Development never stops in San Miguel de Allende, as a former landmark makes way for a new hotel and residences. The city will also finally see the construction of a long-planned Home Depot. Discover all this, and more, in our latest local news roundup for San Miguel de Allende.
Rancho Hotel El Atascadero razed to make way for hotel and new homes
The 51-room Rancho Hotel El Atascadero near Prolongación Santo Domingo, east of Centro, has been demolished. Opened by Gloria and Fortunato Maycotte about 70 years ago, it reportedly was San Miguel’s first hotel and had a swimming pool, sauna and tennis and frontón courts.
In its place will be a 1 Hotel & Homes property by Florida-based Starwood Hotels. Scheduled to open in 2027, the new facility will consist of about 97 rooms and 48 residences. The plan includes gardens, pools, a small lake, a spa and an outdoor event space.
Rancho Hotel El Atascadero had most recently been a three-star boutique hotel built around an 1800s hacienda run as a silk factory. The property has a long history, including being operated as a horse-riding club and an artistic retreat.
It is said that Chilean poet Pablo Neruda used to visit the hotel back when it was owned by his friend Felipe Cossío del Pomar, a Peruvian writer and co-founder of the Instituto Allende. Cossío del Pomar worked to transform the property into a cultural center and later wrote about the process.
According to media reports, the hotel was closed earlier this year with the expectation of renovation, and a notice was posted stating that work there had been permitted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Home Depot store going in next to Nissan dealership
A Home Depot home improvement store is currently under construction next to the Nissan dealership located at Libramiento José Manuel Zavala 65.
The San Miguel de Allende outlet is reportedly scheduled to open sometime later this year, with additional stores coming to León and Guanajuato. They are part of a total US $1.3 billion investment Home Depot is planning in Mexico through 2030, including 25 new stores.
The Georgia-based Home Depot said that 80% of its inventory sold in Mexico is sourced locally, and that the company plans to achieve a 100% national supply by 2028. In Mexico, Home Depot has more than 18,000 employees working at 140 stores in more than 100 cities.
San Miguel has a number of hardware and home supply stores, including several Grupo Ferretero Don Pedro outlets. The main store is at Carretera San Miguel a Celaya Km. 2.4, with others at Avenue Independencia 4 in San Rafael and Calzada de la Aurora 20 in Guadalupe.
Los Frailes green space petition hits signature goal
A petition from Villa de los Frailes subdivision residents who oppose condo construction on the largest green space there has hit the goal of 2,500 signatures. As of May 31, the petition on change.org had 2,507 verified signatures.
The petition asks the San Miguel municipal government to acknowledge the original agreements that created the green space. According to petitioners, the legal owner of the property, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, doesn’t want the space sold or developed.
The residents plan to present the petition signatures and accompanying testimonials to Mayor Mauricio Trejo and ask him to declare the area a permanently protected green space.
Volaris adding 10 new routes from Querétaro airport
Starting in June, Volaris is adding five U.S. and five Mexican destinations to flights departing from Querétaro International Airport (QRO).
The new U.S. flights will be to San Antonio, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and Orlando, while the domestic flights will be heading to Acapulco, Durango, Mazatlán, Oaxaca and Veracruz.
Specifics on the new routes, including departure and arrival times, can be found on the Volaris website.
Meanwhile, Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines will begin weekly nonstop flights from Vancouver to Guanajuato International Airport (BJX) beginning Oct. 3.
Amazon opens first Latin America educational lab in Querétaro
With the stated goal of closing the digital divide in Latin America, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the retail giant’s cloud computing platform, just opened its first Think Big Space educational lab in the region in Querétaro.
Seattle, Wash.-based Amazon said the facility will train more than 1,200 students each year “in the technologies that are redefining the world of work,” such as cloud computing, robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, the Internet of Things and 3D printing.
The lab is located Querétaro’s BLOQUE municipal innovation center. Starting this month, high school students can enroll through the BLOQUE website in six 20-hour STEM courses for free. The courses, designed and taught in collaboration with UNAM, start in September.
Cathy Siegner is an independent journalist based in San Miguel and Montana. She has journalism degrees from the University of Oregon and Northwestern University.
