Great location in the centre of Merida. Authentic atmosphere. Colonial architecture. Rooms are functional, but your bed is right behind the door so not really private... Simple functional bathroom. The hotel is cheap, and they have special deals at the front desk (advertised on the street) when there are rooms available. No breakfast, but you can get breakfast anywhere in the city.
Merida is a nice, colonial city you have seen in one day, but you can experience it several days. Do not book a tour to Celestun! It'll cost you a lot, and you will have no freedom at all. If you want to visit Celestun (only the flamingoes are worth it), you'ld better take the bus or rent a car.

The room itself was nice, but our credit card number was somehow stolen from the hotel (we didn't lose the actual card), and $1900 USD was charged before we discovered it. Other incidents in Merida cause us to label the city "the worst city we have ever visited". I wish we had never ventured out from Cancun.....tourist beware.

We stayed in the Gran Hotel for three nights at the beginning of January. The hotel itself is very pretty with an interesting collection of statues, plants, furniture in the lobby.

The location is excellent (one block from the Zocalo) with lots of restaurants, bars and shops around the corner.

The room we stayed in (overlooking the square) was huge, clean and air-conditioned.

The staff were very friendly. The hotel provides free purified water and ice.

Was lucky to find The Gran Hotel in Merida. Built in 1901, but renovated not too many years ago, so it remains in remarkably good shape & is a wonderful colonial & architectural jewel. A double room was $55 US & well worth it. The location in the downtown historical center facing a lovely small plaza, with several good restaurants in the the immediate area. There are some worn edges -- this is Mexico remember & this is an old building -- but with ambience like this you will feel like you stepped back in time. This is truly why you go to Merida.