and the menu at Temozon looks to be more extensive than at Santa Rosa. Perhaps Temozon already has an updated menu and Santa Rosa is to follow. .. or perhaps all of the Haciendas have totally unique menus. Unfortunately I have only stayed at Santa Rosa, so I do not know.

Overall the food at the Santa Rosa was very good. Not world class Michelin star stuff, but very enjoyable well prepared fresh food with a great setting, smiling service, and a nice table (nice linens, table cloth, dishes (Villeroy & Boch), silverware, etc.). Unlike another poster on FT I thought the margaritas were just OK, nothing great. The best margarita I had on this trip was at the Hyatt in Merida. The Santa Rosa does however have a variant with Tamarind in it that some may like.

There were 4 main entrees on the menu. Shrimp in a tequila sauce, fish, chicken and beef fillet (choice of sauce). There was also one or 2 specials each evening, but they were also chicken, fish or beef fillet (different sauce). On one night we were offered the duck which was a completely different dish, but as I mentioned in my post this was apparently a preview of one of the new menu items coming soon.

I especially liked their main chicken entrée (I have always found chicken in Latin America to be excellent).

Other Items on the menu were the ubiquitous Sopa de Lima (lime & chicken soup), a garlic soup, and a creamed spinach soup. There was also a couple of salads, a ceviche, and those ever popular panuchos (really just Yucatan style tacos – very good). There were 3 deserts… a fruit crêpe with chocolate, a chocolate mouse, a type of flan (can’t recall for sure), plus I think Ice cream (not on the menu). I was usually petty full, so only had desert twice (crêpe both times) and thought it was good.

Main courses were M$190 (chicken) to M$265 (shrimp). Salads about M$100, Deserts were M$85, panuchos M$85, beer M$50, margarita M$75 As usual wine was expensive, so I skipped it. Bottled still water was provided free of charge at all meals.

----- I've heard the breakfasts are simple but excellent and surprisingly inexpensive. ------

Not really simple… there was a good choice for breakfast. 3 complete sets (Continental, American, Yucatecan) with juice, coffee, toast, sweet rolls plus meat and eggs (American) or fruit (Yucatecan). The Continental was M$130 and the other 2 were about M$230ish.

I usually ordered al carte as there was a nice selection of Mexican egg dishes (rancheros, Motuleños (Yucatan style), scrambled with chorizo, plus a couple others. Plus pancakes and French toast, cereal, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, etc. Coffee was M$40 and the egg dishes were in a range of M$90 to M$115.

Note that all menu prices include tax, but not gratuity. So if you eat a big breakfast it can easily run $50 for 2. Not outrageous like many 5 star European hotels, but not especially cheap either.

----------- - did you partake of any of the SPA services? -------------

We did not. My wife thought about a massage (and the staff suggested we try one multiple times), but in the end she figured it made more sense for her to spend the money on a massage when she is HOME, not relaxing at a Hacienda where she was already super relaxed and without stress. Most of the 50 minute treatments were $95. For a supplement of $25 you can have it in your room. I think the price included tax, but not gratuity. They had a variety of massages, facials and a few other things. My wife sometimes does these on vacation, but I never do… I just don’t want to go down that path.

---------- - was your impression of the Starwood Haciendas as glowing as virtually all of the other reports have been? ------

The short answer is yes.

Both my wife and I loved the place. We did an excursion to Uxmal and the Rute Puuc on our first day and did absolutely nothing but enjoy the Hacienda for the rest of our visit. RELAXING is they key. If you want to just forget the rest of the world (in fact I think they should get ride of the TVs in the rooms… I never even turned it on once) and relax, the Haciendas are great.

I think almost everyone would enjoy a night or two at one, but some folks might get a bit restless after that. Santa Rosa in particular is pretty much out in the sticks. Also, I suppose some folks would prefer to relax at a place that has more of an anchor “attraction” such as a beach or lake.

In summary:

Good

• Relaxing
• Love the hacienda architecture
• Spacious rooms
• The private plunge pools are actually outdoor baths WITH HOT WATER so you can pretend you are in a Japanese onsen! (if you get a junior suite)
• Great private outdoor space (if you get a junior suite)
• Air conditioning with a dry setting (that is a dehumidifier – may not sound like much but it is FANTASTIC. You may notice that in tropical places with ac it is often clammy. Solves this problem. It allows you room to be comfortable, and not sub artic).
• Large staff to guest ratio
• Beautiful grounds
• Fantastic (although chilly) main pool
• Good food
• Did I mention relaxing?

