Hotel Mesón de Carolina

We couldn’t get out of Hotel Meson de Carolina fast enough. During the holidays, we had called 5-6 hotels before finding a room, and there weren’t many options. Still, after this experience, I’d tell people to book well ahead and stay somewhere else. This was my worst hotel stay in Mexico across 12 trips. The place was inexpensive, apart from the overpriced breakfast, but don’t make our mistake. If you do stay, bring your own towels. The receptionist was the one good part, he was nice. But at check-in, we were made to pay for 2 nights because it was after midnight. I don’t know if it was a scam, but I’ve checked into plenty of hotels after midnight and never had that happen. We were also told there wouldn’t be clean towels until morning. When morning came and we’d waited for hours, there still weren’t any, so my small children and I had to dry off with our clothes after showering. The room was horrible. There were just 2 outlets for the whole room, and they were hanging out of the walls with wires exposed. The bathroom handle was nearly falling off. There was only a ceiling fan, no heat or air conditioning, and the bed was hard and uncomfortable. The pillows were extremely flat and worn out, like they’d been there since the colonial era. The shower edge was so short that the curtain kept slipping the wrong way and flooded the room badly. We were wondering how much worse the stay could get when we saw cockroaches crossing the floor by the lobby around 1 PM, while waiting for our taxi. I thought breakfast was free, then was told to pay for ham and eggs and orange juice. The cook later asked me for money. My Spanish isn’t very good, and I struggled to understand her, so I used my fingers to check whether the amount was $70 pesos. She said yes. As we left, the receptionist explained that there had only been 3 towels for the entire hotel until the truck brought more, and I noticed a sign saying "desayuno $60". The cook had overcharged me, though it was only a small amount, so I didn’t ask for my $10 pesos back. Guests shouldn’t have to wonder whether staff are cheating them.

We’d really liked this place on earlier visits because it was cheap and convenient. This time the receptionist was not at all friendly or welcoming, and the room we got was extremely tiny, with no ventilation in the bathroom. I’m not sure we’d stay again.

It’s clean, comfortable, and inexpensive, with an extraordinary location near downtown. The accommodation is very recommendable. For dinner, though, choose somewhere else: the food was frozen and not good.

We went in for breakfast, but nobody came to take our order. The two people at the front desk saw us arrive and just ignored us while they were on their phones. I’d call it the worst service, except there really wasn’t any service at all.