Edward Herbert Thompson, U.S. consul in Yucatán, purchased Hacienda Chichén, including the archaeological site visited today in 1894.

The purchaser, Fernando Barbachano Peon is credited with beginning the tourism industry of Yucatán and being the first hotelier to change a hacienda into a hotel.

[3] Some accounts claim that the hacienda at Chichén was built in 1523,[4][5] but histories relate that the conquest of Yucatán began when Francisco de Montejo landed near Valladolid in 1527.

[9] Thompson restored the hacienda which had been destroyed during the Caste War of Yucatán[10] and spent 30 years examining and excavating the archaeological site.

[11] Barbachano recognized the opportunity of creating tourism around the area's Mayan heritage[12] and converted the hacienda into a hotel, a first for Yucatán and hosted the first scientific exploration by the Carnegie Institution led by Sylvanus Morley.