We found the Hotel Residencial on our first trip to Merida about 4 years ago. We LOVE it! It is totally affordable, has an old colonial feel to it - and it is NOT some huge chain. The bar is wonderful - with huge floor to ceiling glass between it and the "courtyard" pool. The restaurant makes the best Chiquiles I've ever had - although last year they did skimp a bit on the chicken. The staff is so friendly. Admittedly the rooms aren't very special, but we don't hang out in the room. We stay here for one night on our arrival, then head to the beach, then come back for two nights after our Tel Chac Puerto beach experience - and experience Merida on the weekend. It's not central, but we can walk there - probably about a mile or maybe a little more. The walk is part of the fun for us!

We stayed here for two nights. Upon entering the room, the smell was curiously bad. Later we found out that our friends next door also had that same smell in their room. Mixed with a moldy, dirty smell of the general room and this dead rotting smell, the place was pretty bad. The service at the front desk was impossible. We were lost trying to find the hotel and when we called the hotel for a taxi ride to come get us, he said "I can't do that." He also charged us for trying to make a phone call to other hotels to book reservations.

There's small pool (no sun) and a large bar and restaurant. It is truly in the residential area so be ready to walk about 10 blocks to downtown. While walking there, be ready to inhale a large volume of carbon monoxide through the narrow streets. Because of this, my group felt the ill effects of repeated exposure to dirty air. In another part of town, by the museum of Anthropology and History, the air and street walking experience was much better...larger, wider streets.

As for the Hotel, I'd have to rate it as a "last resort" kind of stay. We paid roughly $50 a night here...and spent the minimum hours in the room. Sleeping with the air conditioning on is very loud, the lighting is florescent, and the stink coming from under the bed was horrifying.

The hotel is located around ten blocks from the main square and cathedral. You can walk or take one of the very frequent buses for 6 Mexican pesos down to the main Plaza Grande. The neighborhood is a bit too quiet and dark to wander around at night. It's close to the park and zoo, as well as to Parque de Santiago, where you'll find a supermarket, movie theaters, the park itself, and a number of simple but great local food restaurants for little money. If you don't mind being a bit off the main center, then it's a good choice. The building is beautiful, and the rooms modern and clean. The front desk staff is helpful, but the housekeeping department could be improved.
There is a restaurant/bar which I never tried. The pool is very small and located right by the path to/from the restaurant and to/from reception/elevators so it's never a totally relaxing place. The best is the roof, with excellent vistas of the city at night and where you can have a drink or just recline on an amazing deck chair. I recommend it.

I stayed at the Hotel Residencial in August of 2009 for two nights. I liked this hotel very much. The rooms were clean, nicely decorated, had comfortable beds and a good TV with plenty of working channels.. I also found the bathrooms to be clean. The shower had plenty of hot water and good water pressure. The roof terrace wasn't big, but it was a nice place to spend a few minutes before going to bed at night. I didn't go swimming. The pool is small- more of a splash pool, but it looked nice and clean. We paid about 50 USD a night- I think this was a good price for this hotel.