Opening Shot is a column that peeks inside new hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops with dreamy interiors.
CASA ALONDRA
Location: Morelia, Mexico
Designer: McLean Meyer
On Offer: While traveling around Mexico’s Pacific coast, Eric Meyer fell for the remarkable history—and, thanks to a bustling scene of international film and organ festivals, contemporary frisson—of Morelia. He spotted a 17th-century colonial mansion among the quarry arches and 250 listed monuments in the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and with help from his firm, Mclean Meyer, transformed it into Casa Alondra, a six-room boutique hotel. A palette of pale, Provençal–inspired colorways keeps the focus on original tile floors and soaring timber beamed-ceilings. Given the region’s legendary craft traditions, it’s only fitting that its furnishings feature cabinets made nearby, bathtubs for the guest rooms hand-made by Santa Clara del Cobre smiths, and ceramic vases by Dolores Hidalgo across bedroom walls.
Standout Amenities: Chef Dan Corona, who got his start at Hunik in Merida before a stint as head chef at Casa Sandra in Holbox, helms Casa Alondra’s Restaurante Diego. There, he plates local strawberries into salads to brighten other courses like artichoke foam soup and roast beef risotto, all served within the shaded Olive Court. Guests and locals can whet appetites beforehand with a ceviche and pisco sour among the quarry fireplace and velvet seating of Corona’s Rhythm Room bar, then repair to the roof terrace, with its panoramic views of the city and its pink cantera stone cathedral at the foot of the Sierre Madre Oriental.
