Names can be so misleading. While The Inn at Rancho Santana that has just opened off Nicaragua's dramatic Southwest Pacific coast may at first appear to be a modest hotel with just 17 rooms, the two-storey retreat is anything but small.

Taking on an “agrarian meets coastal” architectural style, first of all, there is its far-reaching vision. As a secret hideaway of sorts within the bigger Rancho Santana ranch that offers private ocean view homes, garden view casitas and ocean front villas, the Inn can be said to be unabashedly rustic and rugged, yet cultured and elegant. It even has its own art gallery.

Secondly, the Inn certainly does not skimp on the view. Every one of the guest rooms and suites, each occupying 350 to 850 sq ft, looks out into the picturesque Pacific Ocean. Both the Pacific Suite and the Pied-à-terre come with artist and printer Peter Fasano’s custom window dressings, while guests staying here will also enjoy huge private terraces with wrap around ocean views.

Thirdly, a generous expanse of land — over 2,700 acres of rolling hills across two miles of shoreline — is where the property sits on. This includes five different beaches for its guests, of which one, the Playa Santana, can be found right at the doorstep of the Inn. The main entrance of the Inn is found off a dirt road that leads to stables, an organic garden and hiking trails.

A beautiful brick archway acts as the portal to the hotel's airy open-air courtyard with a single Albizia Saman or Rain Tree in it. This space is the hotel lobby with staff greeting guests who come through. Nicaragua's coastal locale served as the creative muse of Rancho Santana, Altevers Associates Architecture and Altevers International Interior Design. The latter were responsible for taking up the Inn's architectural design, interiors and landscaping.

The Isthmus climate, with its steady but varied patterns of coastal breezes, makes surfing an especially appealing notion with warm ocean waters that last all year round. Wood work features heavily in all rooms, with the ranch’s in-house Wood Shop crafting much of these on-site. In line with local culture, the earthy rooms come with hand painted tiles, locally sourced paintings, as well as pottery. The wood work was designed by Altevers and created on-site.

The interiors are imagined as a collective collection of earth, water, air and fire. There is room for exquisite furnishings, such as abaca lounge chairs, ottomans, and benches. The seaside retreat has also the likes of handcrafted curtain rods made at the Iron Works in Rancho Santana itself. Eco-friendly 350 thread count linens dress the beds.

Back to the art gallery itself. The gallery space shares the same architectural design conceived by Rancho Santana. How serious are the team about this? Very, it appears. The ranch even has its own Mill Works to craft custom the wooden door and window framing, flooring, and furnishings. The Galeria Rancho Santana is a beacon for good Central American Modernism art. For a very long time, Central American Modernism has suffered from a lack of platform to reach people. Curated by Ford Fine Art, with its repute for showcasing art from Latin America and Central America on important cultural events such as Art Basel Week, the new gallery aims to develop the world's most important collection of art by Central American Masters.

Even with the artwork to be found throughout the Inn’s accommodation and public spaces, most of these are original pieces inspired by the property, as well as its history and its Nicaraguan heritage. Massive original canvases by Alejandro Villalobos of seascapes and trees are found in the 17 rooms, whereas elegantly detailed prints by Lorena Villalobos may be found over the headboards. For Armando Mejia, who was extremely taken by Nicaragua’s ancient cave drawings, worked on glyph paintings to fill out her room decor and corridors. Collages of sea glass and upcycled wood by Maria Renee Perez, as well as colorful wooden doors that represent the portals of old Granada, are also showcased here.

Two works by Caribbean coast artist Augusto Silva adorn the oceanfront lounge, while deliberately oversize custom pieces are for the high ceilings of the corridors. The public spaces are adorned by artworks from numerous contemporary artists.  Ford Fine Art and curator Joaquin Gomez partnered Managua-based gallery Galeria Pleyades to procure some of Nicaragua's most esteemed artworks.

The Inn's restaurant, La Finca y El Mar, is a farm-to-table concept where its executive chef, Rich Dacosta, sources mostly through the sustainable farm and livestock programs of Rancho Santana. There is also the newly opened Beach & Surf Club at Playa Los Perros, the southernmost beach of Rancho Santana. Here, with surf shack sophisticates, the menu features the likes of fresh fish tostadas and spicy pork tacos with fresh lime. Delectable? We think so too.

While none of the suites are quite the same as the other, a stay in any of them, through the lens of Rancho Santana, would be a visual snapshot of life lived well.