Adventures in Luxury Travel

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 45 of adventures in luxury travel. Today, Alfonso and I talk about the UNESCO World Heritage Site of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. If you are looking for a destination that is full of culture, art, elevated cuisine, cool cocktails, welcoming people, beautiful luxury resorts and charming boutique hotels, San Miguel de Allende is the perfect destination. While you're there also explore the wineries and adventures outside of town. A reminder before we begin, if you love the content of this podcast then you'll love what we share in our weekly newsletter, hidden gems, epic hikes and the best new restaurants. Every Wednesday we send out inspiring travel ideas for your next trip. Go to true a travel.com/subscribe to sign up. Visit Travie travel.com/ 45 for a video of today's show and additional resources. Good morning, everyone. I am Mimi Lichtenstein, and I'm here today with my friend and colleague Alfonso Su, Mano. Welcome to the show. Alfonso.

Alfonso 1:34
Thank you very much, Mimi. It's a pleasure to be here.

Mimi Lichtenstein 1:37
Well, I am so thrilled to have you on today. And partly because we're talking about San Miguel de Allende a place I'd been looking forward to going to for probably 1015 years and I finally went last week. And having the show follow that so closely is very exciting. And I know you love it as much as I do. So we have lots of fun things to talk about today. Tell us a little bit about in general San Miguel de Allende is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You want to give us a little bit more background on where it is and in Mexico and a little bit more about it.

Alfonso 2:11
Yeah, absolutely. At San Miguel de Allende is a very well known town at this point. You know, it was voted three years in a row by Conde Nast Traveler readership as the as the most, the most beautiful small city in the world. So people really love it. And then you have a lot a large community of expatriates do not even living there or that have made us and together home most of them related to art. So as you can tell, when we when we talk about this beautiful small city, you were talking about the location, so you get Mexico City, and this city is pretty much a little bit north west from Mexico City. If you will drive from this big city to San Miguel, it will take you like four hours, though it's accessible also by through two airports, at least the one in Lyon or one airport. And then the one in Kenya tunnel, which is unable to state but I would, generally speaking say that San Miguel is very centrally located in the Mexican Republic. It's in central Mexico colonial city.

Mimi Lichtenstein 3:08
And one thing we talked about earlier was it's not super easy to get to meaning a lot of nonstops for Americans mostly have to go through Dallas or Houston. But what I can say is it's absolutely worth the efforts. The picture that we have up here of you know, this beautiful, colorful street with the church at the background of it, you can take those photos, I mean, I'm not a great photographer, but the amount of beautiful photos you get in this town is incredible. It's like every corner has another beautiful photo does like

Alfonso 3:39
that's the binker three there it is very iconic in sunny LA and they said Gothic style. So you are not expecting to see this kind of architecture combined with a colonial you know, 16th centuries 16th century founded city, so it's really impressive what you can, what you can see there,

Mimi Lichtenstein 3:57
and whether it be nighttime daytime, no matter what it's absolutely beautiful. So okay, let's dive into a few of the different kinds of experiences. We're starting with the active ones. And these are kind of funny pictures because where I was staying, it was very near I think it was the park que El Toro and there are steps because San Miguel de Allende is essentially built on the side of a hill that faces West which is why there are so many beautiful places to see the sunset and because of that you're on a hill to get up the hill. There are some stairs you don't always go up this way but for exercise I did and I was amazed that there were a lot of other Mexican people walking up and down the stairs for exercise during the day. I saw them almost every day I was out there. It's not a super long way up but it's definitely worth it if you want to get some exercise in before you're chilly kill a breakfast and then tell us a little bit about the rosewood. I took this picture when I was there. They have two tennis courts so you can have fun being active just like tennis like you do at home. Or even on the outskirts there's golf to write,

Alfonso 5:00
yes, there is one course. Yeah, they do have two tennis courts do you know the rosewood is a beautiful property one of the most amazing terraces in my view, they have 67 lessons, 70 rooms, but it's still, you know, a boutique kind of feeling property, and definitely will since this is very centrally located, I was, as I was telling you pretty much all of the tours that you can get get into like a city tour in San Miguel, or going to the galleries going to the testings, and so on, if you decide to do it, you can do it by walking to the place. So pretty much you can be effective in San Miguel as you may. And then you know, if you think about Europe, and walking around town, and that kind of experience, this is very competitive to that you can do that, too.

Mimi Lichtenstein 5:43
And what I love about the location of rosewood, and we'll talk about the hotels again a little bit later is that it's also near I think it's Benito Juarez Park, which is a beautiful little park to walk around. They also have a basketball court where I saw some students during the day playing basketball. So it's really such a manageable size city that it's easy to walk around, but it also has some green spaces and rosewood has a lot of green spaces, and then on the outskirts, so the hills and the country surrounding it. I know you guys have some people go out horseback riding, you want to tell us a little bit about what other things you can do on the outskirts of San Diego.

