Visiting the small city of San Miguel de Allende is like taking a journey back to old, colonial Mexico at its most beautiful. This is one of those places where the light makes even more out of the postcard-perfect main plaza, the impressive main church, the cobbled streets and graceful architecture, and makes the place feel quite magical. The best hotels and places to stay in San Miguel de Allende — from the more traditional luxury hotels to a great selection of chic, boutique properties — are all well located near the centre of town, to make the most of this gorgeous city.
In the early history of Spain's conquest of Mexico (then known as New Spain), San Miguel de Allende was a major metropolis, with a population larger than New York in the mid 18th century. It then played a prominent role in Mexico's war of independence in the early 19th century, becoming the first city to gain independence from the Spanish, a launchpad for the revolution.
Thereafter, it somewhat stagnated economically. However, this slowdown has reaped benefits for travellers today in that much of its old colonial architecture was preserved and not destroyed to make way for more modern structures. Consequently, when travel opened up after the second world war, San Miguel de Allende began to attract a bohemian crowd, with an influx of artists and writers from the US and Canada drawn in by its stunning mix of baroque and neoclasical architecture. They opened art galleries and museums and coffee shops, and today the cultural scene here is thriving, with frequent local fiestas and parades. In recent years these have been added to with a string of artisan boutiques and galleries displaying the work of some of Mexico's best artists and craftsmen. It's a great place to shop as well as to sightsee!
In 2008 San Miguel de Allende was granted World Heritage status. Today the city is highly cosmopolitan, and there's plenty of choice when it comes to the hotels here or places to eat, both catering to the backpacker brigade as well as a more discerning Hotel Guru on tour...
Our selection of the best places to stay in and around San Miguel de Allende include a wide range of hotels and haciendas, from luxurious rural hideaways to boutique city hotels, all ideal in their own ways for exploring everything this great city has to offer.
