Hotel Escondido Oaxaca

Hotel Escondido Oaxaca sits on Calle Morelos, a few blocks north of the Zócalo and within easy reach of Santo Domingo. From the street it reads as one more nineteenth century house with a thick wall and a modest door. Step through and the old house gives way to a second building at the back: a slim tower of exposed concrete by Alberto Kalach and his Taller de Arquitectura X. The contrast between the old house and the raw concrete is the whole idea.

The twelve rooms come in four categories. Kalach's tower holds eight of them, balcony and patio rooms of around 20 square metres, while the old house has the other four, including the deluxe and Top suite categories, the largest at 40 square metres. Interiors are by the Década studio working with Grupo Habita co-founder Carlos Couturier, and the furnishings were made by local artisans, which keeps the rooms rooted in Oaxaca rather than in a catalogue.

The hotel has a terrace with a pool and solarium, and on the roof a space set aside for silence. Dogs are welcome in the rooms for a nightly fee, which keeps the house relaxed rather than precious, and the reading and co-working room in the old house suits anyone stretching a visit into a working week. Markets, mezcal bars and the churches of the centre are all a short walk away.