May 25, 2010

Art-focused Hotel Matilda opening in September in San Miguel de Allende



We love, love, love San Miguel de Allende,  designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its pristine Spanish colonial architecture. Condé Nast Traveler’s “Best in the World” list for 2009, named it the #5 city of the Americas. And although it already has a respectable number of top-quality hotels - the best being Orient Express' Casa de Sierra Nevada - additions to the hotel scene are always welcome.

That's why we think it's great that Hotel Matilda will open its doors in September, in the historical center. The hotel aims to be a "living art gallery", and was named after owner Harold Stream's mother, Matilda. The great Diego Rivera painted a portrait of her in the 1940's, and a replica of it will hang in the hotel.


Stream has been in the business since 1972 and has owned several hotels in the U.S. and Mexico. His Hotel Matilda will have:

- 32 rooms and suites, many with views of the beautiful San Miguel skyline, many with terrasses filled with potted plants and flowers.

- a restaurant with garden seating serving contemporary Mexican cuisine
- a stylish lounge and bar with a patio overlooking San Miguel;
- a spa with four treatment rooms, a couple's room and a Spa Suite with steam shower, tub and private courtyards. It'll also have an apothecary selling hand-made products blending indigenous ingredients.
- an infinity pool


The definitive highlight, however, will be the art collection. It will be anchored by permanent pieces and then be continuously refreshed with rotating works.

As the press release says, "Several acclaimed artists have been commissioned to create major pieces of art specifically for Hotel Matilda including: For a large interior wall, Bosco Sodi, who works with organic matter and color to create intangible energy and intense dialogue; for the Boveda ceiling in the lounge, Aldo Chapparo, whose pieces focus on the visual relations between natural and artificial objects;  and for behind the Front Desk, Nacho Rodriguez, whose work is characterized by timelessness and the utilization of a diversity of media to explore the meaning of form and blur the lines between art and other disciplines. Photographer Spencer Tunick’s famous shot of thousands of nudes in Mexico City’s main square will be the wallpaper in the lounge bathroom."

Hotel Matilda: info@hotelmatilda.com, or (011) (52) 415-152-10-15