San Ángel Inn

Photos: Marypaz Musi, Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

San Ángel Inn is a primarily residential neighborhood that takes its name from a historic hotel and restaurant. Today a restaurant and events venue, its practically at the very center of the historic neighborhood, and just across the street from the Rivera-Kahlo House & Studio Museum. It’s also just about exactly at the end of the iconic Altavista Avenue, and historically linked to the colonial town of San Ángel.  

The neighborhood, like the inn itself, began in 1692 as a property grant to the Marquis of the Sierra Nevada. The Marquis founded the Santa Ana Hacienda presumably intending to operate it as an agricultural operation. It did so, focused primarily on beef and pulque production.

Not quite 100 years later, in 1776 one Ramón Goicoechea purchased the estate and lent his name to it too. The Goicoechea Hacienda continued to grow through most of the early 19th century. By 1840, the estate was purchased by the Governor of the Federal District, i.e.; Mexico City.  He sold it to Antonio and Guadalupe Lazcano in 1880 and their descendants began subdividing it. In about 1906, the San Ángel Land Co. purchased some 40 hectares just south of the main hacienda building and this became the Altavista neighborhood.

The “big house” of the hacienda dates from the 18th century. It was modified many times over the following centuries but still contains a central patio, chapel, gardens and orchards. In 1915, it became a popular hotel and meeting place with the changing elite of those years. According to legend, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata met here during the Mexican Revolution.

During the 20th century, it was used as a music hall and meeting center for musicians. Later, the facility was adapted for use by the Faculty of Art History and Architecture of the Universidad Iberoamericana. The San Ángel Inn restaurant opened here finally in 1963. Since then the Inn has acted as a central landmark and focal point for the neighborhood even in the face of exponential urban encroachment. As a banquet venue, it’s especially well regarded and the site of frequent weddings, and similar events.