Balajú Hotel & Suites

The bellhops made both of my stays much easier. They were extremely helpful, and one managed to get us an ocean-view room after the front desk said none were available. A good tip seemed to help. The desk employees themselves were less helpful, which is why I’d have given five stars otherwise. The hotel is clean and very nice, with a decent breakfast buffet in the restaurant. Rooms facing the water have the best outlook; the ones at the rear look onto a depressing part of inner Veracruz. The A/C is quiet, and the TV can play English audio tracks. This was my second stay, and the bellhops are a big reason I’ll return.

I spent 10 days here, and every day was wonderful. The rooms were cleaned very well, the staff were kind and helpful, and the view was lovely. The food was great too. I had breakfast each morning and sometimes tried the weekend buffet. I’d really recommend this place.

The sea view was definitely good, and the location seemed like it might justify the above-average price when we arrived. Just be ready for an early wake-up: trumpet playing at the military college across the street wakes the cadets, so you’ll hear it too if you’re up early. Otherwise, the stay felt average. The bed linen was dirty, and a white towel had a large stain. Once the small complimentary water bottle was gone, we couldn’t find another at the vending machine. Even at night, staff sent us a couple of blocks away to a grocery shop. At the restaurant, the friendly waiters explained that the free continental “breakfast” was just fruit, one glass of orange juice, one piece of bread, and one cup of tea or coffee, with no refills. They did say we could pay full price for the buffet, with no discount for the breakfast coupon.

We won’t stay again and can’t recommend this place. We booked two rooms together because my mother is disabled, but the hotel couldn’t provide what we’d paid for. One room’s A/C was broken and didn’t cool the room below 27 C / 81 F. The other room was okay only with the curtains kept closed. Mom’s door deadbolt didn’t work properly, the Wi-Fi worked only sometimes, and the safe seemed to have a dead battery, so we used the one in the other room. The evening desk staff said a manager would come, but by day two nobody had.