• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Rent a renovated house in the city center from Urbano Rentals.   (Photo: Courtesy of Urbano Rentals)

Relax in a hammock on the sunny veranda at La Hacienda Xcanatun, a renovated eighteenth-century hotel (from $210; two-night minimum). Breakfast in the sunny Casa de Piedra restaurant is included, and the spa specializes in Mayan-inspired treatments.

Rent a house in the city from Urbano Rentals, which offers properties renovated by an expat New York couple. Casa Santa Lucia is just two blocks from the handcrafts and local delicacies at Mérida en Domingo, and Casa Azul de Santiago has a rooftop terrace and backyard citrus-tree garden.

Ask for room three at Rosas & Xocolate, a new 19th-century mansion turned boutique hotel (from $234). It costs half as much as a suite, is closest to the pool, and features an open-air bathtub. On the rooftop bar, choose from 250 tequilas.

Published on Mar 18, 2010 as a web exclusive.