Under the volcano! This place is heaven on earth. Rooms beautifully furnished, high wooden cealings, lovely bathrooms, patios , terraces, gardens, an olympic size swimming pool, internet connection, very attentionate staff. The excursion on horses in the neerby Ravali estate around lagunas surrended by steep hills covered with tropical trees, the bamboo forest , the water falls, the picnic with barbecue organised, everything was a dream.

My 12 year old son and I spent an exceptional 4 nights at the Hacienda de San Antonio in February, 2010. This is an extraordinary place. If you can afford it, by all means stay here.

With the onset of winter at home, my family and I often look for a long weekend somewhere warm in February over my son’s Presidents’ Day holiday (a 4 day weekend). Having spent two prior Presidents’ Day holidays in Mexico, we decided to give the Hacienda de San Antonio a try. Unfortunately, my wife’s work commitments kept her at the office, but my son and I decided to make the holiday a hiking weekend for the two of us.

We flew in to Guadalajara, and drove down to the Hacienda (which is in the countryside near Colima, the capital of the Mexican state of Colima). Most of the trip was on divided highways (toll roads), and our trip was uneventful. The hotel’s directions and map were very accurate and easy to follow.

The Hacienda is located at around 3000 feet above sea level (plus or minus), and thus was a very pleasant upper 70s during the day (even while Colima, about 1500 lower in elevation, was in the mid-to-upper 80s). The nights were in the upper 50’s. We had clear weather for our stay.

The website for the Hacienda more than does justice for the grounds, rooms and public areas, so I won’t go into great detail here. Suffice it say that everything we ran into matched the photos – all aspects of the Hacienda are in excellent condition, are spotlessly clean, and are attended to on a daily basis by an attentive staff. The setting is spectacular -- with terrific views of Volcan Fuego and Nevada de Colima.

What particularly impressed me were the water features – a series of small fountains, connected by channels through which the water ran from feature to feature. I’ve been places before where one could see such installations, but often not all of them worked, or many of them were full or partially full with debris (leaves, dirt, etc). Not at the Hacienda. Even in the tropical surroundings, everything worked, and looked as if a gardener had been there five minutes before (and that was early in the morning, late at night and in the mid-afternoon). Amazing.

The furnishings of the rooms, linens and bedding were at the deluxe level. The mechanicals worked perfectly (water pressure, HVAC, hot water temperature and quantity).

The attentiveness of the staff stood out. I decided that I would not drink during the stay, and so opted for iced tea. After the first order on the first night, whenever I took a place at the pool, in the public areas of the hotel, or at dinner, a member of the staff would arrive shortly thereafter with an iced tea for me. And when the glass neared empty, they would reappear with a refill.

On the first two nights, only one other room was occupied at the hotel. Sometimes, that can leave one feeling a bit odd, and lonesome. Not at the Hacienda. Each night, the staff lit luminaries in the central courtyard and in the lodging area of the hotel – somewhere around 800 or so. In the morning, the luminaries mysteriously had disappeared. They went through this effort even for only 4 guests! Wonderful.

The food at the Hacienda was excellent. The Hacienda has an organic farm, on which they grow herbs and vegetables. There are dozens of fruit trees in orchards around the Hacienda building itself. They also make cheese and grow and roast their own coffee. Perhaps the emblematic moment of our stay was at breakfast on our second morning (breakfast was outside on the porch of the Hacienda). I ordered a fruit plate for my son and I to share, along with breakfast entrees. Our waiter took the order, and when he returned just a few moments later to refill my coffee, he apologized for the delay (it had only been 3 minutes) in bringing the fruit plate -- “We’re sorry, Senor, but we are picking your fruit.” Exceptional.

There is very nice hiking in the vicinity of the Hacienda. It is necessarily guided – most of the route crosses private property – but our guides were very helpful and brought along refreshments. We did an 8 mile hike the first day (about 1300 foot elevation gain), and a 6 mile hike the second (with around 2500 elevation gain) to the shoulders of Volcan de Fuego. The last day we did a short hike, and then rode horses in the afternoon.

At dinner each night, the hotel tries to offer guests a different location for dining. So, the first night, my son and I were in the dining room. The second, we were in a large living area with an enormous fireplace, in which a fire had been lit. The third night we were on the porch of the Hacienda. If the wife was with me, it would have been very romantic.

A few quibbles:

- the lighting in our suite (which was enormous, with a living room and bedroom, two fireplaces and two bathrooms) was less than I normally prefer. They need to add a couple floor lamps to the living room.

- the pool, while kept very clean, had stratified water – the upper layer comfortably warm, but the lower areas (from your mid-thighs down) was extremely cold. I’m not a pool person, but I think that has something to do with circulation of the water.

- the Hacienda was not cheap. Food was extra, as were the guided hikes. Although we got an upgrade, this was the most expensive four day weekend I’ve had (and that’s saying something). The very good news was that everything about the Hacienda made the cost worth it.

If you are not cost sensitive, or are willing to splurge, I would highly recommend a stay at the Hacienda de San Antonio.

This hotel is an oasis of paradice in the middle of Mexico. We had a 4 day family anniversary celebration at the hacienda. The beautiful gardens, wonderful home grown coffee and food, lovely rooms, great staff and puffing volcano made our event one we will cherish forever.

My husband and I spent half of our honeymoon at the Hacienda and could not have asked for a more romantic, luxurious, and perfect stay. The Hacienda is immaculate, with stately and gorgeous rooms, beautifully maintained grounds, and plenty of stunning shared spaces. The service is exceptional and every staff member we encountered was helpful and kind.

If you're not content lazing on the poolside beds for two, there is also a range of activities available. We took a tour of the property's organic coffee plantation and cheese factories, had a picnic on part of the large property overlooking one of their lakes, played tennis, and hiked to the nearby "Mirrador" for a bird's eye view of the Hacienda and its surrounding grounds.

Every moment of our time at the Hacienda was spectacular, and we can't wait to someday make a return trip!