The DNA: Oaxaca has long been admired for its tranquil desert colours as for its incomparable architecture. Grupo Habita’s Escondido Oaxaca smartly capitalises on these assets by tapping architect Alberto Kalach to rehabilitate the adobe interiors and high ceilings of an early 19th-century family home into a calm 12-room retreat. Specifically, interior designer Decada Muebles along with Grupo’s managing partner Carlos Couturier have dressed the almost Brutalist spaces with traditional Mexican touches and colours in which exposed brickwork, rough concrete and sabino timber create a pleasingly rugged backdrop for green glazed pottery, woven palm accessories and local textiles. The Patio Room deserves particular applause, its corner timber doors sliding open on two sides into a private leafy garden. In the kitchen, meanwhile, head chef Mario Petterino turns against the grain with a classic Piedmontese menu that includes home-made ravioli and steak medallions braised with prosciutto and white wine.

Seen: dezeen, Wallpaper*

Accolades: Condé Nast Traveller Hot List 2021

✅ free Wi-Fi • size matters: 12 rooms & suites (19-43m2) (205-463 sq ft) • hotel opened: 2020 • architecture: TAX • interior design: DECADA • secured parking (charged) • pets allowed • 24-hour front desk