The Hotel El Fuerte, in the city of the same name, is a rare find. Located near the town square and cathedral the heart of the hotel is a 300 year old hacienda. It has been expanded and modernized many times and now is an eclectic first class hotel. The modern rooms vary in size so the guests cannot be sure how big their rooms will be. Ours was a large two bed room while others were in more cramped quarters. But, if you have a sense of adventure, the room gamble is worth it.

Bright colors and an assortment of collectables are scattered around the building, much of which is open to the sky over the enclosed courtyard. You can spend hours walking around the buildings, photographing the nick knacks. The owner has collected old sewing machines.

Don’t expect a pool/resort atmosphere but you will find a wonderful in town hotel, convenient to the fort and other downtown attractions.

This place is a 350 yr old spanish hacienda converted to a hotel. It's beautiful! And they have a restaurant on site for breakfast. See our photos as part of our entire Copper Canyon trip, hotel photos are in the beginning. http://www.flickr.com/photos/strangebird/sets/72157625170407748/
We started our Copper Canyon train journey from El Fuerte. Pretty little Colonial town, not much to do, very quiet, but that's OK we needed a little R&R time before beginning our trip. Use 3 Amigos for some fun here http://www.amigos3.com/index.php?go=destinations&et=el-fuerte - we did the rowboat river tour. Ate at El Meson del General every night there. The Hotel called a taxi for us to get to the train in the morning, and had a taxi waiting for us on our return to the town.

Beautiful, comfortable hotel. A wonderful experience. Lots of genuine artwork and collectables for decoration. A rooftop view of the city and sky at night. Also, food was good!

If you like a lot of junk you will like this place. A true collector of Mexican Artesanias with a few of other countries thrown in, but it is nicely displayed. Great location. The rooms were clean and the beds hard, but I still had a good night sleep. No food since we were the only ones in the hotel. We had coffee one morning sent to the room and it was terrible. Decent towels and regular amenities. Reception was very accommodating. The best restaurant to have Langoustines was La Choza followed by the General. Nice clean old town. The river trip was too short. Televison, no Internet and no phone in the room. We had the trip arranged by tres amigos who did a pretty good job overall.