A nineteenth-century henequen hacienda in the scrubland of Yucatán's interior, some forty minutes from Mérida, provided the architectural bones for Chablé Resort & Spa when it opened in 2016. The property's existing stone structures — the terracotta-washed main casa, rubble-stone boundary walls, and the original machine house where agave fibre was once processed — were preserved and woven into a contemporary resort of 38 villas across some 750 acres of jungle and garden. That first image tells the story plainly: a steel canopy blade and a low linear fire feature inserted in front of the hacienda's rough-hewn limestone masonry, the Ixi'im restaurant marked by warm uplighting against pigmented plaster the colour of dried chilli. The tension between industrial henequen-era fabric and controlled contemporary insertions defines the property's design vocabulary throughout. The villas push that dialogue further inward. Local Yucatecan limestone lines the floors and walls, partnered with dark-stained hardwood ceiling panels and four-poster frames of warm teak. Sliding barn-style doors open directly onto jungle gardens, dissolving the boundary between room and canopy. The outdoor dining pavilion — heavy iroko beams above iridescent encaustic floor tiles, wicker chairs around trestle tables — sustains the same grammar of generous tropical shade and restrained material warmth. At the pool, original hacienda walls stand as sculptural ruins at the water's edge, anchoring a sinuously curved basin in local stone and pale concrete within a landscape of sycamore palms and native scrub.

25min drive from Mérida

Hidden in the heart of the Mayan forest, Chable is surrounded by nature and offers the utmost in privacy, intimacy and tranquility. The region is rich in culture and history, guaranteeing guests an authentic and relaxing experience.