In the heart of Mérida, behind the walls of a 19th-century residence, Mansión Xodó offers a chance to slow down. The movement of the city remains outside, while inside, high ceilings, vegetation, and the sound of water in the central courtyard create a sense of privacy that inspired the project. It is a space designed not only for staying, but for making it your own for a few days.
The idea began precisely with this property. Jabib, owner and conceptual director of Mansión Xodó, is originally from Mérida and had spent years watching with interest as old residences in the city center, many of them abandoned for decades, began to come back to life. Architecture and hospitality were already two of his major interests; all that was missing was finding the place where they could come together.
When he saw the house, his reaction was immediate. “I don’t know what I’m going to do there, but I think something good could come out of it,” he recalls. The proportions, the heights, and, above all, the feeling of being inside the property revived a long-standing idea he had kept for years.
An oasis in the middle of the city
The concept of Mansión Xodó was also born from a very personal way of understanding travel. Rather than itineraries packed with activities, Jabib wanted to create the kind of stay he himself enjoys: peaceful, private, and capable of becoming a pause.
“Why don’t we create something, an oasis in the center of Mérida?” was one of the questions that gave direction to the project. The intention was to bring the feeling of a retreat normally found at a hacienda or on a property far from the city into a completely urban setting.
That is one of Xodó’s distinctive qualities. Beyond its doors, Mérida continues to unfold: restaurants, bars, museums, galleries, and cultural spaces are all part of the experience. The gastronomic corridor on Calle 47 is just a few minutes away on foot, as are Santa Lucía and other points in the Historic Center. For Jabib, being “truly immersed in the everyday life” of the city is one of the property’s most valuable qualities.
Mansión Xodó is now presented as a private luxury residence available exclusively for rent, with suites, a swimming pool, wine cellar, spa, movie theater, gym, sauna, jacuzzi, bar, and speakeasy, among other amenities. However, accumulating spaces was never the objective. Each one responds to the possibility of creating a different stay for every guest.
True luxury means making it personal
A wine or mezcal tasting, a Mayan ceremony, a visit to Chichén Itzá, private cooking classes, or several days with a chef preparing meals inside the house. All of these experiences can be part of a stay, but none are mandatory. It is also possible to request exactly the opposite: almost complete privacy and minimal contact with the staff.
“That is also part of it, making you feel like it is your home,” Jabib explains. Before each visit, the team seeks to learn about the guests’ tastes and expectations in order to build the experience around them.
That freedom defines much of the concept. It is not about arriving at a hotel and adapting to its routine, but rather having the property adapt to the people staying there. The intention, its creator explains, was to offer all the amenities one might find in a boutique hotel, but within a completely private space. “It is a space dedicated entirely to you.”
Even celebrations are designed to preserve that philosophy. In the interview, Jabib explains that they have chosen to prioritize small gatherings connected to the people staying at the property, with the intention of protecting both the integrity of the place and its exclusive character.
A house with a traveler’s spirit
Restoring a 19th-century residence meant preserving the elements that told its story without turning it into a time capsule. The traditional architecture remained the starting point, while the interior design took a more contemporary and eclectic direction.
The inspiration was to imagine the house as “a traveler’s home.” That is why its rooms do not follow an identical formula or the standardization commonly found in hotels. Objects discovered during travels, references to different styles, and pieces selected throughout the process gradually created a mixture that, although diverse, maintains a common thread.
The process also meant facing the challenges inherent in renovating a centuries-old building: outdated systems, pipes, and moisture appeared during the restoration. These are expected problems when the easier alternative would have been, as Jabib puts it, “to build a white cube from scratch.”
And perhaps that is precisely where part of its charm lies. Because among spaces designed to surprise, its creator’s favorite remains one of the simplest: the central courtyard.
The vegetation, the sound of the fountain, and the possibility of sitting there with a coffee in the morning or a drink as the afternoon fades summarize better than any amenity what he wanted to create. “What I like most is the first thing you see, because that is really where you feel that peace,” he says.
The beginning of something bigger
The location makes it possible to go from the tranquility of the mansion to restaurants, galleries, and some of the best-known points in downtown Mérida within minutes.
For now, Mansión Xodó exists only in Mérida, but the vision could extend much further. Jabib shares an idea that, until this interview, he says he had not made public: turning it into the first of a future collection of private properties.
They would not necessarily have to be mansions, be located in cities, or replicate Xodó’s architecture. The requirement would be different: each property would have to be unique while sharing the same pursuit of peace, tranquility, exclusivity, and privacy, whether for traveling with family, working for a season, or simply disappearing from the everyday rhythm for a few days.
Because in the end, among the wine cellar, movie theater, spa, architecture, and tailor-made experiences, Mansión Xodó’s proposal always seems to return to the same place: reclaiming the luxury of having time and space of your own, without giving up the opportunity to be in the middle of a city that invites you to go out and discover it.
Source: lyfeandstyle.expansion
