Hotelier Mauricio Guillén is a man with a mission: to create a hotel and art centre worthy of the town in which it lies – a town which enjoys the honour of being the region’s “cultural cradle”. We are talking of Comitán in Chiapas, Mexico, near the Guatemalan border and far from the throbbing metropolis of the country’s capital. Here lies a colonial mansion, Casa Delina, that dates back to 1851 and which was impressive enough before Mauricio’s renovation work turned the house into an eight-room hotel-studio hybrid of considerable style.

Emerging artists from around the world were each given a room and invited to do their thing, lending a truly international boutique vibe to Casa Delina. Among those involved were Egor Kraft (Austria), Tony Easley (UK) and local mosaic artisans Los Chacales, preserving an endangered Chiapas art form. The artists were working on a canvas created by Mauricio himself, and the multi-talented Mexican not only owns and runs the hotel, but is responsible for the outside spaces and garden design as well. That mission we mentioned earlier? Mission accomplished.