16th-Century Mexican Hacienda Reminds Visitors of Earlier Opulence

Mexicans have a flair for the grand--set in motion, perhaps, when the pomp of Isabela’s Spain met the dramatic architecture of the Aztec and Mayan cultures of pre-Columbian America.

You can experience the extravagant lifestyle produced by this marriage of cultures by following the trail of Mexican haciendas built in the 16th Century by the conquistadors. One of the finest is an estate that once belonged to the conquistador Hernando Cortes, “the conqueror of Mexico.”

Called Hacienda Vista Hermosa, it was established by Cortes in 1529, only 10 years after his first landing on the coast of Mexico. The estate was part of the vast territory of land granted to Cortes by the King of Spain as a reward for his conquest of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma. Cortes built his palace in Cuernavaca and then, near peaceful Lake Tequesquitengo, founded Vista Hermosa.

The hacienda was originally a complex of buildings and grounds, similar in purpose to a Southern plantation. It was a center of social life, culture and economic activity in the area that is today the state of Morelos in the south-central part of the country. Local Indians, who had been subjugated by the Spanish conquest, provided the agricultural labor needed to run the sugar plantation and refinery Cortes established there, and the household labor that supported the conquerors’ extravagant lifestyle.

Cortes lived there for 27 years and it remained in his family until 1621. In the Mexican Revolution of 1910, it became a target of Emiliano Zapata and much of it was left in ruins. Later, the majority of the land was distributed to the local people.

Finally, in the 1940s, hotelier Fernando Martinez bought the hacienda with plans to bring it back to its original grandeur. By most accounts, he succeeded in making it the crown jewel of his three hotels, which include the Hotel Plaza Reforma in Mexico City and the Hotel Cantamar Las Americas in Acapulco.

Today, Hacienda Vista Hermosa is a splendid resort for well-to-do Mexicans, and Europeans and Americans. An hour and a half by toll road south from Mexico City or a half-hour from Cuernavaca, it is a reasonable distance from the capital for a weekend escape or for a stop on a travel route beginning in Mexico City. The hacienda provides the opportunity to enjoy a royal lifestyle in magnificent surroundings--more than 100 spacious, handsomely appointed rooms, gardens of hibiscus and bougainvillea filled with singing birds and fountains, and diversions fit for a king.

We stayed at the hacienda this past January with our 5-year-old son, retracing the route of a honeymoon trip we took in the 1970s. My husband first discovered the hotel in his college days when he and his brother explored the country as background for their later careers as Latin American specialists. Back in the early ‘60s, the peso-dollar exchange made it possible for even financially struggling college students to live like kings.

Mexico is still a bargain. Our suite at Hacienda Vista Hermosa, number 102, cost $100 per night for the three of us and it was magnificent. Our two-room suite took full advantage of the five-foot-thick walls and 20-foot-high ceilings of the old stone hacienda. Arched doorways led to balconies where one could overlook the palatial grounds. The spacious bedroom was furnished with mahogany sleigh beds and a 10-foot-high armoire that added to our sense of stepping into a grander past. Portraits of distinguished ancestors gazed down at us from gilt frames on the walls.

We were given a tour of the honeymoon suite, then unoccupied, by one of the many grounds attendants. The mixture of old and new seemed as if it would be reassuring for anyone undertaking the ancient institution of marriage in today’s uncertain times. The suite contained a formal sitting room; above it was a window balcony off the sleeping room. The honeymooners had the choice of swimming in their private indoor pool or entering the tiny chapel next door through a private passageway. The brass double bed seemed small in comparison to the grand scale of the apartment, but an appropriate choice for young lovers who would want to hold each other all night. And the small private garden was the perfect place to create the intimacy of domestic life the next morning.

Meals here are sumptuous. Forget your diet. The breakfast buffet was my favorite. I could have made a meal from the perfectly ripened papaya, melon, pineapple and strawberries, if I hadn’t decided to taste the caldron of heavenly spiced beans. They were incredibly good and had me going back for more helpings then I like to admit. Our 5-year-old went for the tried and true: corn flakes and banana, or scrambled eggs and pan dulce . My more adventurous husband filled his plate with sweet tamales, intriguing mole casseroles and bacon. We did not need to eat again until dinner.

On weekends, the hacienda’s chefs serve a grand dinner buffet; ours included roast suckling pig, turkey and roast lamb accompanied by platters of shrimp, asparagus and various composed salads including Nicoise and seafood-stuffed avocado. Desert was a choice of cake, flan or strawberries or all three. Three musicians and a singer attracted a number of couples to the good-sized dance floor. The dining room provided a magnificent setting for the feast. The ancient stone walls were likely part of the original sugar refinery and, through huge arched windows, we could see the starry sky.

