The Best Hotels to Book in Oaxaca, Mexico

A truly family affair, Casa de las Bugambilias is run by various members of the Cabrera-Arroyo family. Just one block from the famed Templo de Santa Domingo de Guzmán, it’s one of three guesthouses the family runs in Oaxaca. Each of its 10 rooms is spacious and dotted with traditional Mexican arts and crafts. Breakfast is included here, which you can enjoy while reading any one of the 500 books it has on offer in its library.

This intimate spot shares a name with the famed Casa Oaxaca restaurant – one of the best restaurants in Latin America – but it doesn’t live in its shadow of excellence. This cute Oaxaca hotel has a quirky heart-shaped pool and simple, modern rooms with whitewashed walls, tiled floors and colorful quilts. Take advantage of the kitchen and squeeze in a cooking class with the Casa Oaxaca chef or one of his associates. If cooking doesn’t take your fancy, try a temazcal cleansing session, or read a book in the library.

Hotel Azul offers stellar views of the surrounding area. This one-time crumbling, abandoned building is now a contemporary design hotel in Oaxaca brimming with artistic elements. However, nothing steals the show more than the view from the rooftop bar, which has an ample menu of mezcal cocktails. Some onsite parking is available.

Quirky and affordable, El Diablo y La Sandia has intriguing design touches such as glass tables made from old parillas (Mexican barbecue grills), while Mexican lotería cards have inspired the decor. The mother-daughter team who run the place have created a homey, welcoming vibe. Enjoy a leisurely morning coffee on the upstairs terrace or in the central downstairs courtyard, where you can watch your breakfast being prepared. In central Oaxaca City, you’re a stone’s throw from its main attractions.

Taking up residence in this architecturally stunning 19th-century Oaxacan mansion is the Casa de Sierra Azul Hotel, perfect for honeymooners and couples. It has maintained the original wooden door and internal balcony structure, which looks onto the central courtyard. Meanwhile, its 21 high-ceilinged rooms feature a classy yet simple style, with colorful accents.

Escape from the center of Oaxaca and check into the Hotel Hacienda Los Laureles. It’s only a few minutes from the city center but sits pretty on an expansive plot of land with lush gardens and views of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca mountain range. The building itself is an 18th-century colonial-style hacienda. Each of the 23 rooms and suites is spacious and has wooden and wrought-iron elements, while the common areas feature antiques and colorful alebrijes (folk art sculptures).

Quinta Real Oaxaca, a boutique hotel that occupies a prime location in the heart of the city, just one block from the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán. Once a 16th-century convent, it’s now a luxury boutique hotel with an outdoor pool, a sun terrace and a mini gym. The corridor walls retain ancient frescoes from its former life. Choose a room with views over the interior garden and courtyard.

Six bedrooms make up this award-winning boutique hotel in Oaxaca that was once a 19th-century Oaxacan house. You can’t miss its deep red exterior. The classically styled rooms are comfortable, and the hotel also offers a two-bedroom apartment for extended stays. Local artists create all of the artwork, which is available to purchase. Breakfast is included, complete with home-made jams and bread. Try the quesillo omelet with grasshoppers (it’s a traditional Oaxacan delicacy).

In the heart of the historic center, this 18th-century mansion has 21 comfortable rooms and suites centered around an open-air patio with semicircular stone arches. It also houses an onsite gym and a restaurant, but the ultimate treasure is the rooftop swimming pool and solarium, where you can take in sweeping views of the city and surrounding Sierra Madre de Oaxaca mountains.

El Callejón has 12 apartment-like rooms spread across an avant-garde property built from natural materials such as adobe and live edge wood. Each room at this Oaxaca hotel features a modern interior with full-width glass doors that open to a private terrace; each suite also has a sleek kitchenette with wooden cabinetry and furniture. In Xochimilco, the oldest neighborhood in the city, this ecohotel includes a palm-tree-strewn central courtyard, along with a bar and a restaurant where you can taste regional mezcals each night.

Seven blocks from the main square, or Zócalo, and even closer to other city attractions, such as the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, Marialicia Suites has 10 spacious rooms designed for convenience. Many of the modern suites have kitchenettes, living rooms and private terraces, and some even have multiple bedrooms or floors. After a full day exploring the vibrant streets of Oaxaca, relax in the peaceful, open-air courtyard – designed to remind you of a Zen garden.

White walls with painted motifs and ornate, carved wooden bed frames mark the guestrooms at this colonial-style Oaxacan guesthouse in the Barrio de Jalatlaco. A greenery-filled atrium on the first floor features an old-fashioned bar that serves local mezcals and other cocktails. A sunny rooftop terrace offers a small pool and jacuzzi; head there for a delicious Oaxacan breakfast before exploring nearby attractions, including the Oaxaca Cathedral and Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán.

In San Felipe del Agua (roughly 15 minutes from the historic center), Hotel Casa Santo Origen features eight exquisite suites named after different regions within Oaxaca. The property blends Oaxacan and Tuscan architectural influences through brick-and-adobe terraces and a courtyard decorated with palm trees and cacti. You can lounge on outdoor furniture by the swimming pool, accessible through open-air corridors that connect to each guestroom. Don’t miss the Entre Sombras restaurant, which serves delectable Mediterranean-style dishes, including paella.