I’m visiting hotels in the colonial heartland of Mexico this week and just spent a couple nights at Villa Maria Cristina, which has been the finest hotel in town since its opening near the end of ‘06. (It nudges out its neighbor a few blocks away, Quinta Las Acacias, which I’ll also be reviewing for Luxury Latin America’s listings.)

Villa Maria Cristina is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels organization and hits all the right notes in terms of architectural integrity and attention to detail in the rooms. Linking together old and new construction on the prestigious Paseo de la Prensa street, it blends together in a series of patios, stairs and railings. (Lots of stairs, which is Guanajuato in general; if you’ve got a bum knee, say so when making reservations so they’ll put you near the one elevator.)

There’s a lot packed into the space, including a spa with an indoor pool and hot tub, a patio with Jacuzzi that faces a mountain, and a good upscale restaurant with a pocket bar featuring fine tequila. Spacious rooms have all that you would expect, like high-end mattresses and linens, but also Bang & Olufsen phones and satellite TV with far more English channels than usual. Plus something so rare in a luxury hotel that I was shocked to find it: free WiFi!

Watch for the review in a week or two in the Mexico listings, but if you’re heading to Guanajuato soon, book a room, junior suite, or master suite through this direct link at Small Luxury Hotels. Published rates are $180 to $390 including taxes and continental breakfast.

UPDATE - Review of Villa Maria Cristina is now posted.

Last week we posted fresh reviews of the five best hotels in Acapulco. I reviewed three of them myself and Diana Rowe stayed at the two Fairmont properties. There’s one strange element to these reviews: none of the hotels are on the main strip of beaches in Acapulco itself. Sure, there’s a Crowne Plaza, a Hyatt, and Fiesta Americana, but after visiting all three I can safely say that they’re routine chain hotels appealing to the mass market.

The best hotels are outside of the traffic-choked center, which means they’re a good distance away from the famed Acapulco night life and the cliff divers.

Starting from the center and heading toward the airport, the best hotel of all comes first: Las Brisas (pictured here). This is a really special hotel that has a hint of Hollywood grandeur to it. The casitas with private pool and deck make you feel like you’ve got your own little villa with an incredible view. The rooms here are the best in town and despite the constant shuttling up and down the hill in a Jeep and the lack of a proper beach, this is our highest recommendation. Quinta Real Acapulco is the other small, high-end hotel appealing to those looking for personal service and it also has a prime hillside spot with great views. The restaurant and bar here are especially attractive and there is a beach.

The other three hotels we feature, including the Fairmont Pierre Marques, all have something special about them though, so if you’re heading down that way anytime soon, read through them all and figure out which is the best match for your needs.

We just got the reviews posted for the best hotels in Zihuatanejo: Casa que Canta and Tides Zihuatanejo.

Casa que Canta continually shows up as one of the best hotels in Mexico, at times topping readers’ polls as the best hotel in Mexico and Central America. I’m not sure I’d go quite that far, but it definitely is in the top 10. The big draw here is the setting, with the buildings looking like some fantasy sand castle rising out of the hillside. The structures dominate the view from both Madiera and La Ropa beaches, but are not ostentatious.

The location provides amazing views from the balcony or terrace of pretty much any room and it’s hard to top the feeling of dining with a panoramic view and the sound of waves hitting the rocks below. Now if only you didn’t have to hike to the beach…

Tides Zihuatanejo gives up the views from on high and instead gets direct access to a beautiful beach. The former Villa del Sol was already a great hotel before it became part of the Kor Hotel Group’s Tides brand, but now it is getting a makeover that is bringing it up to the decadent standards of the best hotels in Mexico. Expect to be pampered at every turn here, from the spacious rooms with every expected amenity to the terrycloth neck pillows and waitress service at the beach.

For a romantic vacation, a honeymoon, or just a reward for lots of hard work, you can’t go wrong at either of these fine Zihuatanejo hotels. Split a week between the two and you’ll get the best of both worlds.

As we’ve tried to make clear in Luxury Latin America, we don’t put much faith in “five star” ratings doled out by tourism bureaus or local rating agencies. They are usually far too generous. While we don’t agree with all of AAA’s choices for its 5-diamond awards either, you certainly can’t fault them for handing out too many. Only 10 hotels in Mexico made the cut.

AAA tends to rate hotels on a very rigid and objective set of requirements, paying lots of attention to the variety of floor coverings, whether there is wainscoating in the hallways, and how many pieces of custom furniture are in the lobby. So the big corporate hotels have an edge over those who worry more about personalized service than whether “signage is of outstanding quality and unique design.” Thus the inclusion of the J.W. Marriott and Fiesta Americana hotels in Cancun, two hotels that are usually filled to the brim with conventioners. Here’s the rundown:

Cancun
Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach
JW Marriott
The Ritz-Carlton

Mexico City
Four Seasons; (our review coming later)