La Purificadora

A 19th-century water purification plant turned hotel, with the conversion handled by Ricardo Legorreta, the modernist architect behind Mexico City's Camino Real. The 26 rooms lean toward austere, blacks and whites and bare stone walls left exactly as found, with comfort arriving through texture rather than color. The elevated pool runs thirty meters, which is not a typo. Puebla is a quieter stop on the road between Mexico City and Oaxaca, and La Purificadora is a good reason to make it one.