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Monday, November 10, 2014

Hello Mexico!

Well, we're back in Mexico. We'll be in the country at least for the next two months I would say. No firm plans, but we want to see the Copper Canyon before we leave! Then maybe in the mid January time frame we'll tour around Arizona for a month or two in Sherman the motorhome. We don't arrive back at the motorhome for another three weeks, so we'll figure out our plan then.

So, we're in Mexico City, but really it's only for a stopover.

There was no easy connection for our flight to Puerto Escondido so we decided to spend two nights and a full day here before our flight to the beach. We've been to Mexico City before, so we're a little bit familiar with it.

We had planned on staying with the same couchsurfing host that we had stayed with the last time we were here, and he was looking forward to seeing us as well. But he was called out of town on business at the last minute and we only found out last week. So we tried to find a last minute replacement host but it didn't work out.

So I decided to try Priceline's "express" hotel deal. This is where they tell you what price a particular hotel is and approximately what part of the city it's in, but they don't tell you what hotel it is until you've bought the deal! So there's a certain amount of risk involved, but at least you have a place to stay and at a decent price.

I got us a deal for $33 USD per night. Once taxes, fees, and exchange rate were factored in it came to $90 CAN ($77 USD) for the two nights. Not bad.

Turned out that we got the Hotel Premier, an older property, walking distance to Mexico City's historic central district. The location was great, but the (somewhat dated) reviews weren't so great. But, I had also read that it was recently renovated, so we were optimistic.

Our flight yesterday from San Francisco was a little delayed and we got into MEX at around 3:45pm. It was probably the fastest customs and border clearance ever. Always a great way to be welcomed to a country! Thank you Mexico! There's a reason we keep coming back.

I had researched the best way to get to the hotel, and although the subway is dirt cheap (3 pesos, about 25 cents!) it would have been three line changes. Instead, a better option for us was the "metrobus" system. A little more expensive at 30 pesos (around $2.75) each but the one bus from the airport would drop us within a 15 minute walk from our hotel.

We went out to wait for the bus and read the sign that said cash was not accepted. So we had to go back into the terminal and buy a metrobus card. It cost 10 pesos for the card plus a 40 peso credit. We'll have to put some more pesos on the card in order to use it again for the ride back to the airport tomorrow.

Made it to the hotel without a problem and sure enough, our reservation was there. The normal price of the hotel is 700 pesos ($63) per night, so we did okay. Sure enough, the hotel has been recently renovated and it's totally fine!

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The bill was 400 pesos (about $36) including two beers, a glass of wine, and tax and tip. Not bad!

No pics today. We have internet, but it's not great. Maybe we'll find a TelCel store today and we'll get our cellular internet stick reactivated.

22 comments:

  1. Not having any pictures is quite acceptable, considering just how many you normally share with us. Glad the hotel situation worked out. The only times we've ever had "less than ideal" hotels, has been when someone from my wife's company would book us into a place. Not sure what was going with that, whether there was some random spinning wheel and a series of darts thrown at it, but I very quickly started doing our own bookings. I mostly rely on reviews to see where I'd like to stay, even though revirews can be unreliable at times. There was only one time when an "admin assistant" did a booking for us, and it was better than expected. Should put that in there.
    Have a good rest.

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    1. It is always nice when you can book a room yourself, your ideas can be totally different from someone else's ideas. Glad you haven't ended up with too many bad ones, we haven't either thankfully.

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  2. Relax and enjoy - plenty of time later for pics - just happy that you're back in Mexico!!!

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    1. Thanks Connie and Barry, we will have lots of time to relax over the next little while and we are really going to enjoy it, not that we haven't been enjoying all the traveling that we have been doing.

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  3. Replies
    1. We are very happy with it and it includes a cooked breakfast!

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  4. Glad to hear your priceline gamble paid off. It always amazes me what fabulous travelers you two are.

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    1. For our first time using Priceline, we are pretty happy with the way it turned out.

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  5. Replies
    1. Thank you Paul and Marsha, and yes it feels like coming home to us!

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  6. I always have a crave for travelling every time I read your writings. :) I am glad that you are finally at home and hope you could take a good rest there.

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    1. Thank you June, it does feel like home to us. You are welcome to come and visit any time after December 2, you know we would love to have you visit!

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  7. Can't wait to read about your visit to Puerto Escondido! We actually drove our MH there and stayed in a beach-front RV park, prior to the hurricane that wiped it out. And then there are Bahias de Huatulco Glad I found your blog! Lynda...

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    1. We have also driven our motorhome there three times over the last seven years. It is our favourite Mexican beach town. We have also been to Huatulco in the motohome and enjoyed ourselves there too. Hope you will enjoy our adventures there.

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  8. Welcome back to Mexico! We are spending the winter in Playa del Carmen and loving it so far. I don't think we've had a dinner out yet that cost more than the equivalent of $24 US (including drinks and tip), but we've been going to very casual, local places. Love the prices here compared to the US! Enjoy your stay and reunion with Sherman!

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    1. The beaches around Playa del Carmen area are beautiful, I am sure you will love it there. The local spots to our mind our the best spots. We always look for restaurants that are full of Mexicans and not tourists. Have fun!

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  9. Haven't been disappointed with any of the properties we've booked with Priceline ... express deals or bidding. Welcome back to Mexico.

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    1. Good to hear that Erin. We will definitely use Priceline Express again if the need arises.

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  10. Back in Mexico and gonna hook up with Sherman again soon. Enjoy.

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    1. It will still be another three weeks before we get back to Sherman but we can't wait until we do.

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