Staying at Hacienda Vista Hermosa, near Cuernavaca, is an experience. Begun in 1529 by Hernan Cortés, Vista Hermosa has had a long and tumultuous past.

After Cortés' death, his son, Don Martin arrived from Spain to take it over. The hacienda ownership left the Cortés family in 1621 and a series of eight more hacendados ruled Vista Hermosa before Emiliano Zapata and his followers evicted them in 1910, leaving it in ruins. Engineer Fernando Martinez found it in 1944 and created this luxurious refuge.

Vista Hermosa has served as the backdrop for many films, including the dramatic final scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where Robert Redford and Paul Newman "died" in a bloody battle with the Bolivian army. Film star, Anthony Quinn, here for another film, wrote in the guest book: "Whoever has dreams that aren't fulfilled here ought to leave dreaming alone."