Oaxaca: City and Coast
Two Grupo Habita hotels in Oaxaca: Otro Oaxaca, behind a historic façade opposite Santo Domingo, and Hotel Terrestre, built of brick and run on solar power, on the Pacific coast.
Both hotels belong to Grupo Habita. RootStudio designed the one in the city, Alberto Kalach the one on the coast, and otherwise they have little in common. One stands on a pedestrian street in the old town, the other between the mountains and the Pacific.
Together they make a trip in two stages: first the city, then across the mountains to the coast.
Otro Oaxaca: behind the façade
Calle Macedonio Alcalá is the pedestrian street through the centre of Oaxaca, and at its end stands the church of Santo Domingo. Otro Oaxaca is opposite. Behind the colonial façade, RootStudio, led by João Boto Caeiro, has built something openly new: brick, concrete and reclaimed wood arranged around courtyards.
There are sixteen rooms, furnished by craftspeople from the region. On the roof are a pool and a bar facing the church; in the basement, a spa with a plunge pool.
Terrestre: solar power on the Pacific
Hotel Terrestre lies on the coast road beyond Puerto Escondido. Alberto Kalach has set fourteen villas into the landscape in brick, concrete and wood, with stairs and terraces; each has its own pool and an outdoor bathroom. There is no air conditioning, and the hotel runs entirely on solar power.
Next door is Casa Wabi, the art foundation of the artist Bosco Sodi, in a building by Tadao Ando. Terrestre itself has an open-air restaurant, a hammam with seven chambers and a bathing pool. Without air conditioning, the heat of the coast is part of the stay, which is worth bearing in mind when you choose your dates.
Practical
Fly to Oaxaca and spend three nights at Otro Oaxaca. Since 2024, the new motorway from Barranca Larga to Ventanilla has cut the drive to Puerto Escondido to about two and a half hours, according to the operator CAPUFE; you can also fly. Hotel Terrestre is a further drive along the coast from Puerto Escondido, so ask the hotel for the current journey time to the door. Four nights at Terrestre give the coast its due. The best time is November to March; May and June are hot on the coast, and the summer brings rain.
