Hotel Santa Maria

I paid 580 for one night in July, for a room on the 3rd floor in the middle of the hotel. It was quiet despite being in town, and the bed was comfortable enough. The price was fin for this time of year. Vines growing everywhere gave the place a really nice atmosphere. Staff were fine. Breakfast was just bread, but it gets you started for the day. My room had only two hot taps for the shower, a minor issue. It was clean and in decent shape. I’d recommend it to backpackers with a 'can avoid hostels' budget.

I booked by mistake through Priceline and called the hotel less than 20 minutes later to cancel. They said they couldn’t find my reservation, which seemed plausible at first. But Priceline told me they wouldn’t have sent a confirmation unless the hotel had acknowledged the booking. I tried to cancel within half an hour, and now I don’t believe the hotel’s explanation. They kept my money. It wasn’t a huge amount, but the whole thing feels pretty shady. Really disappointed, and that’s why I’m giving one star.

The price was reasonable, the leafy exterior looked lovely, and the staff were friendly when we arrived. Our room was a decent size with good-sized beds, and the towels had been folded into little swans. It only had a refrigerator, though, with no microwave or stove. The floor by the shower and toilet was muddy, and the rest of the floor could have been cleaner. There’s no elevator, so be ready to use the stairs. The biggest problem was the water. From Thursday through Sunday, we never got a hot shower. On the first night, the woman on the night shift said she’d turn it on and asked us to wait ten minutes. When we came back, she said she’d done it but didn’t know what was wrong with the system shared by all the rooms, and asked us to wait another 25 minutes. We gave it 30, and the water was still cold, nowhere near lukewarm. It was warmer at the beach, seriously. The next day we tried again, and the man at the front desk said he’d only turned it off ten minutes earlier. We told him this had happened the night before and that we’d already spoken to the woman, but nothing had changed. We even let the water run for an hour, with no hot water at all. On Saturday, after another cold shower, we asked if we could move rooms. The woman told us we should have spoken to the other guy. We said we had, and that this had been going on since we arrived. We got so tired of repeating ourselves that we decided to post here. A heads-up if you go out at night: the woman on the night shift locks the gate at a certain hour, so you’ll need to get her attention to be let back in. She may have an attitude about it. There are literally five parking spots, in a tight space you have to drive into when the gate is open. Bigger vehicles may have trouble squeezing in. One spot is taken up by a trampoline, I guess to make the hotel kid friendly.

The casual feel of the place suited us, and there are a few good, inexpensive places to eat within walking distance. It’s right on the main road in central Cancun. We stayed two weeks, and the open-plan hotel was pleasant, with cleaners coming daily. Parking is on site behind a manual gate. There was decent Wi-Fi, but our phones only connected in the lobby, not in our rooms. Hot water worked for some showers and not others. Music started early and went on late. People in the lobby also spoke loudly on their phones and played loud memes at all hours, from early morning through late at night. Staff didn’t seem concerned about the noise. We asked the cleaners to come just once, but then they didn’t clean at all.