Villa Host & Cultural Experience Curator

Responsibilities

• Host an assigned cluster of suites or casitas at an Oaxacan boutique colonial hotel: the intimacy of the property means the host relationship is close and multi-layered — the villa host is simultaneously the service point, the cultural guide, the local expert, and the problem solver for a small number of guests
• Curate Oaxacan cultural experiences with genuine personal knowledge: the alebrijes workshop in Arrazola versus San Martín Tilcajete (and why the differences matter), the palenque in Santiago Matatlán that the mezcal community respects but that is not yet overrun with tourist groups, the tlayuda stall in the Mercado 20 de Noviembre that has been run by the same family since 1974 — the host who knows these specifics is providing an immersion experience
• Manage the property's artisanal amenity presentation: Oaxacan boutique hotels use handwoven Zapotec textiles as room decor, barro negro ceramic amenity vessels, copal incense from local producers, and Oaxacan botanical personal care products — the villa host presents and maintains these elements with knowledge of the artisan communities they come from
• Coordinate gastronomic experiences for the culinary traveler: Oaxacan cuisine is internationally recognized — the 2023–2025 arrival of world-class restaurants in Oaxaca City has made it a serious culinary destination — the villa host curates dining recommendations with honest personal assessments and assists with bookings for the properties that are genuinely booked weeks in advance
• Manage the Día de Muertos period: Oaxaca is Mexico's most celebrated Día de Muertos destination — the November 1–2 period brings international guests who come specifically for the celebrations — the villa host coordinates access to community cemetery vigils, market visits, and the neighborhood processions in a respectful and authentic way
• Handle in-suite special experiences: mezcal tasting delivered to the terrace by the hotel's mezcal sommelier, chocolate tasting workshop with a local chocolatero, private salsa or son jarocho music performance in the courtyard

Requirements

• Hospitality service experience; boutique hotel or villa host background preferred
• English and Spanish bilingual; ideally a European language for the European culinary tourism market in Oaxaca
• Deep personal knowledge of Oaxacan artisan communities, culinary culture, and cultural calendar
• Genuine passion for Oaxacan culture — the guest base in Oaxaca City is sophisticated and perceptive; a host who lacks genuine knowledge will be found out quickly
• Cultural sensitivity for indigenous Zapotec community visits and ceremonial contexts

Benefits

• IMSS, aguinaldo, paid vacation + premium
• Staff meals (often from the hotel's excellent Oaxacan kitchen)
• Service gratuity from the culturally motivated international market
• Integration into the Oaxacan artisan and culinary community through the property's local partnerships
• Career development in Mexico's most rapidly rising cultural tourism destination

Work environment

Villa host and cultural experience curator at an Oaxaca City boutique colonial luxury hotel. Intimate personalized service for culturally motivated international guests seeking genuine access to one of Mexico's richest artisan and culinary traditions.

About the role

The Oaxacan villa host who walks a guest through the Mercado Benito Juárez on a Wednesday morning — not as a tourist activity but as a functional shopping trip, stopping at the mole paste vendor where the host has bought ingredients for 10 years, explaining the seven moles by color and heat and occasion — who at the end hands the guest a small bag of toasted chapulines from the vendor who has the best salt-to-lime ratio — has just conducted a 45-minute cultural education that the guest will describe at every dinner party they attend for the next two years. The host didn't deliver a service. They shared a living tradition. That distinction is the specific quality that Oaxaca rewards.