I first visited Mérida as a layover stop earlier this year and somewhere in those 5 hours discovered Kuka & Naranjo. While the inner explorer in me was certainly curious to see what Mérida had to offer, I decided to rest somewhere shaded and pretty and full of the kind of food you double up on for the long journey. In my quest for local vegan food close to the bus station, the Happy Cow app showed me that my best bet would be the restaurant La Kombuchería, adjacent to the humble, lush green cultural hotel.

True to the Yucatán flavors and deeply proud of it, the restaurant quickly impressed me. From the quirky, vintage design that gave the cozy restaurant an air of a 1950s Latin American past to the perfectly plated calabaza flautas, as well stacked as they were flavorsome, I liked it all. I quickly filled my camera roll with images of this new favorite spot of mine. I was curious, amongst the vinyl players, the rustic though warm plant-infused restaurant vibe and the inviting modern design, I wondered what the hotel experience would be like.

A few months later on my return to the heart of the Yucatán region, I returned straight to Kuka & Naranjo and wasn’t let down at all. Thankfully I was arriving from the Caribbean and so the intense Yucatán heat wasn’t an unbearable surprise to me, but what did strike me was how smooth, cool and almost paradoxically tranquil the hotel was, even while the noise and excitement of Mérida did its thing in the busy San Juan neighborhood.

Sustainable travel in Mérida: Kuka & Naranjo

sustainable hotels