This gorgeous boutique hotel consists of two historic mansions that have been meticulously restored and painted an iconic shade of pink. Named after the owner’s mother and the Yucatan’s history with chocolate, the luxury property features design-conscious interiors that combine old and new, like beautiful tiled floors and antique columns alongside contemporary furniture and modern art. Wooden and tiled walkways and hallways weave through palm trees and koi ponds, while the chocolate-brown, dusty beige, and mauve dominate the tiled lobby that's filled with wooden furniture, black leather couches, and brown armchairs. Fresh-cut roses are scattered throughout the property -- a nice nod to its name -- and there’s plenty of beautiful outdoor spaces to relax or mingle as well, including the outdoor pool and the on-site restaurant’s pink-walled patio that's filled with lush plants and ivy, ponds, and wooden deck flooring. The restaurant draws a crowd from across the city as well as hotel guests, who are mostly couples, though some families and business travelers also pass through.

The hotel is conveniently situated on Merida’s main avenue, the Paseo Montejo, a posh street modeled after Paris' Champs Elysees that's lined with shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, mansions, and museums. Merida’s Zocalo, or main square, home to several top sites and museums, is a bit of a trek, however, taking 20 minutes to reach on foot. This area is home to the Merida Cathedral as well as the Montejo House Museum, the MACAY Museum of Contemporary Art, City Hall, and the State Capitol Building. The ancient Mayan ruins at Uxmal can be reached in about an hour’s drive, while Chichen Itza is about an hour and a half away. The turquoise waters off of the beach at Progreso can be reached in 40 minutes by car and the Merida International Airport is about a 25-minute drive from the hotel.

The hotel’s 17 rooms are beautiful and stylish across all categories and combine modern design with traditional touches, like decorative tiled flooring and deliberately antiqued walls. Rooms are spacious, though size and layout varies, with high vaulted ceilings and a tasteful color palette including rich pinks, chocolate brown, and neutral shades. Funky patterned chairs and vintage cedar desks sit alongside comfortable beds topped with Egyptian cotton sheets, duvets, pink bed runners and matching throw pillows. All rooms feature an array of modern comforts including flat-screen TVs, Bose sound systems with CD and DVD players, minibars, iPod docks, and free Wi-Fi, and some have private terraces. Suites have sitting areas or separate living rooms with dining areas, and some have wet bars. Bathrooms are gorgeous, modern, and spacious, with cedar vanities and mosaic tile work, walk-in rainfall showers, open-air stone bathtubs, handmade chocolate soaps, L’Occitane toiletries, and fluffy bathrobes.

The hotel’s excellent on-site restaurant serves modern gourmet takes on traditional Yucatecan dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with an emphasis on locally sourced ingredients, though guests should know that breakfast is only included with certain bookings. There’s also an elegant tequila bar near the lobby, with more than 250 varieties to sample, and the rooftop Moon Lounge hosts live jazz on certain nights. A small outdoor pool is situated in an interior courtyard surrounded by pink walls and palm trees and has a handful of padded lounge chairs on a wooden sundeck. True to its name, the hotel’s attractive spa offers chocolate-based treatments, or “xocolatherapie,” and there is an on-site chocolate shop offering fine Mexican-Belgian delicacies. The sleek, but snug, fitness center is equipped with a variety of modern machines and is free for guest usage (though memberships are available to the public) while Wi-Fi is free throughout and airport transfers are available for a fee.