Alfonso 6:19
This is like a real, you know, ranch kind of experience, because it's not only the force right back, I mean, it's this is a very interesting tour that we actually have available. And then it will, you know, you will be picked up at your hotel at let's say 8am. And the whole tour is going to probably last between seven and eight hours according to your, to your expectations and well to do but the heart the force, this particular experience will be like three or four hours in as I was telling you very authentic ranch experience around around town. And then you will visit you know, a place that I enjoy a lot is called the El Rio Bucheon in which you are going to see you know, a totally different scenery than you you've seen before in in the area of San Miguel de Allende. You can even visit one of those, I mean, within the ranch how people make cheese in that very area. So it's pretty interesting. Even you know, you are able, if you will to milk a cow right there. So as I was telling you is kind of very, very interesting kind of experience just outside in the outskirts of the city of San Diego.

Mimi Lichtenstein 7:25
And is the I assume the river is near. I believe there's also an archeological site, Kenyatta de virgin where people told me they like to go hiking if they're going to go hiking at sunrise to see the sun come up.

Alfonso 7:39
Oh, yeah, it's the Daniela little beacon next to the river. And then it's not only hiking, but you can also do rappelling there.

Mimi Lichtenstein 7:48
Okay. And then there's water out there. There's opportunity to go kayaking stand up paddleboarding?

Alfonso 7:54
Yeah. Whatever activities that you can do in a river. Yes. Yeah. So adventurous people. Right.

Mimi Lichtenstein 8:00
Right. Well, we're all a little adventurous with me. And I love this. I took this actually from the rooftop of the hotel I was staying at first. And essentially, during I think about four months and winter, there are these stormy that fly through San Miguel de Allende. And they make their nests in these trees and have their you know, lay their eggs hatch their babies, and then they move on from there. And it was such like a surprising sight because there were three trees that were probably full of, I don't know, 20 or 30 Birds apiece. And they just kept taking off and going and finding a twig and bringing it back to perhaps their partner to make a nest. So it's a really beautiful scene and you can actually see it just walking down the street. I love this was another one. Yeah, another one of the adventurous things to do out in the outskirts to go ATV, which involves going through water, which I think if someone's there with teenagers would be super fun. And I do think by the way, San Miguel de Allende, a lot of couples go there or friends go there. But it's also a great place to take teenagers because it's so safe. There's so much shopping, there's lots of great food, there's lots of great activities to do. So I would absolutely bring my kiddos back here for a visit. These were a couple of shots of just walking around the streets. And you can see Alfonso knows this but there's cobblestone everywhere part of the UNESCO heritage, you know, preservation, so it's not a good place to bring high heeled shoes. It's not even a great place to bring wedge shoes. I can tell you that because I tried walking around and then one day, there are people who just drive around in you know, ATVs because the streets are so narrow, so it helps them get around to different places. And this was a funny picture of a police car. There's not many places you go in the world where there's police cars that are actually ATVs driving down the road. So that was kind of fun. And then tell us a little bit about cooking classes. Cooking is such a big part of the culture of Mexico. Number one in San Miguel de Allende has such a, I would say high level of culinary scene You?

Alfonso 10:01
Absolutely. Well listen, there are a couple of very nice street markers that I love. And then pretty much some of these private areas for you to have. It could be a cooking class or a cooking demonstration. You know, if you're like me, I'm probably not that a child, you know, I mean, I'm not that good to do the cooking, but I love the cooking demonstration. So you are able actually to go in the family, you were talking about your kids. So you can bring your kids and then go and get the ingredients along with the chef to the street market, and then just go upstairs and do the cooking class, either or cooking demonstration as long as you may want, and then enjoy your food, or the food that you already made right with a lot of local ingredients because everything is fresh out of the market right there. So people really enjoy this kind of tours, and is what we call the market to kitchen afternoon experience in the heart of San Miguel de Allende with local ingredients, I was telling you that they produce cheese in the outskirts of the city, there are a couple of wineries as well. So all of the culinary scene, it's it's it's amazing. And the ingredients in all of the influences in central Mexican cuisine is actually reflected in this demonstration.

Mimi Lichtenstein 11:08
And I agree with you, I actually do love doing hands on cooking classes. But even if people don't to just be a part of the conversation with a chef to go to the market, and then see them prepare the food is also a really fun way to enjoy one of your meals. And we did do a cooking class while we were there. And I loved it. I love coming home with the recipe to be able to replicate it at home. I even bought some ceramics when we were in one of the art areas which you and I will talk about in a few minutes. So it's a really fun opportunity to be able to reminisce about your trip after you come home. And this is these are a couple photos of two of my favorite tacos that I had while I was there. The left one is of a softshell crab taco that I had on one of the beautiful terraces and our trio which is well located right next to the beautiful cathedral. And then the other one is actually a HCA instead of a tortilla. It's a HCA Michelle, or tortilla, but it's of HCA. And then it was shrimp with crispy fried leeks on top, and that was at azotemia. So I highly recommend both of those places. And I think another fun thing people can do is go on food tours where you might go from place to place sampling different types of food at each different location, and not stayed any of them too long. actually went to a taco place. It was a vegan taco restaurant, that was recommended to me. And when I got there, I realized it was vegan, and I'm not vegan, but the food was delicious. So even if you do normally not eat vegan, I still think it would be a great place. And I love this shot. Because as you and I said the church is so beautiful from every different angle, the colors are beautiful. And that park tell us a little bit about the park that's actually in the front of here. That seems to be the centerpiece of of the town.

