Grupo Posadas is readying to open the fifth property in its lifestyle brand, Live Aqua. Slated to debut with a soft open in October, and an official open in November, Live Aqua San Miguel Urban Resort San Miguel de Allende is the result of a $35 million investment, and is anticipated to be the jewel in the Live Aqua crown.
“We love all of our children, but this is the newborn, and we think it is going to be so unique to the destination,” said Jose Carlos Azcarraga, CEO of Grupo Posadas, at a breakfast held for travel trade media in New York.
Known for its colonial architecture, cobblestone streets, upscale dining and cultural scene, San Miguel de Allende has long been a haven for American retirees and expats. For the second year in a row, Travel + Leisure named it its favorite city in the world. In recent years, with openings like Rosewood, boutique Hotel Matilda, and Grupo Habita’s La Purficadora, the destination has started to embody a chic, trendy scene, bringing the age demographic of travelers down considerably. Live Aqua is tapping into this fresh energy with its new Urban Hotel.
The resort will have 153 guestrooms, two fine dining restaurants, a full service spa, and meeting and events space. What sets the resort apart from other resorts in San Miguel de Allende is that it is an entirely new construction hotel, which is rare for a city with Unesco World Heritage status. It took five years to develop the hotel, said the executives at the breakfast, and it was built entirely in accordance with San Miguel de Allende legislation so that it blends in with the colonial aesthetic of the city. It is also four blocks from the iconic Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel cathedral, which means it is in the heart of downtown.
Restaurants will include Zibu, an upscale Mexican restaurant helmed by Chef Eduardo Palazuelos, as well as Spice Market, which will be an Asian fusion restaurant. There will also be a resort bakery, snack bar, and mezcal bar. Outside, guests will have access to a pool and jacuzzi. Other amenities include the gym, and spa with 10 treatment rooms, as well as a private pool, sauna, and steam room. The meeting space, one of the largest in the state of Guanajuato, according to Azcarraga, will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 guests in the ballroom, and can be divided into five separate sections. There will also be two terraces which can be used for functions.
“Live Aqua Urban Resort will also be integrated into Grupo Posadas’ La Collection,” said Enrique Calderon Fernandez, COO Hotels for Grupo Posadas. La Coleccion is a collection of 12, now 13 distinctive resorts in formerly Mexico’s beach destinations, but now will include this urban resort. “The only other Live Aqua resorts in this collection are the ones in Cancun and Playa del Carmen.”