Casona Sforza

Casona Sforza

Ten suites sit on a private beach in Puerto Escondido, on Mexico's Oaxaca coast, arranged inside a building where the arches are structural, not decorative: architect Alberto Kalach based the design on the region's traditional vault technique, made anti-seismic, a method meant to let arches carry weight and, as the hotel puts it, let energy flow into the rooms. Architectural Digest called the result a marriage of ancient arches and vaults with contemporary bohemian flair, sun-bleached and breezy, and an ode to sustainable luxury. Four suite categories split the ten rooms: a Junior and a Senior suite with their own pool, each around 484 and 581 square feet, and Seafront versions of both facing the ocean directly, all with private bathrooms and toiletries. Meals happen at La Bóveda, a Michelin Guide restaurant run by chefs Vanessa Franco and Andres Trujillo, who cook with coffee, honey, and vanilla grown at Pueblo del Sol, the community project that receives one hundred percent of the hotel's earnings, the arrangement that sets Casona Sforza apart from beachfront hotels elsewhere on this coast. Beyond the property, guests can book surf lessons at Carrizalillo, dawn dolphin watching, or a night trip to see bioluminescent plankton on the Manialtepec lagoon. Wi-Fi is available but described by the hotel itself as limited, which points to who this suits: couples happy to go quiet for a few days, not families, since children under eighteen aren't permitted. A $300 deposit is charged per stay and pets are not allowed. Free parking and tour assistance are on hand, but little else is engineered to keep guests busy. What stays with you is simpler: white arches, close water, not much else. Ten suites built around anti-seismic vaulted arches sit on a private beach in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, with earnings funding a community project that also grows its restaurant's coffee and honey. Adults-only, quietly disconnected, built for two people who don't need much to fill the days.