Alfonso 12:57
That is the center plaza. And as you can tell, I mean from every single angle, whenever you are seeing the pink Catholic Cathedral, as they call it, it's it's an amazing view. So people local people actually in many people living in San Miguel would go and spend time just in the park sitting down, you know, below the beautiful shade of those very well taken care of trees. And it's just like a centre for people to actually reunite. And then spend a few hours in the afternoon and have a nice cream or something else. And just stop you know. So this is like a a very central, it's actually called the central plaza. And then people use gathered there for many reasons.

Mimi Lichtenstein 13:37
Yeah. And you know, what else was really beautiful as we talk about the culture, there was a wedding going on when we were there. And so everyone was leaving the church when we walked by, and they were dressed to the nines, you know, long gowns really done up. And it was really fun to see, you know, the experience of someone getting married in another culture and what everybody you know, wears to it. And the bride was beautiful. And everyone who was there just enjoying the park was you know, watching and seeing what was going on. So it seems like it's just the place where if you want to see what Mexican families do on a Sunday afternoon, right, just go hang out in this park and and see them relaxing. Absolutely. Yeah. It's beautiful. All right. Tell us a little bit about the music of San Diego.

Alfonso 14:25
Well, pretty much you know, it's not only Sunday yet, in this case in the whole central Mexico. We love music and we'll have parties, right so pretty much could be as you said, a wedding out on streets so people are just gathering there and enjoying the party. But actually you can enjoy as well this kind of what we call bandits and there was just walk around playing music everywhere in the downtown area, or even at evening time they do what whether we call that set or not I will serenading you know. So pretty much just romantic music being played and all of the cardiac Honiara, or the gynecologist you Yo this small narrow streets and people just follow the music. So pretty much do it you can have something to eat and then something to drink in the central area of San Miguel listens to the music, follow the musicians and you're going to have one of the most amazing evenings in town just because you know it's all about art the music and and talking to people surrounding you and really getting the way as you said, the Mexicans live the the real cultural. And music is part of it.

Mimi Lichtenstein 15:30
How is a bandit technically different than a mariachi which is a specific type of music,

Alfonso 15:36
it is totally different. As you can see the instruments are actually different. So in the mariachi van, we will have the trumpets, right? To really hear the mariachi music band and some what led me to an official mariachi band will be component list of eight elements, and a band that could be even much larger than that, you know, this kind of different instruments, and the music is actually different. You have a lot of air instruments, as you can see here. So pretty much you can hear this music from tour three blocks from war net, where they are actually playing so it's a big party on the same time.

Mimi Lichtenstein 16:13
Okay, well, we saw some mariachi who were playing music and people were just got up from the park, and they were dancing and having fun. So it definitely contributes to a very sort of lively, you know, culture. Just I think it was on a Friday night. And I mentioned before, oh, go ahead.

Alfonso 16:32
No, no, no, I was just going to say that some of these musicians are actually, you know, standing by next to the park and that central area for people to come and hire them. And actually, let's say that you have a birthday enrollee and your viewer, your family's in the hotel that you would like to bring music to them, you aren't able to hire the musicians and take them with you and have like a very nice life party out of, you know, out of the nowhere. So this is pretty

Mimi Lichtenstein 16:56
impressive. Yeah, and so fun. And then some of the arts so San Miguel de Allende has so much art, what it gives us a little bit of insight about that part of the culture.

Alfonso 17:07
Absolutely. Well, the shopping in San Miguel is amazing, you know, it's full of Acts, I was telling you contemporary art. And people actually, if some of the private tours that were able to put together in San Miguel are actually you know, private in a way that you are going to meet and greet the artist. So they would you know, you visit the galleries, you visit any any kind of space, creative space that they've got, and you will be actually interacting with the artists and knowing what that art contemporary art is actually all about. We have a couple of tours, you know, if you've visited, let's say the Instituto cultural that you were talking about earlier, you can actually see the process of the wool rocks made there, right by the artists, or you can come to loud aura, which I believe and I hope that you can share with us your your recent visit to load up on the cultural center for the art school where you can see all of the I don't know how to know if the right translation in English is pretty much your paper mache paper. And then you can get to the studios of people and actually see how that is performed. Right. Also, I mean, in terms of the Mexican art, you can see the I don't know if you had the opportunity to see the murals, but there are a couple of very interesting to me at least in my view from you know, there is an artist called Amit Leonardo Chavez and of course the Witzy Kato. And those murals are pretty impressive right and central Sunday again, so pretty much you know, suddenly you they and they still about the inversion of the cultural life art ambience, right and if you like handcrafts and all kinds of made of all kinds of materials even prepare my chair or or the rocks. I mean, it's pretty amazing what you can see and experience here.

