Job Discussion Forums

[jg]

Greetings,

I will be spending a few weeks in Mexico and would like to know about finding cheap hotels (not hostels) or families who rent out rooms. When i went to Colombia (Cartagena) some years ago, I just kind of walked around and found out info about a family that rented cheap, "basic" rooms - bed, dresser, cold water shower. This is the kind of thing I want... and I am hoping that to save myself time there might be an online guide for this kind of thing?

Or, do any universities rent out dorm rooms? I have done this too in my time...

I imagine most of my time will be in Mexico City, Oaxaca, Campeche, and maybe Vera Cruz. Any info will be greatly appreciated, as usual.

mil gracias,

Jaime el mochillero

[Guy Courchesne]

For Mexico City, there's nothing better than the hotel Oxford...get the double room, for around 250 pesos a night.

http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/mexico/mexico-city-r1976318/hotel-oxford-p1042451/

The write up there is bang on. Don't bother trying to make a reservation. They don't do them but there's always a room.

[jg]

$250 pesos? Jeepers... are those typical prices for a "downmarket" hotel in a big city or is it just pricing for the capital?

DF may be a bit more $$ than I imagined (at least for lodgings) but oh well... perhaps I was spoiled by Ecuador and Peru, oh well. I'll make up for it by eating lots of yummy food and drinking my weight in licuados I suppose!

Thanks for the info Guy!

[geaaronson]

The center of Mexico tends to be on the pricier side. If you visit the southern part of Mexico you will find better bargains.
I have found remote hotels in such towns as Tixcutzcab or Ticul, Yucatan for as little as 80 pesos a nite and the same for oceanside lodging in Sisal, Yucatan for 85.
I paid 800 pesos monthly for a cuartro in Merida. I had to pay for electricity. I have heard of people get basic housing in Oaxaca for as little as 200 a month. In the Yucatan, the brand new starter homes, fracciones, go for $1,000 a month(pesos).

[Guy Courchesne]

[Oreen Scott]

In Oaxaca City, it really depends what you are looking for, Mexicans expect to pay between 500 and 1,000 pesos for a one room apartment with a bathroom. I don't know anyone who pays $200 pesos, and I haven't seen anything like that advertised in the newspaper. Probably a share with lots of roommates?????

Some friends paid $231,000 American to buy a 2,000 sqare foot home here. Real Estate in Oaxaca can be more than where I've come from, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

I live in a middle class neighbourhood in a modest bungalow at the back of a garden. 2 bedrooms, large patio, second floor of a two apartment house. $4,000 pesos and includes everything.

The dogs, cats and roosters serenade me all night. There are many times when I've run out of water in the middle of a shower and had to leave my apartment, cross the garden and turn on the pump. But, I really don't mind. I didn't expect Canada when I came to live here.

So, it really depends on what you are looking for.

[TeresaLopez]

I know you said you didn't want a hostel, but let me tell you about one anyway. It is a very small hostel, with just one 6 bed dorm, and 4 hotel style rooms upstairs. There is a living room, a nice patio with plants, a roof top hang out, a cheap but yummy restaurant nearby, and 3 blocks from a Metro station. The upstairs rooms are usually rented as doubles, but call the owner (her name is Livier) and see if she will work out a deal for a long term stay - if it is slow you can probably get a room for $20 US. If you like quiet ask for the "skeleton room". It doesn't have any windows, but it has a skylight. The name of the hostel is Versalles 104, they have a web site. There is also a really nice hotel a little off the beaten path, but close to a Metro station and across the street from a bus that takes you straight downtown (a 10 to 30 minute ride, depending on the time of day). The name of the hotel is Faja de Oro, and it is really, really nice, marble entry, restaurant, a nice park across the street, a bakery 2 blocks away, lots of cheap street food nearby. Cost is around $18 per night, but again, if you talk to the owner you can probably get a discount for a longer term stay.

[MotherF]

My husband rents a room in Oaxaca City for 300 pesos a month, but it does not have a private bath. There is hot water in the shared bath, that is if the gas hasn't run out (which apparently it often does) The room is about 5 feet by 8 feet too, so just enough space for a single bed and something to keep your clothes in. These places don't really rent for the week only the month and are aimed at Mexican university students or single men who work in the city then go home to parents house in the villages on the weekends. If you wanted to find them you should ask around for "cuartos para estudiantes".
Universities don't have student dorms in this part of Mexico.

In Mexico city the Oxford is nice for the price. If its full, it sometimes is Guy, I hit the Carlton, which is not nearly as nice. DON'T get a single room at the Oxford, you'd be better off on a bench in that little park next door.

[jg]

Hey,

Thanks for all the fantastic replies, you'll are a big help. MotherF you nailed it... I had actually been searching using words "cuarto, estudiante, semanal" etc, and adding the names of cities, and came up with a bit but not much. It is now (and should have been before) clear to me that these are the sorts of places that don't advertise on the net.

And, lucky me, one of my students somehow found out I was planning a trip to Mexico, surprisingly it turns out he is from Puebla and he offered me to crash (little Spanglish there) with his family in Puebla for the days that I am there. I'd like to bring them a gift or something to show my gratitude, any suggestions?

Oreen Scott wrote: