Hospicio No. 42, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico
Casa de Sierra Nevada was already the top hotel in town before Orient Express took over, but everything has been taken up a notch since. This collection of revamped mansions and homes piles on the amenities and serves them alongside the best service in the state.
 Casa de Sierra Nevada is the only Orient–Express hotel in Mexico besides Maroma on the Riviera Maya coast. Acquired by the company in early 2006, it has become a true showpiece, utilizing the resources and expertise of an international luxury chain, but keeping all of the essential personality that made the hotel such a treasure before.
This is not a hotel in the traditional sense. Instead it is a series of buildings with separate entrances making up most of one block on Hospicio, plus an annex on the far side of Juarez Park, about a ten–minute walk away. Two of the buildings also host a restaurant and bar, while the others only contain guest rooms and plant–filled courtyards.
The menu at the recently revamped Andanza restaurant has a split personality of its own: one side contains standard Mexican and international fare that won't scare off any timid eaters. The other side is full of daring items that push the envelope. Cuitlacoche (a type of corn fungus considered a delicacy) is used in several dishes, including the cuitlacoche cappuccino with truffle and parmesan foam appetizer served like a coffee drink. A lamb tasting trio features one made with black mole sauce and one combined with Oaxaca chocolate in ravioli. The orange leaf marinated duck breast and confit tamale is an interesting twist on Mexican comfort food.
This restaurant and bar retain the air of elegance appropriate in what was originally the home of the local archbishop. (The bar was his bedroom.) The wine cellar holds a good selection of bottles and the space is large enough for small Baja wine or Jalisco Tequila tastings.
A separate restaurant is about a five–minute walk away, on the other side of a leafy park. Two blocks from Andanza is the hotel's own Sazon cooking school, with commissioned handmade pottery to buy for your own kitchen on the way out. The separate Parque restaurant is next to Juarez Park and has regular live entertainment. (New guest rooms are in the works for this building as well.)
For now rooms are housed in four buildings, but more are on the way this year. Rooms are generally divided into categories of deluxe, junior suite, suite room, and colonial suite. As in most Orient–Express hotels, these designations aren't very helpful: even the largest suites are really one single room, with no division between living and sleeping areas. Complicating things is the fact that these are restored colonial homes, so room sizes and layouts vary greatly. In a few cases, the smaller deluxe room will actually appeal to some guests more than the junior suite one next door.
 Regardless of classification, there isn't a bad room out of the 31, just varying shades of good. The common elements throughout include high quality furniture that's not standardized, plush mattresses and pillows, thick fluffy towels, light robes, and slippers. Most rooms have hardwood or tile floors, a gas or wood fireplace, and a tile bath with character to spare and Hermes toiletries. Closets with a range of hangers contain electronic safes. Most rooms come with a hanging flat screen TV, and in the case of the top suites, two of them.
A few rooms are shower–only, so request one with a tub or book a suite category to get a bathtub; in some rooms this means a dramatic hammered metal one that's free–standing. A few rooms have a terrace and the panoramas from suites 416, 445, and 446 are sublime, with views of the town's most famous steeple all lit up at night.
The rooms in Casa Limon were the newest when I visited, but six new suites are going into the building next door in late '08. The two colonial suites here are the top choices, with both having a large private plunge pool on the ample terrace and a large separate skylit tub in the bath in addition to a separate shower.
The Limon building also houses the hotel's heated swimming pool in a quiet grassy courtyard, with cushioned chaises and drinks service adding to the allure. Wireless Internet service is available in most public areas but is spotty in the rooms. Two computers are available next to the library in this same building though on a complimentary basis. The new spa in a separate building will probably open by the time you read this review.
The polished and gracious staffers deliver attentive service with a smile and the bilingual abilities here run deep. Considering the age of the original buildings here and the difficulties inherent in running a series of separate buildings as one hotel, Casa de Sierra Nevada does an impressive job of meeting international luxury standards with plenty of flair.
Web Address: www.casasn.com
Total Number of Rooms: 31
Published rates: $300 to $595
Review and photos by Timothy Scott.
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