We were invited to visit the owner’s private wine cellar, down steep stairs leading to some small rooms, formerly, perhaps, a dungeon. A table surrounded by six chairs seemed to suggest men taking pleasure in a game of cards and an excellent bottle of wine. The sacred was not far from the profane in Spanish colonial culture--opposite the drinking table was a saint in an alcove where one could ask forgiveness and absolution with water.

The center of activity at the hacienda is a pool of heroic proportions, so grand that an arched aqueduct bridges its center. The shallow end is guarded by friendly stone animals. Perched on the ruins of a 16th-Century arch sits a Toltec nanny figure warning children not to go farther into the deep water. Colorful birds find pleasure in the puddles at the side of the pool and in the trees overhead, while children in suits of similar hue splash happily in the shallow blue water. It is easy to spend the whole day relaxing in the comfortable chaise lounges around the pool.

Other diversions available within the old hacienda walls reflect a blending of cosmopolitan and local pleasures. One can play tennis or squash, or attend one of the regularly organized cockfights, the ring for which is conveniently located near the kitchen. Television carrying CNN is available in an alcove in the huge arched lobby that also serves as a museum for carriages dating from the 17th Century. On special occasions, there are bull fights in the hacienda’s private bull ring.

Because it is centrally located to a number of attractions, Vista Hermosa would be an ideal base for exploring the small state of Morelos and the surrounding region. A day’s outing to the north could take you to Cuernavaca, capital of Morelos and a favored tourist resort, or to Tepoztlan, an Indian village nestled beneath magnificent gray cliffs, a popular challenge for climbing groups. On your return, stop for a swim in crystal clear spring waters at Las Estacas park, only 15 minutes northeast of Vista Hermosa.

To the southwest, and reachable in about an hour on the new Autopista Mexico-Acapulco (toll road), is the picturesque mountain town of Taxco, known for both the mining of silver and the handsome silverwork produced there. It will be hard to tear yourself away from the silver shops that line the main streets, but don’t miss a visit to the Church of Saint Prisca on the main square. It is a baroque jewel.

There are also a number of closer outings. Twenty minutes to the northwest are the archeological ruins at Xochicalco (dating from AD 750 to 900), one of the most important sites of the late Classic period. This complex of pyramids, temples, plaza and stelae sits on a magnificent site high on a hill overlooking Morelos. Only two miles south of Hacienda Vista Hermosa is Lake Tequesquitengo, a center for water sports, where the main diving attraction is an old church that lies on the lake bottom.

Whether you stay for a week or a weekend, the gracious and luxurious lifestyle of Hacienda Vista Hermosa will leave you feeling like royalty.

GUIDEBOOK

Hacienda Vista Hermosa

Getting there: Delta, Pan Am, Aeromexico and Mexicana fly nonstop daily from LAX to Mexico City. A refundable round-trip ticket, with seven-day advance purchase, is $340-$380, depending on days of the week and the airline.

The easiest way to get to Hacienda Vista Hermosa is to drive. Budget, Avis, National and Hertz have agencies in Mexico City, both at the airport and in the city. A four-door compact car, such as a VW Golf or Nissan Sentra with automatic transmission and air conditioning, rents for about $350 a week plus 15% tax, with unlimited kilometers. Make sure you select a rental agency that is authorized to drive in Mexico City on the days you arrive and depart. To curb air pollution, the city now restricts the use of all cars to six days per week.

From Mexico City, take the Autopista Mexico-Acapulco (route 95D), a toll road, south to Exit Alpuyeca Tequesquitengo, which is one exit past Cuernavaca. The hotel is approximately seven kilometers on the road south toward Tequesquitengo. The trip from Mexico City takes about 1 1/2 hours.

The Hacienda: Hacienda Vista Hermosa is open year-round. Make reservations in advance for weekends in the spring and at Christmas, when the hotel is generally busiest.

Prices range from about $80 for a double room with no meals, $92 for a double with breakfast for two, $125 for a double with two meals, $155 for a double with three meals to $225 for the Imperial Suite or a villa for four people with a private pool, including meals. The Honeymoon Suite is $325 including meals.

Prices remain constant year-round. It is most convenient to eat at the hotel, although there are restaurants at Lake Tequesquitengo, about 10 minutes away, and at Cuernavaca, about 30 minutes’ drive. Address is Hotel Hacienda Vista Hermosa, San Jose Vista Hermosa, Morelos, Mexico; telephone 011-52-734-70493, fax 011-52-734-70488.