THE GOOD:
This is an inexpensive hotel, about $33 USD per night.
Located in heart of "downtown" area, a block from the main zocolo and close to lots of shopping and several restaurants. Taxi station directly across street, local buses go everywhere (cheaper by far). This is an old hotel. It has lots of charm, a few drawbacks. There is tile everywhere and some stained glass. We were in room 313. Nice view (shared) balcony can see main zocolo and street views. The cleaning staff is very thorough, and they do a great job i.e. the place is old, but it was clean. Hotel restaurant was reasonable priced and the food was good. Nice clean, shaded (it's open sided) so there is a breeze (Manzanillo is very hot, VERY humid).
The furniture is really cool - carved wood (matching) wiped clean everyday.
Air conditioner was GREAT and absolutely necessary! (see hot&humid above). It cooled room immediately and made enough noise to drown out any sounds that might be on the street at night. I don't know if there were any, the AC took care of that!
Folks at desk were real nice (solo habla espanol)
THE BAD:
Don't get discouraged by what I list here because I still recommend the hotel despite the drawbacks. But you do need to know about them so no surprises.
Bed was TERRIBLE in this room 313.
Bathroom smelled AWFUL when first entered room, I almost puked. BUT smell mostly gone after ventilated (window both sides of room) and used a scented candle. (?no P traps for drains?). The water here is part of the terrible smell.
You are quite a distance from the very nice beaches, so a long cab (or bus) ride required.
Taxis overcharge! at 100 pesos (equiv of $10 USD). Local bus is about 50cents (5pesos), but stop often. Buses are a true emersion into the Mexican experience. Do it once for the experience if not for the $savings. Manzanillo is very spread out. A car would have been useful here (if I knew where to go or where to park it).
We were lucky to visit when there was no cruise ship here. I can't imagine what that huge number of arrivals would do to the town ambiance. The shear number would totally change the town experience.
No elevator
Lax (non-existent) security
PS I hope to get a few photos posted in the near future.
- Colonial Hotel Manzanillo