Mimi Lichtenstein 18:56
Yeah, I would say Aurora was surprising to me because it's so big. And it has such a variety of arts, you know, painting murals, they had lots of I guess they were probably, you know, paper mache but like clay figures glassblowing I mean just was remarkable and how many statues there were outside. Big pieces, small pieces. I ended up buying several clay different sized clay pots for my kitchen which I absolutely loved and made at home without breaking them. So that was wonderful. And in another market. I went there with the intention of getting the Mexican glasses just regular drinking glasses with the colored rim around the top and I ended up bringing those home and they didn't break either. So that was exciting. So if you're looking even antiques, there's quite a few antique stores we saw while we were there. If you're looking for art for your home to hang on the wall or just something functional to use in your kitchen clothing. I bought a beautiful dress while I was there shoes I'd be there's so much shopping and art to be seen that You could wander those streets for days and days and days and not go in the same place twice. So, definitely a good thing to have on your list if you if you'd like to shop, that's for sure. And then I think when, at least for me, personally, as far as thinking of the top food and beverage item, when I think of Mexico, in my mind, I think of tacos, and I think of tequila. And so this is a photo of the Casa Drago nice bar at one of the rooftops we'll talk about in a few minutes. But tell us a little bit more about Casa Draconis. Because I know Americans, some of them have certain ideas as to what a really good tequila is. I know a lot of people who like casamigos but Casa drugo Neysa. super special. You want to tell us a little bit about why that is?

Alfonso 20:47
It is super special. If I'm not mistaken. The picture that you're showing is the customer to the roof. Right.

Mimi Lichtenstein 20:53
I think this is the rooftop. This is at a monta. So this is the new

Alfonso 20:57
to the new place, but open in January. Yeah. Because it looks familiar to me. But, you know, we think people don't know if you were able to go to the historic dacha 18 Are you familiar with it? Because there is where Kassandra bonus actually has a very extremely special, you know, renovated space from two centuries ago, actually. And they just six seats or six seats, or testing room there is full of art, you know, and of course, it is a very amazing expect space to actually experience the tequila as you were saying because other one is to me is one of the best to kill us in Mexico today. Even though it's produced not in the state of Guanajuato because as many of you know, I mean the tequila needs to be orange in the Domination from Jalisco and is produced actually in Jalisco but Berta, the founder and owner of Castle Dragoon is actually a she she is related to the Matilda hotel ownership. And then they have this space in the hotel in in many other areas of San Miguel, but this particular historical place where they do the testing in, in Casa kin, it's pretty amazing. So the tequila is top quality produced in Jalisco and showcased in San Miguel de in many ways.

Mimi Lichtenstein 22:16
I think their tasting room is undergoing renovations, which is why I didn't go see it. But I did go to Casa Matilda and see there. They have two bars there one outside and one upstairs in the upstairs one. They do do like a tequila tasting and I think even a cocktail making class with Casa Draconis. So lots of opportunities to drink tequila, of course, if you're in Mexico, and learn about it, and we'll touch on we did like a tequila tasting class on the rooftop at our hotel, which was lovely. And then my husband got so interested. He went and did some research about all the different Ania hos rapa Serratos blanc goes and sent me a summary of what he learned. And so I'm going to maybe I'll put that in the show notes of the show in case other people are interested. And to your wife Julia sipping tequila. Yeah, this is sipping tequila, right? This is not a doing a shot tequila. Definitely not. And to your point about it not being from here to kill us similar to champagne and France, right? You can't call it tequila unless it's from that area. Just like you can't call champagne champagne. So the Italians, you know, aren't they have their own bubbly wine, but they can't call it channel cycle? Yeah, they call it Prosecco. Anyway, so tequila is similar. So you can't call it tequila, unless it's from this area in Mexico. Oh, this is actually the tasting that we did on the rooftop of our hotel. So we were staying at the Belmond. And our hotel room had a beautiful terrace up top. And they set it up one day and just did a tequila tasting for us where we did taste some cottage or go nice tequila. Of course, it was the third one we tasted because you always go from, you know, the least nice to the most nice. And it was it was so fun to learn all about it and come back. And obviously we can go to a Mexican restaurant here. And now we're a lot more informed about the different types of tequila. That was fun transitioning to out of town again, you want to tell us a little bit about no longer tequila, but the vineyards that are on the outside of San Miguel?

