San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: Hotel Amparo is a bijou bolthole in a jewel of a city

A bespoke, bijou bolthole has opened in the UNESCO World Heritage city often listed amongst the world's most beautiful. San Miguel de Allende is a baroque colonial jewel in central Mexico and the new Hotel Amparo now inhabits its 300-year-old mayoral residence. The hotel features only five guest suites which surround two traditional courtyards hidden behind tall plank gates.

Texan owners Taylor Goodall and Mariana Barran de Goodall, who own Hibiscus Linens, a luxury traditional textile and needlework design company, sought to create a residential-style hideaway influenced by their travels around the world and to offer "amenities and experiences currently unmatched in San Miguel de Allende".

For Australians, that's good news – the hotel features a high-end coffee bar with a La Marzocco espresso machine. High quality Mexican beans are used with the aim of making the best coffee in the city. The coffee bar is open to the public as well as guests and there is seating on the terrace. There will soon also be a rooftop wine bar, serving fine international wines, with emphasis on the naturally made.

Texas-based designer Aaron Rambo stripped back the interior spaces to t showcase both the original Spanish colonial-style architecture and to frame mid-century furnishings, unique decorative items and sumptuous bedding, hand towels and linens custom-made by Hibiscus Linens.

San Miguel de Allende is known as an artists' enclave and Hotel Amparo offers exclusive experiences such as tours of local markets with resident artisans and culinary classes in the hotel's teaching kitchen and workshops. The hotel also provides a "gallery concierge service" to assist with the purchase and shipping of local art finds.

Rates start at $US325 per night, a double, including breakfast, happy hour on the terrace and an evening dessert hour. See hotelamparo.com