Hotel Los Arcos de Sonora

About Our Hotel

We are Tom and Lynn Matthews, owners of Turkey Creek Motorcycle Tours. In 2005, we rode the Ruta de Rio Sonora to Banamichi, Mexico for the first time and were enchanted by the people, the culture and architecture. A week in Banamichi, Sonora and we did not want to leave.

Many more trips, including guided motorcycle tours took place over the next two years. In the summer of 2007, we purchased an adobe building on a large corner lot just one and a half blocks from the town plaza. The house is between 80 and 100 years old and had not been lived in for 25 years. It had no working plumbing other than an outside water faucet and one electrical outlet. Old farm equipment was stored in the yard and a hen and rooster had taken up residence in one of the rooms.

In January of 2008, the restoration began. The building originally had a traditional dirt and adobe roof. The structure has been restored to its original height and style. We were fortunate to have a photo of the house from Independence Day, (September 16) 1942 as a guide.


New plaster and stucco, electrical and plumbing, new doors and windows and paint and the restoration was close to complete. The original covered patio, added in the 50s was rebuilt completely. The ceiling features rough-cut wooden beams with latillas of carrizo above. A traditional fireplace was constructed on the patio to take the chill off cool evenings.

The original building houses the office, a gift shop, a coffee shop, public restrooms and a dining room. Here is the building on Independence Day 2008, sixty-six years after the original photo.


Work began on the hotel in August of 2008. The ten-room, two story building is built in classic Sonoran Colonial style with modern electrical and plumbing systems and both heating and air conditioning. The hotel opened for guests in September 2009. Each room is individually decorated. Rooms feature bathroom vanities built of mesquite wood by local artisans and furniture that features original atifacts from the "Casa Vieja," (the old house.) The large private interior courtyard houses intimate gardens, water features and seating areas. A second story terrace provides views of the town, the surrounding mountains and stargazing.

The entire project was built using Banamichi artisans and craftsmen using materials acquired locally as much as possible. Our goal was to create an intimate, romantic setting and remain faithful to the architecture and be in harmony with the environment of Banamichi and the Rio Sonora.