Courtyard by Marriott Hermosillo

At this 5 Star hotel in Hermosillo, Mexico, be prepared to show your US passport to reception and keep it with you. The hotel recognizes that as the only valid ID; a state driver's license or identification card won’t do, even though the review says those forms of ID are invalid anywhere in Mexico. A question for Americans: why use a passport when traveling to Europe, but expect to enter Mexico with state identification? The review says showing state ID is banned in Mexico. Present your passport if you want to avoid problems at any hotel in this chain worldwide. Here, the rules come before everything else.

The pool area could use better attention. The lounge chairs had bird droppings on them, and even after I asked, they weren’t cleaned. Some facilities are dated and not working that well. The rooms themselves are decent and clean, if a little old, and the simple restaurant has acceptable service and decent food. The breakfast buffet is pretty good. This feels more like a hotel for business travelers than leisure guests. My biggest issue was the Wi-Fi: it was hard to connect to and kept kicking me off, so business travelers might not be happy. The facilities overall are a little dated.

The hotel is well-maintained and the service is excellent. It has several amenities, including a gym, pool, and terrace. Just keep in mind it’s far from the city center and closer to the industrial area when deciding whether to stay here.

The front desk staff and the morning team serving breakfast were friendly and extremely helpful. But the room was beyond disappointing, even though I received a suite upgrade based on Titanium status. The carpets were torn, the upholstery was dirty, the shower ceiling was peeling, and there was mold in the grout. Courtyard by Marriott Hermosillo is in desperate need of updating, and those conditions are absolutely unacceptable.