Hotel Nacional Merida

The location just east of the main plaza is the best thing about this decent hotel. The staff are all business, which was fine, though people at the pool made the interior room loud. Breakfast at the restaurant was overpriced, and the service there was very slow and inefficient, except when it came time to collect payment. Check-in was odd too: the desk asked me to sign two credit card printouts, one marked as a “copy.” All in all, it was okay, but pricier than some other hotels in the historical center.

I expected better from the reviews and photos, and I wouldn’t stay here again. It’s very basic, and the internet didn’t work. The room smelled funky, the toilet leaned to the left, and the shower’s hot water tap leaked and got extremely hot to touch. There was dust along the bathroom edges. I guess you get what you pay for.

Clean, good enough, and no problems. It does the job.

The location was good, but the rest of our stay was awful. At check-in, they said policy allowed only one key per room. I pushed back, and the clerk said they’d get in touch in 20 minutes, but nobody did. Two hours later my friend went downstairs, only to hear from the manager that the computer wouldn’t allow another key. Then they said the clerk had been wrong about the room being paid for, so I had to bring my credit card down to sort out their mistake. Our executive double room felt damp and smelled moldy. There was no visible mold, and maybe the enclosed courtyard pool plus Merida’s humidity had something to do with it, but we didn’t get that smell at the other hotels we stayed in. I asked the next day for the room not to be cleaned, yet the maid came in anyway. We couldn’t get a do not disturb sign, and the following day she pounded on our door for three minutes before I got out of bed to tell her to leave. Terrible service, worse than the worst one-star motel. Never again.