3 Days in San Miguel de Allende: An Unhurried Plan From Our Door in Zona Centro

Check-in is from 3:00 pm. If you're flying in, our SUV transfer partner covers Querétaro in about 1 hour 20 minutes, Bajío in about 1 hour 40 and Mexico City in about 3 hours 30, so a midday flight into QRO puts you here right on time. Arriving earlier? We'll keep your bags safe while you go for a walk.

Before you go anywhere, sit by the water. Our pools and jacuzzi are in the courtyard beneath the double Chichimeca staircase, among lemon trees. After a morning of airports, an hour here does more than any sight in town. The courtyard is lovely this time of evening.

The main square is the center of San Miguel and the walk there from our door is all old-town streets. Go at dusk rather than noon: the light on the Parroquia is softer, the benches fill up, and the square is at its most itself. You don't need a plan here. Sit, watch, wander the streets around it, and head to dinner when you're hungry.

We don't have a restaurant in the house. What we have instead is a handpicked list of partner restaurants in San Miguel that our concierge knows well. Tell us what you're in the mood for and how late you like to eat, and we'll book it. Let's arrange that for you.

Complimentary continental breakfast is part of every stay. Eat slowly. It's a long day of looking, and it starts better with coffee in the open air.

This was once the cloister of the convent next door, built around a central patio, and today it's a cultural center. The reason to go is David Alfaro Siqueiros's mural inside, which he never finished. That's the interesting part: you can see the geometry and the working lines that a completed mural would have hidden. Give it an hour, and leave time to sit in the patio.

A former textile factory on the north side of town that now houses galleries, studios and artisan shops, with work by artists who live in San Miguel. Entry is free and the complex is open daily, but most of the businesses inside close on Sundays, which is why this day belongs on a weekday or Saturday. Wander rather than shop with a list. It's a short ride from our door.

A 67-hectare botanical garden and nature reserve right at the edge of San Miguel, with a conservatory of Mexican plants, a sculpture trail, wetlands and a canyon. Visitors usually spend two to three hours here, and it's a short ride by car. Go in the afternoon after the galleries, when you'll want open sky more than another room full of art. Wear the walking shoes.

After a day like that, we'd stay in. We arrange in-room massages and facials on request, so book one for the early evening and let dinner be something simple. I'll take care of it.

If you have one more trip in you, Dolores Hidalgo is the easy one: about 30 minutes from our door, so you can be there and back before lunch is over. Ask us the day before and we'll help you plan it.

Guanajuato Capital is about an hour from us, which makes it a full day rather than a morning. Choose it if you'd rather see one more city. Choose Dolores Hidalgo if you'd rather be back in the courtyard by mid-afternoon.

The third option is our favourite: stay home. Pedro Friedeberg's surreal, ornate style runs through the house, down to the monkey reliefs crowning the fireplace in the Alma Suite. Take a book to the courtyard, ask about The Voyage Within, our experiences program in five streams (Nurture, Explore, Create, Connect and Savor), and let the afternoon go where it goes. Take your time, there's no rush here.

Check-out is at 12:00 pm. Depending on how full we are, we can offer a complimentary late check-out until 1:00 pm, so ask us the evening before.