Suites Cancun Center by Kavia

The location is the only good thing about this hotel. The service was terrible. My room rate included breakfast, but there were no cups or coffee maker in the room. When I asked for hot water at the restaurant during breakfast, they wanted to charge me $5 for a cup. Trying to take advantage of tourists like that is shameful.

The AC worked great, but I’d stay away from this place. Dogs barked and people were loud, and there were no hand towels, washcloths, or hand soap. The only soap was body wash fixed to the shower wall, so you had to step into the shower every time you wanted to wash.

Getting around was easy, it was affordable, and I felt very safe. The room was kept clean every day, and they let me leave my bags behind the counter until check-in when I arrived early. There are lots of nearby places to eat, so I didn’t think the breakfast options were worth buying. It’s handy that breakfast is available, though, and there are two pools if you expect to spend more time at the hotel. A real diamond in the rough.

It seemed like a family-focused hotel, and for what I paid compared with the $150-300 a night places in the beach area, I enjoyed my stay. I’d come back better prepared. The open-air courtyard is a nice layout, and each room has its own AC. Once running, it gets cold. Wi-Fi worked well enough to download Netflix shows while everyone was asleep, and CNN was available. Rooms were clean. They give you two small bottles of water a day, but don’t drink from the tap, so bring your own water from the 7/11. There are two pools, and the rooftop one has a nice view over a bit of downtown. The small breakfast place inside the hotel was pleasant and not too expensive. The downtown location makes getting around easy. Uber Eats usually took about 10 minutes to arrive after the food was ready, and delivery was cheap. There’s a 7/11, a cheap quesadilla place about two blocks away, and a pharmacy. A taxi to other things you might need is only about $5. The pool layout and kids playing there can make things noisy, though it quiets down after the pool closes at 9 pm. On two of my nine days, kids splashing woke me around 9:30 am, which was annoying. CNN is the only English channel, so bring a tablet if you want to watch something. HBO Max doesn’t work in offline mode in Mexico. A translation app could help, though that’s a small thing when you’re in Mexico. The price worked for us compared with paying $150-300 a night in the hotel area, about 15 minutes from downtown, where most of the beaches are.