My wife and I spent a week in Mazatlán for her birthday (February 28 - March 6) and we had the opportunity to stay at a variety of hotels. We stayed at Hotel La Siesta first, then Hotel Playa Mazatlán, and finally Hotel Lerma. The price ranged from expensive (Hotel Playa Mazatlán), moderate (Hotel La Siesta), and cheap (Hotel Lerma). Out of the three our favorite hotel was Lerma and that's saying A LOT! Because we liked all three hotels for different reasons.

Hotel La Siesta is a good value and lots of tourist stay there, it's right in front the beach (Playa Olas Altas) and the malecón and right around the corner from the historic zone in old Mazatlán. Hotel Playa Mazatlán is in the Golden Zone aka tourist zone and in my opinion it's the best value out of the large-resort-type hotels if that's what you seek. It has a nice private beach (Playa Las Gaviotas) right in front of it and is right next door to some of Mazatlán's most popular clubs & bars. Joe's Oyster bar is a rock throw away.

Hotel Lerma is a few steps away from Playa Norte beach. It's a 5 minute walk max. It's less "touristy" but they still receive a fair amount of foreigners. We saw quite a few while staying there but nowhere near the level we saw at the other hotels. The staff and management is very friendly and they keep the place spotless. Security is good and there is a ton of parking and best of all it only cost $12 a night for a double bed with private bath and fan! What won us over beside all of the stuff I just mentioned was the place had a homey authentic Mexican feel. It was reminiscent of a room in Havana, Cuba. It has huge windows that open up to the street activity below (we stayed on the 2nd floor), but it was never loud or noisy. The street is very quiet and during the day when you open up the windows and turn the fan on you could just sleep for hours in the comfortable beds, which we did several days in a row, the room is very breezy and makes you relaxed & lazy. Or you could watch the activity down below on the street.

I would definitely stay at the Lerma again and I highly recommend it for people who are just looking for a nice place to rest their head, cheap, clean accommodations that are authentic and close to the beach. The authentic, non-hustle and bustle feel of the place is what puts it above the rest for us. At Hotel La Siesta there was a guy in the lobby constantly trying to sell us time shares and get us to go to this one resort in the Golden Zone and the staff didn't seem to mind him being there. Lerma didn't have none of that riff-raff. You could just come and go as you please and relax. It's VERY comfortable & cozy. Check it out!

i totally loved the lerma, it was nothing fancy but i am a spend thrift and it had every thing i wanted. $12 a night, clean, shower, bed, safety, and the atmoshere of mexico i had hoped to find. i dont go to another country to sit in a motel. they helped me make a call on the phone, opend the gate to let me in late at night ( i felt guity about it but it is the norm for them). also it was located to all the stuff you want to see in the old part of maz. beach, marcado, cathedral, etc. we went in june and it was 95 every day and my daughter wanted AC so we left after a few days. i didnt need AC and preffered the Lerma. i would stay there again definatly. if i didnt stay there it would only be because i like to see diferent things and places.

I am in Mazatlan for student interchange and I needed cheap clean accomodation for couple of frts days.

The room and Hotel was for this purpose ideal place. Room ok size, fan in the ceiling (no AC, but does not matter). There was also a small bathroom with shower, sink and toilet. Outside there is a jug with drinking water (do not drink water from the taps!). There is a watchman during night. If u come late, no problem, he will let you in. Price was 120 pesos / day. Payment done for coule of days (no need to pay in advance for whole stay). I usualyy stayed 2 or 3 days and paid and after 2 more days again. When I was moving in I needed to leave there luggage - they took care of it, no damages.

in the room good-sized bed (even for 2 persons), table, chair, wardrobe, sockets. Windows blocked my metal things (I dont know the mane for it in English, but u see that I mean). The hotel is simple, but honestly - I liked it much!

For a single traveller, budget travellers highly recomended. There even stayed familes with children (Mexicans).

The locality is great, in Old Mazaltan, close to center, Plaza Machado, to Malecon, beaches. For food good option close to lerma is Pollo Loco, restaurants on Plaza Machado or Market place (but I dont recomment this to first travellers to Mexico as you would very probably get digestive problems - the adaptibility to Mexican food is quite tough and can mean frequent visits of toilet :) So take care. If you have time to explore - u can take a direction and take a walk to see the city. These first days were one of the best days furing my all stay in Mexico. U can go following the coast to the lighthouse. Takes a while, but it is nice. Also highly recommentded to walk through center (plazas, also take a walk through streets - care if asking for a direction - people will tell u something even if they dont know because they dont like to admit that they dont know. This results to the situation that 3 people will tell u totally different direction :D )

See photos to make opinion. I was satisfied and this can be a positive advertisement to Lerma :-)

My plan was to stay at The Lerma for a week and then move to a different Hotel, My travel agent wanted me to check out different Hotel for her while I was there. I loved the Lerma and stayed for two weeks.
Perfect location, around the corner from the main market, which by the way is a great place to eat. Very close to the Plaza Machado, plaza revolution, old mazatlan is beautiful, a perfect place to wander around at night and take in the sights, smells and to meet the ever so helpful locals, always street vendors with wonderful food as well.
5 seconds after you exit the Lerma you can see the ocean, a short two block walk towards it.
It is very clean and secure, a night watchman on all night. The maid came everyday and changed my sheets each time, left a jug of drinkable water everyday. Room was a nice size, bed, big dresser, with drawers and hangers, nice writing table and chair, night table beside the bed. Plenty of hot water in the shower. Window with shudders over looking the residential street, window on the other side, a nice cross breeze came through, no need for air condition (there is none) My room had a ceiling fan, but I never needed it.
Nice open court yard as well if you want to laze around and read a book. (I perfered to walk to plaza machado to read)
The owner (Carlos) speaks English and was most helpful in helping me find my way anywhere I wanted to go in Maz.
No TV...I did not travel all the way to Mexico to watch TV...I did'nt need it. Also no phone in the room...I also did not need a phone.
One thing that might annoy the sleepy heads...the Gaspa guy comes around at 7 am, honking his horn waking up the whole street. I am an early riser so it was not a problem for me.
The best part...the price was right 100 pesos a night/110 on high season. I believe he has rooms for less without your own bathroom. (not sure of price)
I would highly recommend this Hotel, I will stay here again. Great staff, great location, perfect cute clean rooms, great price.