This Family-Owned Hotel on a Mexican Island Is as Enchanting and Intimate as it Gets

ByMyProperty Life

Punta Caliza on the island of Holbox only offers 12 rooms so that guests feel like part of the family.

Each of Punta Caliza’s 12 rooms are connected to a private pool.

Cradled by the turquoise waters off the Yucatán Peninsula, and colored by the verdant greenery of the surrounding Yum Balam Nature Reserve, the Mexican island of Holbox immediately feels like a departure from the crowds of nearby Cancún and Tulum. It takes a plane, a two-hour car ride, and then a ferry just to get here, but that’s part of the allure at family-owned hotel Punta Caliza—it’s as much of a literal separation from the “scene” as it is a figurative one. 

Each of Punta Caliza’s 12 rooms are connected to a private pool.

Each of Punta Caliza’s 12 rooms are connected to a private pool. 

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Photo courtesy of Punta Caliza

“Holbox is a small, pedestrian island surrounded by mangroves and sandy roads,” Claudia Muñoz, a collaborator on the construction of the hotel, says. 

Besides being secluded, the hotel also feels like a well-kept secret, as the Muñoz family built it for a lucky handful of visitors. There are only a dozen rooms on the property, which was thought of as a way to make this getaway feel like a family vacation. 

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 “What we want most was for people to feel the passion and love we put into the hotel,” notes Claudia Muñoz, who helped build the intimate, family-run hotel.

Photo courtesy of Punta Caliza

“Before we even started thinking about Punta Caliza, our dream was to have a house with some rooms to rent where we could share stories and drinks with our guests,” says Muñoz. “Having 12 rooms gives us the opportunity to meet all of our guests and create relationships with them. It also allows our guests to befriend each other. I love seeing them in town having dinner or dancing at the local bar.” 

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And to further that homespun feel, the family relied on a construction ethos that valued local supplies and community-driven design. Each of the 12 guest rooms are connected by a swim-in, swim-out pool, and its own sky-colored water contrasts with the wooden details of the private spaces. 

The guest rooms were all built from Western red cedar, which was sourced from the family's plantation.

The guest rooms were all built from Western red cedar, which was sourced from the family’s plantation. 

Photo courtesy of Punta Caliza

See the full story on Dwell.com: This Family-Owned Hotel on a Mexican Island Is as Enchanting and Intimate as it Gets
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  • House LV1 (house nanchi 1 y 2)

    CASA LV1 (casa nanchi 1 y 2)
    BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSTRUCTION
    The Casa LV1 (casa nanchi 1 and 2), is a multi-familiar conformed by two houses constructed in the same land, the main material used for its construction was white striated concrete.
    DESCRIPTIVE MEMORY
    The Casa LV1 (casa nanchi 1 and 2) is a complex of two houses designed for a family an elderly couple, their young daughter and their granddaughter. Each house has the necessary privacy for each development, with the interrelationship and coexistence of the family; they are located in an irregular diamond-shaped land of approximately 250m2, a gradient over 10% with a view to the southeast.
    The Casa nanchi 1, on its main floor has: living room, dinning room, kitchen, bathroom, main bedroom with closet and its own bathroom, this floor is directly connected with the service area; the lower floor has a hall, two bedrooms with closet and its own bathroom; the upper floor has a roofed recreation room and a garden terrace. All the floors are connected by a stair, and has a parking lot. The total constructed surface is of 160 m2.
    The Casa nanchi 2 has on its main floor: living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and service area; on the upper floor it has: main bedroom with closet and its own bathroom, an additional bedroom with closet, a little play room and a bathroom; on the lower floor, where the entrance is, has: two parking lots and an exterior stair which is connected to the other floors. The total constructed surface of the house is 145 m2 excluding parking lots.
    Both houses share main entrance, service yard, green spaces and services.
    The houses are named after the nanchi tree (byrosonimacrassifolia) that is located in that land; it was respected and the project was adapted around it, to make it a natural decoration for the dinning room of the Casa nanchi 1. This house was designed for an elderly couple and it has a terrace in the upper floor, which is a recreational and relaxing space with a view of the surroundings to enjoy with the company of family, friends and guests. It has a double-height space which allows the development of the tree.
    The design of the Casa nanchi 2, which was designed for the daughter and granddaughter of the family, is inspired in the Brno chair, designed by the architect Ludwig Mies van ser Rohe, which not only allows a large volume, but also an efficient and free structural principle because with this solution is obtained an overhang of 4.85 m with a support of 2.85 m, generating a space without any support under the construction.
    The concept of the houses is derogates no only from the connection (interior-familiar, exterior-landscape), but also from the visual freedom that people perceive before entering in the house and also in the interior of them. This is fulfilled by the volumetric integration that defined the spaces of each house, both prisms have specific substractions that allow a formal integration of the two elements; in the Casa nanchi 1 the terrace is subtracted and in the Casa nanchi 2 the parking area is subtracted, transforming both elements without losing its integrity.
    The connection of both houses is so important that is not only achieved materially with the union of the two architectonic objects from the common entrance, connotating the link of the family, but also with the landscape, through the transparency in the facade of the two houses, which creates a visual freedom for the inhabitants. This gives a greater illumination of the spaces, producing a feeling of spaciousness and allows the air circulation due to the large windows that are handled by the users.
    The material, white striated exposed concrete and stone dust of the region, recalls the honesty of the materials, this simplicity benefits the environment, because it doesn’t use coatings in walls, fooors or roofs, contributing the less possible to the pollution. The exposed finishes means less production, transportation and utilization of pollutant materials. As said before, the free circulation of air allows a constant cleaning of the interior air which allows a natural regulation of the temperature, achieving termic comfort for the users and reducing the use of electronic devices that cools artificially the place. Besides, the same large windows avoid the unnecessary use of artificial illumination during the day allowing the entrance of sunlight in the morning.