If you haven’t picked up on it by now, we were absolutely enamored with San Sebastian Etla. With its relaxed atmosphere, laid-back pace, and smiling faces the village seemed a world away from the bustle and hustle of the usual tourist trail in Oaxaca de Juarez, just twenty minutes to the south. Our casita for the month perfectly mirrored that small-town feeling. Here are some highlights:

• Our hosts, Lucy and Sergio, were amazing. They were incredibly helpful when any needs or questions or requests came up and impeccably walked the line between being very warm and friendly and being respectful of our privacy.
• The most important thing to understand about our place in San Sebastian is the history! The structure itself was built by-hand (including all the adobe bricks) over 100 years ago by Sergio’s grandmother. She had fled her previous residence after armed forces murdered her family and took over their property during the Mexican Revolution.
• Sergio and his wife Lucy have taken wonderful care of the casita, updating the interior with both modern and traditional touches, while making sure the beauty of the original adobe bricks is strikingly visible in several places. A full kitchen meant we were free to cook just about whatever we wanted all month.
• There are actually three or four different houses on the walled-in property, joined together by the central courtyard. Lucy and Sergio are real estate moguls.
• Just outside the bedroom window was a rectangular patch of genuine green lawn, something that can be hard to come by in these arid parts.
• Our hosts take wonderful care of the numerous potted flowering plants around the property. In addition, a large jacaranda tree stood just outside our window. Fallen purple blooms carpeted a large swatch of the courtyard, and we were visited on many occasions by very docile honeybees.
• On top of the casita was a rooftop deck, affording wonderful views of mountain ranges to the east and west, as well as our neighborhood.

If you are interested, check out their listing on airbnb.