Hotel Agua Blanca

The location for this hotel is unbeatable! The surrounding mountains, river, trees combined with the property gardens is gorgeous - a very private, quiet oasis in Central Mexico. We were there to see the Monarchs, which was good but not great and were grateful to have a place to return to that felt so special. The mineral pool is lovely - takes getting used to given color, etc. but a very nice way to relax after a long day hiking and out on the road. The rooms are very clean and while the hotel is older things have been pretty well maintained. We had one bed that was fine and one bed that had an older mattress but we slept fine. No A/C but not needed this time of year. The restaurant staff are very friendly and helpful and the food was good - we did find that for our group they tended to Americanize the food a bit but if you ask ahead of time, you can easily get Mexican food. Breakfast was plentiful. They have filtered water stations throughout the property, which is much appreciated. We wish they would do more about their sustainability practices and remove small plastic bottles from the bathrooms - would be so simple to replace with bulk.

A friend found a yoga retreat in her facebook feed that included a trip to a Monarch butterfly preserve. I was immediately drawn to it as the hotel was a final stop on a trip I had been planning which was unfortunately cancelled by the organizer. The hotel, Agua Blanca, sounded amazing with natural mineral springs filling their pools, acres to hike with several waterfalls, spa treatments & healthy meals. A friend & I booked the retreat & we were not disappointed. We flew into Mexico City & a driver met us & the others on the retreat to take us on the 3 hour drive to our destination. When we arrived we were greeted by the family that owns the property. They were all wonderful & treated us like family. The rooms were clean & bright. There were water filtering stations around the property to fill your water bottles. They offered bottled water if we wanted but it really wasn’t necessary. No one had any digestive issues with water, ice or food served. Our retreat included yoga, several spa treatments, guided hikes, meditation, a sweat lodge experience, all meals, with the trip to see the Monarch’s as a bonus! There is a bar & gift shop which were, of course, extra. The entire family was involved. I had inquired about tipping in advance knowing I was getting spa treatments & was told they have a cashless system. If I wanted to add a tip at the end of my stay, it would be shared by all 30 employees, many of whom we had no direct contact with but just as valuable to operating & maintaining the property. It clearly does take a village to maintain this beautiful property. I highly recommend Agua Blanca & hope to return with more friends in the future!