As I mentioned in part 1 of this series yesterday, my husband and I spent 3 nights at the magical Hacienda San Angel during our vacation in Puerto Vallarta. Today I’d like to show you some photos I took in the main part of the hacienda, Casa Bursus. The main entryway features a beautiful fountain in a courtyard that is open to the sky. There is an adjacent living room, dining room and kitchen. Jeff and I opted to eat breakfast in this dining room where we could watch the cook prepare our meal and hang out and chat with Carlos – one of the staff whom we became well acquainted with. (Another bonus of this hotel is the very friendly and accommodating staff). A special perk of dining here – I got to enjoy the company of the 9 resident dogs (more to come on that in a future post). 🙂

During my stay in Puerto Vallarta, my husband and I had the absolute pleasure of spending 3 nights at a boutique hotel located in the heart of the city (a honeymoon treat). The Hacienda San Angel is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen and I had to share my experience there with you all. In fact, I took so many photos I may have to do a couple more posts after this one. 🙂

The Hacienda San Angel is colonial style, consisting of five Mexican villas (one is across the street from the other four), with a total of 14 suites. The first villa, Villa Bursus, was purchased by actor Richard Burton as a Valentine’s Day gift for his then wife Susan. The hacienda has been restored over time (and a huge addition is in the works) and is filled with absolutely incredible antiques, which come from Mexico and Europe and the majority are from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. When I say filled I mean every bed, dresser, painting, bathroom fixture, light fixture etc. is an antique, which means every piece is different. My husband and I were mesmerized as we took a couple tours around the entire hacienda and I photographed just about every inch of the place. Hopefully my photos do it justice. My post today will feature the suite we stayed in – the San Jose. (There are alot of photos of the bed because not only was it gorgeous, but the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on. The linen top sheet, down duvet and pillows you sink into….*sigh*)

Hey folks – there’s a design book I got my hands on recently that I had to tell you about. It’s called Design 100 (Filipacchi Publishing 2010), and was created by former features editor Michael Lassell of the now defunct magazine Metropolitan Home. The book features 100 houses, apartments, lofts or rooms that were created by the best designers and architects of our time and each holds a title, such as “Most Meditative Master Suite”, “Best Modern Makeover of a Historic House” and “Hottest Shot of Color in Miami”. I really enjoyed it and was really curious to see what homes would be featured under each category. Below are 4 spaces from the book – if you’d like to know what these were the best of, you’ll have to go buy the book (which you can do via Amazon). 😉

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so it takes center stage rather than your pet. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture that you want to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos, your name, location and a brief description can be sent to desiretoinspirekim[@]hotmail[.]com and PLEASE don’t send me closeups of your pet!)

Our cat Sneeze in her favorite room. I secretly think it’s because her coat looks so nice with room.
– Katie (Detroit, MI)

1 – My maltese, Pietra, appreciating the view from our all-white contemporary sofa!
2 – My maltese, Pietra, catching some rays on our contemporary rattan chair (with white leather cushions)!
– Joanna (Stamford, CT)

– Jessica (new york, ny)

Here is our warmth-loving 10 month old cat Tarts on the living room table. The laptops ventilation is working on full speed trying to ventilate itself under the 4 kilo Tarts who is actually enjoying the hot surface and the hot artificial sun! Our home is in Estonia, where we have cold winters up to -30 and we all seek for the warmer place! 😉
– Kätlin (Estonia, Tallinn)

I’ve chosen several pictures of our four cats at various pieces of furniture in our very tiny apartment (29m2). Two grey ones are a boy – Precel, and our only girl – Pchla, the black one it’s Behemot, our oldest one, and the one in socks it is Pafnucy.
– Malgosia (Krakow, Poland)

