From Pablo Escobar’s mansion to a five-star hotel

The summer residence of Pablo Escobar, one of the most notorious criminals in history, is now a five-star hotel with 35 rooms available from €450 per night.

Sporting suites as large as 70 square meters, views of the sea and luxurious gardens, the complex – located in Tulum, in southeastern Mexico – bears many signature marks of the Colombian drug lord, who was killed in 1993 in Medellín.

Traces of his criminal activities also remain, including a tunnel that runs the premises’ perimeter and a special roof designed for private surveillance. The villa promises: “Your experience will be unlike any other.” The founder of the bloodthirsty drug cartel strolled through the very rooms that now house a collection of contemporary art from New York patron Lio Malca, who bought the mansion in 2012 and christened it Casa Malca.

Escobar, who purchased the property in the 1980s, had a weakness for large mansions. After his death in December 1993, the villa was uninhabited for a decade. Malca fell in love with Tulum and subsequently decided to acquire the estate.

English version by Henry Hahn.