Every Spring, my wife and I travel abroad and try to find some little charming places to stay and eat, avoiding the big cities and the chain cookie-cutter rooms inside the big hotels. Last year we stayed at the “Quinta da Capela”, a bed and breakfast in the heart of the Sintra forest, a World Heritage designated area, in Portugal. What an experience! The place must be the ultimate rural romantic retreat.

Unable to travel abroad this year because of family and bussines issues, we decided to drive a hundred miles from home, to domestically celebrate our own wedding anniversary.

We discovered the “Posada El Tepozteco” five years ago, when we visited Tepoztlan to attend a wedding in neighbor Cuernavaca. We returned three years ago and then this May. As before, we enjoyed the place very much, but this time we also enjoyed a much better kitchen and cellar. Food and wine was, if not up to the natural beauty of Tepoztlan, pretty close.

The Posada has a privileged seating in the East side of a steep hill, overlooking the little village, but just a couple of blocks from the main plaza and church. To the North, the view of the Tepozteco Mountain was overwhelming. Nature was lavish here: in addition to the magnificent views, almost everything was green or full of flowers and we were blessed with perfect weather.

The hotel is “luxury” not in the traditional meaning of the word, but in a more intimate way. Stone, brick, hand made tiles, forged iron and rustic woods are everywhere. Building elements, which are truer than fancy, bring an atmosphere than modern hand made materials lack off. The place is clean, the gardens are manicured, and the owner and his staff are very friendly. Certainly the place require more attention to maintenance in some areas and the espresso coffee taste could be improved, but who cares when a worn out hinge is next to a blooming bougainvillea or a tiny cup of coffee is served next to a lascivious dessert?

On our last night, we choose for dinner a table in the far corner of the terrace, under the woody vines veranda. Soon, a fireworks spectacle exploded in front of us. A neighborhood was celebrating the festivity of “La Santa Cruz”, the national bricklayer’s saint patron.

Illuminated by a candlelight on our table and a nearby torch for the mosquitoes, I was dripping in her glass the last thirteen drops of a bottle of Pomerol red wine, when my wife told me: this place reminds me the Quinta da Capela. Knowing her warm feelings for Sintra, no more praising words could be said for the Posada.

Jose & Maria Luisa
Puebla, Mexico.