1 – This is Jay “The Great” Gatsby hanging out around the house on his favorite chair. The brown leather chair was purchased in Kansas City, MO about 4 years ago.  Gatsby is like the chair; small, sturdy and durable.
2 – Gatsby the french bulldog puppy sitting on a red swivel chair that I purchased 6 years ago.  I enjoy owning one bright piece of furniture, because it breaks up my neutral wall color and instantly adds life to a rather boring area of my home.
– Scott (Hutchinson, KS)

Cyrus, the six month old bullmastiff, is the new member of our extended family since Saturday. He’ so sweet that he got along well with Ozzy (the beige pug and self proclaomed king of the house) faster than any other dog. They are sleeping on our new sofà…They are so cute…  Ozzy is 2 years and half old and Nena is one year old.
– Giusy and Mauro (Milan)

This is a pic of my furry child, Mr Cat – once a thin and scraggly stray who adopted us, now a fat and contented (read: fat) very spoilt part of the family. The blue velvet deep buttoned headboard was inspired by the bedroom that Don and Betty Draper share in Mad Men.
– Vicki

This picture of lizzie the ladylike greyhound was taken in brooklyn on my friend’s fresh-from-the-upholsterer’s newly covered sofa. The satin and fur pillow was new also. Lizzie was 13 years old at the time.
– Priscilla

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so it takes center stage rather than your pet. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture that you want to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos, your name, location and a brief description can be sent to desiretoinspirekim[@]hotmail[.]com and PLEASE don’t send me closeups of your pet!)

This cat belongs to Natalia Ortega, a Dominican clay artist who lives in Santo Domingo’s Colonial Zone. I dropped by her house the other day and snapped a picture of this chill little guy. Natalia designed the chair; the cat dropped in her lap by sheer luck.
– Rab

1 – chippy caught on film. chippy, my large maine coon cat, sits on one of the kitchen table chairs looking like he has been arrested for a crime.
2 – fort sheridan. this chair belonged to my boyfriend’s grandmother.  now it belongs to our cats.
– Dawn (iowa city, ia)

This is Harry the 2 year old French bulldog. He is sitting on a folded Woolrich blanket that is on a Wegner Sawbuck chair. In the background is a collection of vintage McCoy pottery from the 1930’s and 40’s. The wall color is Farrow and Ball Railings.
– Aaron (Williamsburg, Brooklyn. NYC)

This is a picture of Sluggo squirrel watching from his favorite spot on the ottoman.
– Aimee

Here is our one year old Mörkö (Bogeyman) bathing in the sun in a IKEA corner sofa.
– Outi (Laukkoski, Finland)

1 – This is my rescued pitbull Raelie sitting on my favorite piece of furniture: a loveseat donated to my new apartment from my neighbor. It’s “her chair”; she uses it to love and mush people. 🙂
2 – My cat Sylvia just passed away in October. This chair was only mine during dinner time. For the rest of the day, it was hers. 🙂
3 – My friend Gail’s kitten out of a litter of 10. She had just opened her eyes moments before.
– Tara (New York, NY)

This is Beatrice Hall in my boudoir.
– Alexandra

1 – Milli helps with making sure the spacing is just right with the mix of bed pillows…and yes, she is smizing with her eyes
2 – Milli finds her way in the mix of bed pillows so that she’s not only super cozy, but has a fine view of the Hudson River…and pigeons.
– Jason (NYC)
  

Palika doing what he does best. Even though Crate and Barrel calls this a “chair and a half”, it only seems to fit one gray cat.
– Jon & Melissa (Seattle)

1 – This is Daisy and Duke, both 2 years old but not related. One of their favorite places to be is the back of any couch looking out for anyone to bark at.  I caught Duke, a little tired in the second one.  🙂
2 – This is Duke. Every now and then when I return to my bedroom after showering in the morning, I walk in to this…. At least it keeps me from crawling back under my warm comfy sheets. 😉
– Jennifer

And as a little bonus, I wanted to share this cool multi layer stairs for humans and their cats‏ that Sonia blogged recently on Pawesome.