Alfonso 24:09
Absolutely. This is very nearby. I mean, it's not even at you know, 30 minute drive outside of the city. Very comfortable. And you get to those books. This is the vine yard just next to the town, where you will find actually, you know, very surprisingly, a very top quality wine produced in central Mexico in the state of Guanajuato. This particular one is those rules where we take our unit where you are able to take your guests and experience either to their preference if they want to come and see the buying yard and see how they produce cheese as well. And the meal process and so on. As long as the one we can do a launch trip, let's say three or four hours of lunchtime, or even at dinner at the evening. So it's pretty impressive. The production of wine is not as large but the quality is getting there you know, very well recognized these days and you will surprise to see this quite get you there. Yeah,

Mimi Lichtenstein 25:01
I actually had a red wine from I think this vineyard when we were there, and it was delicious. So since I, you only have enough time to do so much when you visit somewhere, I'll definitely be going back to San Miguel. And when I do, I'm going to put many of these things outside the city that I didn't have a chance to do on the list, because not only is it interesting to, you know, meet the vineyard owners who have probably owned it and their family for as long as it's been there. But also just to be out in the country and enjoying the beautiful views. So put on the list, and then a very popular activity in San Miguel hot air balloons. Tell us a little bit about where would Where do you take off from these? How far out of the city? Well,

Alfonso 25:42
remember, nothing is very far out from the city. This particular experience is a few hours in the morning, you got to get there very early in the morning. So pretty much there is nobody else there. And the hot air balloon ride would last between 40 or 50 minutes. It's very comfortable. So at sunrise, you're going to be able to see the city from above, which is pretty unique. With all this not only San Miguel, we can do that. Also, let's say Teotihuacan in the outskirts of Mexico City, but this particular experience is one of the most amazing and best ways to see the city from above and to really see how how, what is extension of San Miguel Allende, the cathedral from above, and all of the beautiful gardens surrounding the city as well as is next to the to the downtown area.

Mimi Lichtenstein 26:31
Okay. And it's not every city that you can take a hot air balloon directly over it. San Miguel is one of the ones where you can and so we actually also saw a couple of helicopters flying around when we were there too. So I think to your point, you see the sunrises from the terraces in San Miguel, but get up one morning and see a sorry you see the sunsets but get up one morning and see the sunrises from above, because it's absolutely beautiful. Okay, let's talk about some of your and now my favorite hotels. This first one is a photo of the terrace same terraces earlier where we stayed and it has a rooftop pool. It has a little terrace, it has a couple of lounge chairs. It overlooks the the church. So Belmont, I love for a lot of reasons. It's really centrally located in every Belmont hotel always feel so very authentic to the region. And you definitely feel that when you're in not only their common areas, but definitely in the rooms with their, you know, their furnishings and all of that. Do you have a particular favorite part of the Belmond?

Alfonso 27:36
No, most of them is up in the roof. Yes, that's what I love. And then I love the restaurant to the that they have this other terrorist down below, which is part of the restaurant that it's to me also about then,

Mimi Lichtenstein 27:48
yeah, we had breakfast there each day. And it was just beautiful and small. I mean, Belmont has, I think I have ever been down somewhere maybe 34 rooms, I think 37 rooms. So it's not a big. And it's actually built up of lots of I think they bought former houses. So it's not actually all connected. Our particular building was across the street from where the breakfast room was. And it literally is a bunch of different little houses that they've collected, I guess together. And I love this shot. So that's there was just amazing. Yeah, so that's the Presidential Suite, which we could see from our terrorists that has a gorgeous fireplace that was on and then they have a whole rooftop that runs the entire length of their bedroom, this terrace and maybe even another room. It was stunning. So if you're lucky enough to find yourself staying at the Presidential Suite there, I think that you will very much enjoy it. And then you could just see some pictures of what the decor is like inside. I haven't been actually I know I stayed at the Belmond on the Riviera Maya, right before it closed for renovation. Is that one backup? And again, do you know?

Alfonso 28:56
Partially Yes,

Mimi Lichtenstein 28:58
it is okay.

Alfonso 28:59
Big renovation recently last year? Yeah, pandemic.

Mimi Lichtenstein 29:03
Yeah, I just love Belmont Hotel. So I look forward to that opening. And then another one. I know you like this one as well. Tell us a little bit about the rosewood?

Alfonso 29:13
Well, the rosewood, this a little bit bigger. You know, it's not in the heart of the city, but not far from it. And you can walk pretty much I mean, if you like to walk, it's a 767 rooms. So it's pretty intimate as well. One of the things that I love about this place is the terrorists as well, because you can see pretty much the whole city, this place actually it was before for over 15 years, called the hotel resorts, which was a very traditional, not luxurious property such as Roswell today. But it's been it's been there for a long time, you know, at least I don't know, 16 or 15 years, at least as the hotel is to see in the old days, and probably eight, eight or nine being the Roswell. So it's a beautiful property. I love the terrorists. I love the service. And then if you are really into being in that next the central plaza. Well, this is not there's a little bit further up, but it's in pretty comfortable property, intimate 67 rooms. So very welcoming.

