Of the many faces of Mexico's architecture, the one that's filled with romance and tugs hardest at the heart is the Spanish Colonial era. The style goes back to Spain, though it was really a blending of styles, utilizing Gothic forms with decoration of Moorish origins as well as incorporating the Renaissance influence from Italy.

Imposed on Mexico by their conquerors, the period presented a great opportunity for native Mexican craftsmen to bring to Colonial architecture, that which embodied their collective memory for the previous 3,000 years of Indian building. They infused Spanish architecture with their own, unique sense of proportion, choice of local materials, light, textures and color. They freely relied on their heritage for inspiration, surreptitiously including many Pre-Hispanic images of gods and creatures in the details.

It is this style of unique and beautiful architecture that the designers of Buena Vista have chosen to recreate the feeling of an ancient, tiny hilltop Pueblo in a magnificent tropical setting.