Casa I. Madero

Martin was a wonderful, attentive host and gave us ideas for things to do and places to eat. We rented the whole house with my family, and I'd recommend staying here with family and friends. The bedrooms are roomy and each has its own bath and shower. The kitchen is well equipped with a stove, refrigerator, and everything needed for cooking. There’s a spacious patio that worked great for gathering everyone for a meal, plus a large back patio and another restroom.

Just perfect.

The staff were attentive and friendly, though we ran into a service problem: there was no water in the rooms when we arrived. It only came on after we complained, so the bathrooms would have water. It's an old house⁵, with simply furnished rooms that each have a bathroom, an interior courtyard in the middle, and a back patio.

The location is unbeatable, right in the heart of Tapalpa's beautiful center, and there's street parking. It isn't ideal, but at least there's room. Still, this place isn't worth what they charge per night. It feels more like a self-catering hostel, and I put “HOTEL” in quotes because I had to go buy toilet paper. They left just one roll for two people over three days, and nobody answered my WhatsApp messages. There was no staff around, so it felt like being left in a house to work out where everything was on my own. The towels never dried because the room had no ventilation and the bathrooms were completely enclosed. I asked for fresh ones, and by the time I was almost in Guadalajara, they still probably hadn't brought them. The old wooden doors are pretty, but you can see into the room and light gets in both day and night. Everything faces an interior courtyard, but there are no curtains or anything for privacy, so you can't leave the doors or windows open. The bathroom containers were labeled with Vervan, an amazing Guadalajara brand that makes creams, soaps, and body care products, but all that was left of the product was the container, refilled with AXION grease remover. And we weren't the only guests in this sorry state. At least three other people were just as annoyed, and I even had to share toilet paper with them.