La Poza

We spent 4 nights in 305 with our girls’ trip group. La Poza is a good-value, spacious and comfortable choice in Centro if you don’t mind giving up oceanfront views. I usually stay by the sea and missed it this time, but for our group and this trip, the location worked well. We paid about $300/person for 4 nights, which is extremely economical. The apartment has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a sitting area, kitchen, and balcony. We liked the beds, ample cabinet, closet, and drawer space, elevator, full-size fridge and freezer, and good water pressure. It’s around the corner from Hidalgo and a short walk from the beach. A Mercado is right next door, there’s a coffee shop on level 1, and they provided two backpack beach chairs, four beach towels, four bath sets, a garrafón with a backup jug, a small ironing board and iron. The rooftop pool has ocean views at sunrise and sunset. There’s also a large locking cabinet. A couple of things could be improved. The tile in the king room is buckling, possibly because of water damage to the subfloor or incorrect installation. It creates a trip hazard, and bits of grout are coming off in sharp pieces that could cut your feet. It wasn’t a huge problem for us, but it should be fixed soon, as someone could get hurt or a picky renter could make a bigger issue of it. The unit has only two small mirrors, and they show you from the shoulders up, so they work for makeup and hair but not for checking an outfit. A full-length mirror in each bedroom would also let more people get ready at once. No hair dryer, shampoo, or conditioner was provided. There was some noise, but it didn’t bother me much, even though I’m easily bothered by noise. I sleep with a white sound machine, and it drowned out the disturbances. There’s a bar next door and a school on the other side, neither of which caused me any issues. Even nearby street and sidewalk construction couldn’t be heard inside the unit. A tip envelope was left on the counter. I usually tip generously, but wasn’t sure what for. Esteban showed us into the condo at check-in and gave us the keys. Apart from greetings when we came and went, we had no other interaction with staff. There was no daily housekeeping, sand-rinsing bucket by the door, or trash collection, so I couldn’t think of a service that warranted a tip. I’d consider staying at La Poza again if I didn’t mind missing those gorgeous ocean views, which I knew about going in.