Bad

• Unless you speak Mayan or Spanish… getting things across to the staff can be difficult at times.
• Some maintenance issues – many of the pool lights and architectural feature lighting was not operational.
• Bugs. I’m still scratching those mosquito bites. Plus zillions of dead ones in the pool (especially under those arches).

itsaboutthejourney

I encourage all of you to find and read the thread on the Haciendas, lots of great info there. I have a mini-report there.

• Vegi options: yes, but limited
• Dining nearby: maybe the other Haciendas or Merida, but everything very close is what I would call 1* dining, better for lunch.
• Email the Hacienda for the massage menu. It's Mayan style. My mom liked it.
• With 11 rooms, don't expect much if anything as a Plat. I had to email cust service for my amenity points.
• Keep in mind it moves to Cat 5 on March 4th, so book soon.

l etoile

Thanks schristie, nicely detailed.

I did see the thread on the haciendas, but couldn't find the specific information I was looking for on this particular location. I also emailed the hotel a few days ago for massage and dining menus, but with no response.

Thanks.

avja

I stayed at Santa Rosa for six nights in January 2008 on a very relaxing award stay. I was in an upgraded room - a small suite prebooked for an extra 1500 points per night. I highly recommend this Hacienda if your goal is a quiet vacation.
Some specifics:
1. As others have stated food, service and presentation was very good. Ate dinner at the Hacienda four nights and at Uxmal and another Hacienda the other two nights. Both were about an hour away from Santa Rosa. Could not find any good restaurants in the nearby towns. Only gripe with Santa Rosa was the limited menu.
2. As far as touring - we went to the local town one day, to Uxmal another, to see the flamingos on a third and biking in the nearby countryside a fourth.
3. I booked a massage and my wife had a facial. The attendants drive down from Merida. The treatments were okay but not worth the price $95 U.S. + gratuity.
4. Staff is very friendly and it will help if you speak some Spanish.
Overall I recommend Santa Rosa. Just realize that it will be a totally different vacation.

stimpy

I recently had what was probably the best award stay I have ever had with Starwood. I've had some great ones in the past, but Santa Rosa is the best. Starting with an upgrade to the Casa Maya, the only private villa on the property, I knew this was going to be good. Up til now, I don't recall ever sleeping in a rope bed. It was a very nice large bed suspended by 4 ropes from the ceiling timbers. It was soooooo nice sleeping in this bed. The casa had his and hers large and unique bathroom sinks/mirrors/etc. Very large shower and toilet area, two private patios and a private jacuzzi. Best of all, it was set in the extensive botanical gardens and it felt like we were in a small home in a jungle. Of course there were animal sounds, birds, geckos, etc., but you get used to that quickly. The entire stay was very peaceful and we really regretted leaving.

The staff was fantastic and made us feel as part of their family for the 5 nights we were there. What made it more special was the entire property was empty for most of our stay. So we had a 15 to 1 staff to guest ratio! Not good for the business, but great for us as we were very, very well taken care of. On the last night they, unannounced, prepared a special dinner for us with a very sweet thank you note from the entire staff. They anticipated all our needs and even displayed some clairvoyance I think! After the first meal I remarked, privately I thought, that to really make one feel at home, they should not present checks after each meal. We should have mutual respect to settle the bill at check out. And after I said that we didn't see another check!

We had already visited several archeological sites and just wanted to rest and Santa Rosa is perfect for that. Sleeping late, enjoying the pool and hammock, reading and snoozing in the afternoon, it was perfect. We toured the small village on foot and encountered some very pleasant people.

Santa Rosa is the smallest of the Starwood Haciendas and it might be the best. I certainly liked it a lot more than Temazon which is the largest. However it may only be the best if you really want to relax and live the country life in luxury. The staff said that some of their guests arrive and night and leave the next morning. Others spend each day out touring and don't get to know the property. That sounds like such a waste to me. We made a single day trip to Uxmal (which was great) and that was it.

alamedaguy

We (my wife, 3 year old daughter, 6 month old son, and I) just completed a five night cash and points stay as plats. I'm trying to keep the hotel related information here and I have a trip report here.

