Casita de las Flores

Casita de las Flores logo 2012

Casita de las Flores

Accommodations & Vacational Therapy,

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico — 2001-20013

San Miguel’s first B&K (Bed & Kitchen), and perrhaps the first affordable San Miguel accommodations to be found online. The Casita’s web presence allowed the business first to exist and then to thrive in a crowded, but under-promoted market.

Our niche was affordability, as most San Miguel lodgings were higher end. It would have taken years to break even, much less make a profit, had we relied on local advertising options.

Many other affordable lodgings followed our online lead. (In fact, a Google search turned up a B&B in Chile, which had stolen our name, website design, and branding outright! Imitation = flattery?)

Client

Me

The Client was a bit of perfectionist, and had to be involved in absolutely everything! But the Casita, as it came to be known by our dear guests and friends, came out of it.

My biggest art project (to that date), I designed everything, from remodeling the property, to decor, to branding. Yippee!

Setting up as a part-time business, I pursued various other creative endeavors while running it, including photography, writing, and remodeling and selling four other San Miguel houses.

The Casita served for a decade and a half as a temporary home and hub for hundreds of adventurous budget travelers with an artistic bent. Much vino and laughter graced the shared kitchen and courtyard, and many friendships were founded there.

I sold Casita de las Flores in 2013, and it lived on another four years before selling for the second time and entering its new incarnation as a boutique hotel, at www.CasitaSanMiguel.com. Prices have gone up, but the spirit—and much of the decor—of Casita de las Flores lives on. The Casita origin story can still be found here.

Mission

Top to bottom makeover

How to turn an extremely funky fixer upper into a charming, cozy, profitable little hotel in the artist capital of Mexico? Leave no brick unturned.

(Read more about our origin story in How to make a B&K.) A complete remodel was followed by furnishing (some pieces, like beds and closets, were made to my specs, others I hunted down at antique stores and garage sales) decoration, and of course, promotional materials. I created the branding, took the photographs, and wrote the content. I then handled promo, inquiries, bookings, and guest relations — basically, I did everything but clean (and when necessary, I cleaned).

After a year, I also created and maintained my own website, so I would be able to have instant updates as well as way more creative freedom. Apart from being a primer in the hospitality industry and an advanced degree in customer service, the Casita helped me learn WordPress and web development.

The website became not only our main promotional tool, but an irreverent blog on issues relating to San Miguel and travel in Mexico, as well as a San Miguel guide — both of which provided a service, as well as drawing potential customers. I followed the same service philosophy in my subsequent business website, Casa Oasis Troncones, which also serves as a very detailed guide to Troncones.

If you inform customers, they will (appreciate it and) come.

Design Inspirations

Colonial architecture and ornamentation

San Miguel de Allende’s rich color palette

Mexican antiques

Creative and promotional writing

Casita Blog

The Great Gringas of San Miguel

San Miguel is chock full of colorful, feisty, independent women. The question is: Are these mujeres that way when they come, or does SMA make them so? The other day, I ran into Anne, one of our many guests-turned-residents (and one of my…

Casita Blog, Essays

The Tuesday Market — a photo essay

Casita Blog

It’s All About the Egg

(The Prequel to The Casita Story) I wrote this nearly a decade ago, just four months before finding the house (and immense project) that would keep me very, very busy and eventually become Casita de las Flores…I hope this little blog provides…

Casita Blog, Essays, Life in Mexico

Crazy Day in San Miguel

At 5:54 am on the second Saturday in June, I am catapulted out of sleep by a brass band playing under my window. Several trumpets, a trombone, a giant bass drum and an actual tuba for the requisite oom pah pahs. Oh, yes, can’t forget the…

Casita Blog, Essays, Life in Mexico, Memoir, Travel, Writing

The Casita de las Flores Story

or How to Start a B&K (Don't Try This at Home) What a trip! Once upon a time, eleven years ago, in a land sort of far away… a dusty, overheated and traumatized (Mexican roads) 12-year-old Nissan Pathfinder rattled into the yet-to-be-fully-discovered…

Design Portfolio

Casita de las Flores

Accommodations & Vacational Therapy,

Creative and promotional writing