La Ruina is a recently remodled home near the downtown area of Guadalajara. It is located in a working class residential neighborhood about a half mile from the downtown. We found the neighborhood to be safe and were comfortable walking around. If you are a less daring person then you might be inclined to take a cab at night, but we didn't ever feel threatened. There aren't many restaurants in the neighborhood, though there was one nice new restaurant on Corona St and Manual Acuna St which the manager, Ezra, can direct you to. There is also a Gigante market a short walk away which was handy.

The rooms themselves are beautiful. The bottom unit has very tall ceilings - at least 16 feet tall - with beatiful windows that stretch almost to the ceilings. Both rooms are colorfully decorated with brigh colors and Saltillo tile throughout. The only thing I didn't like was the design of the bathroom. You have to go outside to get to the bathroom, which is really weird as it doesn't seem like it would've been difficult to extend the wall of the room out a few more feet. (It also would have been helpful if the hotel had provided robes to go outside in. I just ended up using a towel and flipflops.) The bathroom is also quite small, with little area to store toiletries, so I ended up doing my makeup and hair in the bedroom.

Ezra is the manager of La Ruina and is very helpful and friendly. He lives in the house just across the courtyard and was always at hand when we needed him, but was far enough away that we felt like we were staying in our own private house. He is from the states and is fluent in English, which I found to be very handy since my Spanish is only so-so.

All in all this is a nice place and I recommend it f you don't mind being a little ways away from the hubbub of downtown.