Inside of Mansion Hotel Iturbe in Patzcuaro

Like many cities in Mexico, Patzcuaro is a great place for strolling. At Mansion Hotel Iturbe, you can be right in the thick of things as soon as you walk out the door.

Crafts from Michoacan adorn every wall and surface

This evocative hotel, which is in a converted 18th-century mansion, faces the city’s main square: Plaza Vasco de Quiroga. This is a manicured, shady park surrounded by cafes, shops with local crafts, and ice cream stands. The latter sell flavors you’ve never heard of and others you probably don’t want to try, like tequila, cheese, and corn.

From there you can walk to centuries-old churches, a few interesting museums and a maze-like local market. If you take a tour or hire a driver, the villages around Patzcuaro Lake are some of the best spots in Mexico for buying handicrafts at a great price.

Mansion Hotel Iturbe is a great place to return to when you’re through. There is an open-air courtyard, plus a reading room on the top floor for perusing the coffee table books on Mexico or playing games. At night the staffers set up tea sets in the hallway and there’s a small bar and coffee shop on the first floor with sidewalk seating across from the park.

Rates here, which start at only $85 per night double, also include a scrumptious full breakfast in the Doña Paca restaurant. (See some Patzcuaro breakfast shots at this link.) You can get wimpy pancakes or French toast, but stronger palates should go for one of the local specialties with eggs and spicy salsa.

Reading room at Mansion Iturbe.

Rooms have high beamed ceilings and original shutters that do an amazing job of keeping out noise and the morning light. TVs, safes, and robes and standard and Internet access is complimentary.

Sleeping in a historic Patzcuaro mansion

The Lord & Mayfair products in the toiletries basket are nice, but if you have too many drinks in the gaucho-themed music bar on the first floor, they’ve got something for that too: packets of Alka-Seltzer and aspirin.

For more information, visit the Mansion Hotel Iturbe website. For booking this and other inn full of character in Michoacan state, see the Tesoros of Mexico English website.

Review and photos by travel writer and Mexico expert Tim Leffel. He was hosted at this hotel while doing research for various articles in Michoacan.

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