LE FIGARO. – Why did you leave France?
Nothing was premeditated. On a big last-minute summer trip to the Yucatan, we ended our tour with a beach vacation on Holbox Island, off the peninsula’s north coast. It was a real bummer. While walking in this little paradise, we told ourselves like a little joke that this is the place where we would like to live forever. On the day of our departure, the neighbor of our rented house, Marco, whom we had become friends with, told us that the property he was holding as a bursar was for sale. House on the first line facing the sea, feet in the water. A dream! For eight years together, we wanted to implement a project that would unite us, but we did not know what it would be. Visiting this house, we said to ourselves: buy it and change our life. After returning to France, we sold all our possessions to acquire it. Six months later, title deed in hand, we pulled up with eight suitcases and an architect’s plans to turn this residence into a five-room boutique hotel in wabi-sabi style. We named it Casa Cat Ba after our mother and mother-in-law who were born in Vietnam on Cat Ba Island, which has many similarities to Holbox.
What attracts you to Holbox?
It is a quiet island, a car-free reserve where you can walk or cycle along the sandy roads. There is no pollution here. We wake up every day feeling privileged to live in a place untouched by the chaos of the world. Casa Cat Ba is not located in the hotel zone, but in the heart of the village. It changes everything. In the morning we see how fishermen leave and return around 2-3 pm with baskets loaded with fish and lobsters. We have established strong ties with them, as with other villagers. Seven people, including six Mexicans, have been working with us since the opening of the hotel. We invite our guests to fully discover the life of the island, meet its inhabitants. Not only to frequent its beaches.
What is Casa Cat Ba’s French touch?
It is a house hosted by French owners. We wanted to create what we were looking for for ourselves when we travelled. The spirit is laid-back, but we stick to French silverware, even if the cutlery is mismatched, to the beautiful bed linen from Haomy in Bordeaux. We cultivate a typical French passion for wine, even if the cellar consists of Mexican wines. And then, we serve homemade madeleines, cocotte eggs, presidential butter.
Casa Cat Ba:. From €250 per night including breakfast.
Source: Le Figaro
