holbox: the casa. – gentino family

I’ll be honest, one of the big reasons we chose to travel to Holbox (pronounced “Holbosh”) island is this incredible Airbnb, which was also very affordable. The pictures we saw online were stunning, the reviews glowing, and the reality even better than we hoped.

Let me show you around!

This view is from the door to the compound, where Marco lives with his mom. The small building to the left is a tiny art studio; Marco’s home is on the right with our Airbnb studio apartment on the second floor. The house you see beyond the pool is a vacation home their friends had built.

Here’s our side staircase and door.

This photo was taken in the pool; you can see the lovely veranda where Marco and his mom eat their meals, and then above is our little apartment and balcony.

Here’s a peek into the art studio.

And now, inside!

It’s quite small; you see the door to the right and you step right into the bedroom with the kitchen off to the side and the bathroom off of that. The apartment was the perfect size for two people.

Every detail of this apartment (and the whole compound, actually), was just perfect. I’ve never stayed in a nicer Airbnb. I truly felt like we were in an article of Travel & Leisure magazine.

When we arrived, Marco had the fridge stocked with cold drinks and snacks, and he provided organic coffee during our whole stay. He also provided Turkish beach towels, shampoo, sunscreen and bug spray.

You can see the purified water jug under the sink; we pressed a button on that little dispenser to fill water bottles up which we kept in the fridge. We drank lots and lots of water all week; we almost used two of those 5-gallon jugs!

There was blessedly an AC unit there in the kitchen above the sink. This took the edge off in the little apartment and helped us sleep at night. We also had a ceiling fan and after a couple days begged an oscillating fan off Marco too. Being Americans who are used to our creature comforts (namely, central AC), we were constantly trying to find ways to navigate the heat.

Here’s our first tiny balcony just off the bedroom (opposite side as the kitchen). You can’t tell from this photo but you can see the sea from here.

And then a narrow spiral staircase to the second, rooftop, balcony.

This was our favorite spot of the house. We came up here each morning (6:00 for David, and more leisurely 6:30 for me) with coffee and our Bibles and stayed until the heat drove us back down.

I know I keep bringing up the heat, but I’m trying to give you an idea of the reality of Holbox.

When we returned home, David’s dad asked us, “Is it really the paradise it looks from the photos?” And we said, “Yes! But the heat was real.” It was constant. We did begin to adjust to it, but you don’t go outside without the knowledge that you’ll be dripping sweat in under a minute, constantly physically uncomfortable unless you’re in the water. That’s one reason we woke early.

Can you tell I adored every single detail of the casa?

I just drank in the tropical bird song all around us, the lush canopy of palm fronds, the cacti, the thatched roofs and the stucco walls and cool concrete floor.

Yes I was sweaty-hot, but in this island spot, far away from normal life, I felt a space open up around my soul. Like I could breathe again.

You know what? I felt like myself.

I was very, very happy.