The hotel and the region were awesome. We flew into Merida and rented a car. The drive was just under an hour and pretty easy. The route is well marked and the directions on the website are great; there is a sign on the highway that says "Hacienda Santa Rosa - 53 km."

We arrived a little after 4 and were greeted by name once we responded that we had a reservation. The checkin process took place on the front veranda where they served some sort of juice and offered me a 10 minute massage, which I declined. They offered a choice of handicrafts as the platinum amenity; we chose a basket with soap and a couple of other things. They told us there were four rooms occupied when we arrived.

We had been upgraded to a large room (number 6) with a nice terrace (the one pictured on their website) with a large outdoor bath. The bath was not full, but they said to let them know and they would fill it. We ended up fillng it our last night. There was also a nice daybed on the terrace. It wasn't totally private, but we never had an issue. Inside the room there were a king and a double bed and a hammock that could hung across the room. Each day they put flower petals on the bed when they made it, and they brought a fresh bouquet in the middle of our stay.

The staff were extremely pleasant and helpful. They held our son during two of our meals so we could eat. We never had an issue communicating.

The restaurant is out on a veranda and seemed to be set up each meal for the number of guests they anticipated. I had written the hotel ahead of time to let them know my wife is vegetarian and they had a unique meal planned for her each night. As an example, one night it was very thinly sliced
potato, banana, a green (chaya?), grilled cheese, and a couple of other things stacked up with a light green cream sauce. She said that dish was amazing. The food was pricey but quite good. My favorites were the salbutes and the cochinita pibil. The stuffed chicken breast was also very good. Breakfast was a la carte and also good. The room service menu was different than the regular menu but we just ordered off the regular menu and they brought it to the room without issue. They mentioned at checkin that dinner started at 7 which is late for us. It turned out not to be an issue except for our last night, when we pushed it a little and asked for the food to be delivered at 7, which they happily did.

The pool and grounds are very nice. We didn't see anyone else in the pool area during our stay. They have a nice botanical garden with extensive guidebooks in English and Spanish. Don't save this until the last minute like we did.

They moved the car somewhere and retrieved it for us whenever we needed it.

The hotel is in the center of a small village. We only visited the part of the village between the hotel and the main road, plus the handicraft shops right behind the hotel. In the village there are a few small markets and one very small place to get food. There was another place selling hamburgers on Sunday but I didn't see it other than that. The place we visited a couple of times is a little red building with a table out front. It is on the right as you are going from the hotel out of the village. They sold us salbutes, panuchos, and bean empanadas for 6 pesos each. We enjoyed them very much and the people running the place were very sweet. We went back two other times to see them just to say hello. The little bit of Spanish I could remember was very helpful there. At the market nearest the hotel, the sign says a water is 7 pesos, though there was not any water when we were there, only coke. At the hotel, a 600 ml water was 45 pesos and a 1 liter was 90. The markets also have chips and things, including some baked goods sometimes.

It took us 2 hours and 15 minutes to drive to Chichen Itza. Celestun (highly recommended) took close to two hours via Uman and we got lost both directions. There is a larger town called Maxcanu near the hotel. There were plenty of stores there, including a supermarket. There is also a farmer's market of sorts north of the town square, which we unfortunately discovered on our way to the airport. I don't know when it is open but it is definitely worth checking out. There are also several restaurants. The town square has a nice playground. We also visited the temple called Oxkintok which is near Maxcanu. We got there ten minutes before it closed but it was nice. We then went to the caves at Calcehtok which were just a few minutes away. Close to dusk, several hundred bats came out and flew around for a few minutes before going out for the night. It was very fun. The hotel told us they recommend the cenote at Kopoma but we went to one a little further in Chochola since we were heading to Merida anyway. It was also very fun. We did not make it to Uxmal, unfortunately. We had planned to go our last day but the kids seemed to have had enough of the car.

All in all, this was an excellent trip. As I said above, both the hotel and this part of Mexico were awesome. I rarely like to go back to places I have been, but I've already been thinking about making an exception.

Thunderroad

Great review. I keep vowing to get to at least a couple of the haciendas one of these winters. This is useful info.

Spent_All_My_Miles

I recently stayed at the Santa Rosa. I was the only person staying there, and the night afterwards, there was nobody staying there!

I stayed at 4 of the 5 haciendas, each for a night, and Santa Rosa was probably my favorite. It is definitely worth going out of the way to stay there, if you are going anywhere in the western Yucatan.