Mimi Lichtenstein 30:12
I think my thought when I first entered it was how spacious it feels for being only 67 rooms it has, to your point, it's not in the center of downtown, so it has more property. They have, I think three pools, two regular pools, and then they also have a kids club with a kids pool. So if you're bringing your younger kids to San Miguel, it's a great option for that. And they have two tennis courts. And they have three outdoor cooking places where they do cooking classes, tequila tasting appetizers. And then when I was on my site visit, she also showed me they have a huge barbecue area where if somebody wants to organize a very authentic Mexican barbecue, they bring in a family from outside of San Miguel, I think, who actually will do the whole authentic barbecue with you. And I believe I assumed it was going to be a pig barbecue, but I think it's actually lamb. Is that lamb? That sounds will

Alfonso 31:06
be either. Okay. Yeah. Good lamb could be I mean, what we call barbacoa or carnitas. You know, carnitas from the port on the barbacoa is actually what we're referring to the woodfire is from the land, and we can invite a backhoe.

Mimi Lichtenstein 31:20
Okay, that's what it was. Anyway, it just was felt so spacious. There were people taking a yoga class on the lawn one night when we were there at the terrace, up top they had so it was having a huge wedding. And it felt like it was just completely separate from the whole rest of where people were staying. So for 67 rooms, it just had a lot of space. And I think they also have three or four four bedroom villas on property. They do. Yeah, so it's definitely a good option. If you're there with a larger group, or you have kids or you want more space. I loved it.

Alfonso 31:54
I thought it was tough connecting rooms as well. So it's pretty accommodating, you know, whatever you need to do, it can be a lot of options.

Mimi Lichtenstein 32:00
And in the basement, they have a whole art gallery, which was stunning. So I went and walked around and saw the art. So lots of reasons to love the Belmond. And lots of reasons to love the rosewood. They're just a little bit different. And then we talked a little bit before about hotel Matilda. Here's a picture of the outside you had mentioned, I think the owner of hotel Matilda is married to the founder of I think Casa Draconis. Correct? Yes, yes to Bertha. And so down below in this photo, you can see that's where normal breakfast and dinner and all of that is. And then upstairs is where there is another bar, just for where you can do tastings and tequila classes and things like that. And they have a beautiful pool. I would How long has this one been open? Matilda? Do you know?

Alfonso 32:47
Yeah, I think a little less than there was with. Okay. Yeah, so it's pretty new as of 10 years. It's pretty new.

Mimi Lichtenstein 32:55
And you could see from the furniture. This is for somebody who's looking for a much more contemporary clean lines versus more authentic wooden dark Mexico. So there's a hotel for everybody. And there's so many boutique hotels in San Miguel de Allende as well, that it would be fun actually to go back and stay at different

Alfonso 33:16
actually, Mathilde actually, you know, feels like a boutique hotel, even though it has 32 rooms. So he's got a small but it feels like an event you know, the restaurant that you were referring to, which is fabulous. It's called a Moxie restaurant is actually a destination. I mean, if you're seeing a dress with our Bellman this worked for you to go and see the restaurant of the Martinez.

Mimi Lichtenstein 33:35
Absolutely. And we I was surprised there's a lot of hotels that have terraces up top with restaurants. So you can go in and check out other hotels while you're there. Because you might be eating in one of the restaurants one of your favorite places you mentioned which is now one of my favorite places is the rooftop at the rosewood this view tell us a little bit about why you like it. Well, I

Alfonso 33:58
love it just because you know I mean if you if you saw San Miguel de Allende from above in the sunrise with a hot air balloon, then you need to relax in the afternoon right and just sitting down here and enjoying the ambiance and the view from from from from the terrorists. It's amazing to me, you know, it's the best place to spend every every afternoon or evening before dinner or after the narrative and deciding what to do next. This is a very relaxing area that I really love to fresh air. You know, talk to your family or friends and then decide what to do next morning or just relax and have a seat and enjoy yourself because pretty much as you know when we meet and do enjoy that Sunday I end this weather is pretty mild all year round. Right. So when we talk about the best season to come is pretty much all the round. I mean, in wintertime it will be a little bit chilly, windy or a little bit but never too cold.

Mimi Lichtenstein 34:51
Yeah. Well, jumping ahead about the seasonality. We loved it because it's not humid at all. The daytime is gorgeous and probably at but every night it cools off. So when you wake up in the morning for me to go exercise, it was so nice and cool in the morning. So it feels very different than being at the beach. That's for sure. And, again, what I loved about Luna, it also feels so spacious. It is a huge rooftop. And so you have one view overlooking the sunset and another view overlooking the city and the church. There was actually a DJ there the night that we were there, nobody was dancing, but he was playing really good music all night long. And we definitely felt like we were surrounded by a lot of Mexican families or at least people speaking Spanish. There were more people speaking Spanish than I was expecting because I was aware that it's such a big expat community. But there are a lot of people, a lot of Mexican people who are even vacationing or maybe they live nearby and they're coming and having dinner at these places to

Alfonso 35:51
a lot of Mexico City people actually Mexico City is four hours drive, but they boom Sunday, given the weekends. So this is the explanation why are you know, this kind of hotels, not as many rooms and so on. I could be crowded some of the weekends. So I mean, if you would like to see displays notice crowded you can come, let's say Monday through Friday, and it's very ideal because of Mexico. So of course, Charles to somebody else from from many different cities in this one.

