Hotel Criol, with architecture and design by Miguel Concha Arquitectura, is a project divided into three main areas: courtyard, underground library and patio. Design reinterprets the historic heritage of Queretaro using local materials and techniques. Judges appreciated the unassuming entry that precedes a wonderful series of spaces: “You have no idea what the hotel is about upon approach, and the journey happens through spaces where location and context is the foundation.”

The Hotel Criol’s conversion was applauded for its inventive development of spaces layered off the existing structure – “a rich and innovative conversion, discreetly packaged behind a historic colonial street façade.”