the Hacienda San Jose Cholul was definitely worth visiting. The hotel has only about 16 rooms, so it can never be crowded, but at the time we were there, we could only see one other couple at dinner and no other guests for the rest of the time.

The best was the service, the staff went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. When we arrived to check in rather late after a terrible delay at the airport, they were waiting for us and had kept the restaurant open and the staff on duty past their closing time to be able to serve us dinner. Considering there weren't many guests at the hotel we felt truly touched that they made this effort solely for us.

The room we stayed in was great. Very nicely decorated and with a huge bathroom. Outside in the back of the room, a lovely outdoor hottub had been filled for us before we arrived. Of course we needed to run some hot water to make it warm again, but just filling it up would probably take an hour, so we were again impressed by this nice touch. There were candles in the room to place around the tub making it a really romantic experience.

Breakfast was delicious, the pool is large enough for the number of rooms they have, but in November the water was still a bit chilly so I didn't swim.

From memory it took about 30-45 mins to drive from Merida and we were advised to drive back to the highway on our way to Chichen Itza, rather than taking the more direct but lesser road that would probably take longer. Although this hotel is a bit out of the way, I would recommend it wholeheartedly, there are vast grounds to explore (we did not have time as were only spending one night there) and many interesting visits are within easy reach by car for a day-trip. I wish we had stayed there at least one more night.

nycadventure pretty much said exactly what I was going to say. My husband and I stayed at Hancienda San Jose for three nights in mid-March. We booked our stay using Starwood points as well.

The property was unbelievably peaceful and beautiful. Since there are only 15 units we had plenty of privacy. The entire staff was very kind and attentive. Our room was very quiet and charming--just perfect! The best thing about the room (for me) was the hammock...it's no comparison to those bulky rope things we're used to.

I can't find anything bad to say about our stay there, but my husband agrees with nycadventure that his horse was crazy and that the menu might get tiring if you stay there a long time. I rode the smaller horse, who was a sweetie. I had no complaints about their menu either...I could eat their Cochinita Pibil and Tikin Xic every day for the rest of my life.

We drove to the property from Merida airport. We thought the place was a little bit hard to find. It wasn't that the directions were bad--it's just that it would have been more reassuring if there were more signs along the way to let us know we were going in the right direction.

My husband and I had a wonderful time there. We wished we had booked our stay for longer! It was really the perfect place to wind down, and we will definitely be going back on our next trip to Mexico!

We spent two nights of our 6 days in Mexico at the Hacienda and it was the highlight of our trip. The hotel is amazing, from the minute you arrive to the moment you drive away, you feel as though you are someone special. The rooms are wonderful, we stayed in room 5 with the private plunge pool. The staff is curteous, and the grounds are very very well maintained.

At times you feel like you might be the only person staying there and that everyone is simply there to tend to you. It is the perfect romantic hideaway. The restaurant was fabulous. We actually did find slight variations in the menu from night to night. Also the luminaries and candle lite tables one night under the stars were only out done by the next nights bonfire.

We are looking forward to returning again in the future and visiting the other haciendas. During our Mexico trip which was wonderful, we stayed at an eco beach resort in Tulum, which we loved, prior to visiting Hacienda San Jose. When we left we went back to Cancun for two nights at the Ritz Carlton, in a huge suite with living room, two bathrooms, and an amazing patio that was about 600 square feet facing the ocean. And I would still have to say that the Hacienda was a much better place to stay. So if it can beat our the Ritz Carlton, you know it must be great!

My now fiancee and I visited Hacienda San Jose for 2 nights in early March. We started our jounery in Cancun then rented a car and drove to this Hacienda stopping at Chichen Itza on the way. We used Starpoints to pay for our stay. We book a Mayan Villa with our Starpoints but upon arriving we were upgraded to the Master Suite! I wasn't sure what to expect but when we arrived at the room we were blown away. It was multiple rooms which a huge private patio and a huge private backyard with a large private swimming pool! See some of the attached pics. The rooms and bathrooms were amazing. The only way we can describe the room and the property is rustic luxury. Service was great. You are in the middle of nowhere at this hotel and we probably would have gotten bored if we spent many more nights here. Also another thing is that the restaurant has one menu that is the same for lunch and dinner (it does not change day to day so if you are at the hotel for a while the menu can get tiring). Don't get us wrong the food was excellent and so was the service but after the 3rd meal we wished that the menu would change.

It was a lot of fun to explore the property and we did the horseback riding (free) but this was an interesting experience. MY fiancee had never before been on a horse and we expected a crash course... this was too much to ask. They brought over 2 horses and basically wished us well. I asked if they would teach her "the basics" and they responded by saying one of the workers on staff (who spoke zero english) would ride a bicycle and follow us. I should have known at that point. The horses looked healthy and strong but they were not trained for riders like any horse I previously rode on. They were difficult and fighting us the whole way and would start running on their own. After abou 10 minutes of struggling with my horse (and I knew what I was doing to a point), my fiancee said she had enough. If you are an expert rider you will probably be fine. I think these horses are on the site mainly for manual labor purposes and when a guest wants to use them they throw a sadle on them. So be warned.

Overall beyond the horses, the stay was fantastic. We were worried about bugs but lucily did not experience much at all. We brought bug repellant but never even used it.

Enjoy the Hacienda San Jose! It is away from everything but beautiful and well run.