Mimi Lichtenstein 36:17
Yeah. And I arrived on a Wednesday and left on a Monday and I definitely felt the difference between being there on a Wednesday and a Saturday big difference just in terms of how many people are at the restaurants and people walking around the streets. So Luna is not the only rooftop that I love. This is that new hotel that you brought up Casa monta, and they have a gorgeous rooftop, that's up about 71 flights, not flights, 71 stairs to get to the top of it. And it's also, you know, the coverage is all on top of the hotel. So they have, I think three bars that Casa de casa tequila bar, they have a champagne and oyster bar. They have a craft cocktail bar, then they have this bar that's dedicated to the Cinco Haute thus, hormone from Spain. And then they have the regular restaurant. So it's really big. And it's absolutely a stunning view. We saved it for last night. And I was glad that we did the food was incredible. The champagne glasses were incredible. The service was terrific. So I highly recommend that for somebody who wants to have a special dinner while you're there. It is a little bit more removed. It's actually up at the top of the stairs that I hiked every day. So it's not in the center of town. So I would only stay there if you don't mind not being in the center. But I would absolutely recommend going there for drinks or dinner one night.

Alfonso 37:34
The restaurant that you're referring to is hack man's they claim to be a Michelin star.

Mimi Lichtenstein 37:39
Yes, I think so. Their owner or chef consultant already has a Michelin star at another restaurant. Yes. And is he? Where is this other restaurant? Is it in Mexico City?

Alfonso 37:51
I'm not sure I don't think it's in Mexico City. But I know about this one.

Mimi Lichtenstein 37:54
Yeah. Yeah, the food was incredible. We had ribeye That was delicious. We have the Cinco TAs, we had like a fish to V che we had a delicious dessert. We had a lot of very good foods. So highly recommended.

Alfonso 38:08
Yes, used to sell local ingredients. Pretty interesting.

Mimi Lichtenstein 38:10
Well, he? Well, I think there are so many fresh local ingredients. So the fact that they can take advantage of what's close by is environmentally friendly. And this is one of my favorite little coffee shops I went in, it's called, I don't know how it's pronounced, but ke Bak, k i b, okay. And it's three levels. They had wonderful lattes, as you can see from the picture with fun latte art. And then they had a second story that was actually really low, and then on top, a rooftop. So if you find yourself in the center of San Miguel, highly recommend a visit. And I love this next one, because this is just a little hole in the wall coffee place where you just walk up and literally, it's just a window in the side of a building. And they had fun coffee to go. And I always like finding little things like that when I'm traveling, the coffee in Mexico was delicious. I like really strong coffee. And that was nice to know that they have it there. And then another stunning view of the city, would you say photography, I've mentioned photography before people who go there, some of them can meet with photographers to learn how to take pictures and go to places all over the city to take beautiful photos like this. And it'd be so fun to come home with something like this that maybe is of a good enough quality to blow up and put on your wall.

Alfonso 39:26
And there are photography studies that actually offer workshops, so people can formally go and see you know, and meet and learn how to properly take pictures. We call this a very Instagrammable CD, right? Yeah.

Mimi Lichtenstein 39:39
Oh for sure. And they we also saw people who are just painting on the side, you know of a road they had their canvas up and I don't know if they were taking a class or doing a workshop but we walked by and saw those people. So the city is just so colorful, so vibrant, very safe, and very picturesque, and I absolutely loved it. Tell us before Before we go a couple of things you talked about Casa MATA is a new hotel. I also know there's a new Hyatt unbound that's opening I met with the GM while I was there a gear Mo and he was delightful. And they're opening up across from the rosewood. And then I think there was one other hotel that opened this

Alfonso 40:16
year. Oh, definitely. There is a new place other than Amati opened in January actually called 1810. The year of the independence of Mexico. I believe it was he was open. Also in January, they officially Miss hotel, 1810, parquet or park. Okay, no, and they have a beautiful restaurant as well there was recently open and it's very, very beautiful. Okay,

Mimi Lichtenstein 40:43
well, it's good to know because there's a lot of love to come San Miguel de Allende, so I know they need to have enough places for them to stay. You mentioned before the about the best time to visit and all year round. Even though it's a great destination for all year round, how much does it differ between winter and summer? Is it more rainy in the summer more humid in the summer.

Alfonso 41:03
But you said for Mexico rainy season is in the summertime, we as well as the Mexico City, let's say which means to July, August and the half of September. Right. And but at the same time, this is a warmer warmer season. So again, I mean, did you enjoy this these days, you know, very mild weather like in the 70s. You can keep probably the low 80s In summertime, and then you could go down to the 60s in wintertime. You know, it could be a little windy, not as rainy, but the rain is going to come and so on.

Mimi Lichtenstein 41:35
Okay. Yeah, I would say for me the weather was perfection while we were there absolute perfection. So I just might have to go back and buy a house there. It's entirely possible. I loved it that much. What about itinerary ideas to combine it with so somebody has more time and they want to spend some more time in Mexico? What would you suggest to add on to a trip to San Miguel?

