The Inn at Rancho Santana

The Ranch Built Its Own Furniture, Then Built the Inn

Rancho Santana opened a wood shop in 2011 and an iron works in 2013, and only afterwards did it build the hotel those workshops would furnish. That order of operations tells you most of what there is to know. The Inn is a small building inside a very large estate: 2,700 acres of headland and pasture on Nicaragua's Emerald Coast, with two miles of Pacific in front of it. The San Diego firm Altevers Associates gave it an Andalusian reading of Spanish colonial architecture, open-air wherever the climate allows, in local clay roof tiles, stone, brick and recycled beams. A raintree, moved rather than felled, stands in the courtyard.

Why It Works

We kept the Inn for the craft and for the land. The craft is literal: the beds, the ironwork, the ceramics and most of the furniture were made on the property or by artisans elsewhere in Nicaragua, and the walls carry Central American modernist painting assembled as a collection rather than chosen as decor. The land is the other half. Guests at the Inn have the run of an estate with five beaches, stables, trails and a clubhouse, which is a different proposition from a hotel with a strip of sand. Seventeen rooms means the public spaces are never crowded.

Why This Location

This is the Emerald Coast, the run of Rivas headlands that has quietly become Nicaragua's most sought-after shoreline. The estate holds its own two-mile section of it, so the beaches are reached by internal road rather than by driving out. Surf is the draw: offshore winds blow through most of the day here, beginners are taught on the gentler breaks, and the rest of the coast, Popoyo included, is close. Costa Esmeralda International is about fifteen minutes away, which removes the long transfer from Managua that this coast used to require.

Fast Facts

• Price: $$$$, luxury

• Vibe: Hacienda, handmade, wide open

• Rooms: Seventeen rooms and suites, from generous doubles to one-bedroom suites, each with a private terrace

• Best For: Surfers, couples, small groups taking several rooms

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The furniture, made in the estate's own wood shop and iron works

• Dining: Farm-to-table restaurant, clubhouse, cafe and lounge

• Amenities: Five private beaches, spa, pools, surf lessons, horseback riding, hiking and biking trails, kayaking, art gallery

• Attractions: The estate's own coast; the Popoyo surf breaks; Costa Esmeralda International fifteen minutes away; San Juan del Sur and Granada within a drive

Rooms Named for Earth, Air, Water and Fire

The seventeen rooms and suites were designed around four elements, earth, air, water and fire, and each takes its palette and its materials from the theme. The standard rooms are generous by any measure, the suites add a separate bedroom, and every category has a private terrace. What they share is the handmade quality: ceramics thrown locally, beams that had a previous life, ironwork from the estate's own forge. The result feels specific to this coast rather than to a brand standard. The public rooms, gallery, courtyard and lounge, are open-sided and used all day long.

Five Beaches and Two Miles of Coast

The estate's shoreline is divided into five beaches, and getting between them is part of the stay: on foot, by bike, or on horseback from the stables. Surf lessons run for beginners, and the offshore wind that makes this coast reliable blows most of the day. There is a spa, there are pools, and there is a clubhouse that works as the social centre of the property. The farm-to-table restaurant has become a reason to book in itself, working produce grown on the ranch and fish landed along this shore.

Before You Book: Getting to the Emerald Coast

Fly into Costa Esmeralda International if the schedule allows; it is fifteen minutes from the gate, against several hours by road from Managua. Decide early whether you want the Inn or one of the estate's rental houses, because they are different holidays: the Inn for the service and the courtyard, a house for a group that wants a kitchen. Book surf lessons and riding ahead in high season. And leave time for the beaches, which are the point of all that acreage.