Alfonso 41:56
Absolutely. Now that we were talking about the your favorites, let me just provide you with a couple of ideas here because I thought about my favorites. And then I don't know if you had the opportunity to have breakfast in a place called lavanda or Mamma Mia. There is a very special place called caso de Luna, which is an amazing place to have breakfast other than the hotels, you know, if people are willing to go other places, those are beautiful options along with you know, the new place that Hagmann the new hotel and the Moxie in the Matilda. There are a couple of restaurants as well, very well known and nice for contemporary food that I enjoy a lot. One is called Cobain and the other one is a berry. So just for your I mean if you want to be outside know what other than the hotels, these could be very well you know, very good experiences for for for our guests and some of the rooftop. Yeah. Oh,

Mimi Lichtenstein 42:50
I was gonna say I will. I also forgot to mention, the restaurant called the restaurant I learned was I think the original sort of high end restaurant in San Miguel that helps pave the way for other really nice restaurants to come in. Have you ever eaten there? I did not. I have no, no.

Alfonso 43:09
It should be beautiful. You know, I have I have done a lot of different markets as well. You can eat those, you know, in the street markets. And that's an experience, right? Everything is fresh there.

Mimi Lichtenstein 43:19
Yeah, we even had street tacos one night and I learned that the hours of the street taco guy were 6pm to 6am. So that tells you a little bit about when people are eating street tacos perhaps after particular

Alfonso 43:32
remember about the music and serenading. So always after a 30 you need to go and get some types even though it's 4am Those Mark

Mimi Lichtenstein 43:39
Ah, okay, it's Yeah, I did not do that. But I will next time.

Alfonso 43:44
Did you we were talking about itineraries is very quickly. Mimi, of course, you know, many of our guests actually your guests are combining of San Miguel de Allende with Mexico City because it's, you know, it's like three and a half, four hour drive. Of course, we won't take anybody in a rush hour we're hearing a lot of traffic but if they prefer they can fly to the airports that you mentioned Leon and Kirito from airports in Texas, let's say and I would combine as well. I wouldn't forget about the city of one person together. Yendor is located in the state of Guanajuato, central Mexico, but the capital city is actually called the One A hotel, and it's a mining city. So pretty much we can do either day tour to the city of Guanajuato, which is you know, 60 or 70 minutes away from San Miguel, or spend one or two nights there. It's a mining city founded in the 16th century as well. It used to be very rich because of the the mining industry. And it's it's pretty Pinterest on your way. If you go to win a hotdog you will hit Dolores eidl which is a different small town in which main cathedral the guy that actually you know did the independence of Mexico bike back in 1910 actually started the war of independence from the Spanish back that year. So it's pretty amazing to see the city of Dolores. It's very rich in terms of history. And again, could be 4040 minutes out of San Miguel de de so definitely in terms of an itinerary I would combine, you can do Mexico City, and you can do character as well which would be on your way. And then of course the three the three attractions in the winter what to state of course, and they get they end the jewel, but then also don't forget about Dolores Hidalgo, you know the town that actually were our Mexican Independence born and then the town of went to the capital city of the state.

Mimi Lichtenstein 45:37
Okay. And I'll add that if people are interested in having a beach part to their Mexican vacation. It's also fairly easy to combine San Miguel with either Riviera, Maya finance Cancun or Los Cabos.

Alfonso 45:52
Yes, you can do this both airports, as you were mentioning Greta and Leon.

Mimi Lichtenstein 45:57
Yeah, we flew into Cara thereto. And it's a little bit closer than Leone, and I think a little bit more direct to get there. So I would say if you had an option, pick Cara Tarot. But if you don't have an option, either one of them will work. And since we talked about so many things today that I didn't do in addition to some of the things I did do, I know that this was just the first of many trips I will make to San Miguel de and they because there are so many things I need to do. There's so many restaurants I didn't get to eat at. And I would be thrilled to combine it with some of the trips that you mentioned to places wanna watch. Oh, I've never been to I love to go to so it's definitely on my list. And I hope that it's on other people's lists. This is delightful. Alfonso, thank you so much for taking the time today to share all your knowledge of San Miguel with us.

Alfonso 46:44
Thank you Mimi very much.

Mimi Lichtenstein 46:48
I look forward to talking with you more. And I look forward to having more Americans head down to Mexico and experience the beautiful culture and the food and the people. It's such a great destination for us. So thank you and you and I I'm sure we'll be in touch soon. Thanks, Amy. Take care. If you enjoyed today's show and don't want to miss an episode, you can subscribe and follow the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if you haven't already, I would really appreciate it if you can leave a rating and review to let me know what you think and to help others find adventures and luxury travel. I want your honest feedback so I can create a podcast that shares lots of insights to help travelers have more amazing adventures. Visit true Bay travel.com backslash podcast launch for step by step instructions on how to subscribe, rate and review adventures in luxury travel today. See you next time. Thank you for listening to this episode of adventures and luxury travel. If you want more travel tips go to true Bay travel.com where you can sign up for our newsletter that shares more inspiring travel ideas around the world. See you here next week.