Hotels in Mexico City
 

I am looking for whatever advice you might have. I am looking for a logging place in Mexico City. So far I am giving myself 8 night in CDMX. One of my days in CDMX will be a day trip to Teotihuacan. Even after filtering my choices to places under about $60 U.S. dollars per night, places that allow canceling up to a certain date, and places with kitchen amenities, I still see an excessive number of choices listed on booking.com. I am unsure whether I should care whether the place is in a hotel that has 24 hour security and/or a desk with an employee there 24/7. Should this matter? If any of this matters, I am a man planning a solo-trip to Mexico for my 40th birthday. I don't drink alcohol or smoke; I am not sure if this is something to worry about but in theory maybe I don't want to stay right next to bars where drunk and/or potentially dangerous people will come out of or gather at. I am thinking of picking a place somewhere between the national archaeology museum/ Chapultepec park, and the Zocalo/ historic center of the city. I just want one place for all 8 nights and I will take day trips from there.

Michael--In Mexico City having an employee available 24/7 to open the front door of a hotel or hostel is pretty standard, regardless of whether or not that fact happens to be mentioned on a web site. Concerning your security, both actual and perceived, the specific neighborhood where a lodging establishment is located matters.

I suspect you are looking for an area with streets along with you will feel very comfortable walking alone during both day time and after dark, somewhere that is centrally located, with good access to transportation facilities that can take you to sights elsewhere in the City. For me that would be within the Roma Norte neighborhood, for convenience sake at lodging located within several blocks of the Glorieta de los Insurgentes traffic circle. I have found the Glorieta to be a very useful transportation hub.

So, to narrow your search, input into 'Google Maps' this search query "Mexico City Roma Norte hotel". The map that you'll see will show various lodging establishments within your price range located fairly close to the Glorieta. Unfortunately the hostel where I have had good experiences in that neighborhood appears to no longer be operating. So, look at hotel/hostel specific information, including reviews by past guests. You can access such info, of course, starting from 'Google Maps".

According to your other recent thread, this will be your first trip to Mexico and you will be traveling solo. So, it might ease your mind a bit if you stay at place where you likely to meet other English speaking travelers. That is much more likely to occur at a hostel rather than a hotel. I sometimes stay at hostels that have private rooms available. No, not all hostel guests sleep in dormitories. And, not everyone who stays at a hostel is college aged; I'm now 72.

Take a look at the Internet information that is available (including lots of reviews) concerning this hostel "Bed and Breakfast Mexico-Roma Norte". The name not withstanding, don't expect fancy 'B and B' amenities in Roma Norte for places in that hostel's price range. But, many guests seems to like the place and reportedly they congregate there for each morning's free breakfast. That could potentially be a way for you to meet fellow travelers.

To travel from the Mexico City Airport to your lodging establishment simply go to taxi ticket booth within the Airport, tell them your destination, and pay for your taxi ticket. Then, go outside where a line of authorized taxi's will be waiting to safely transport passengers in exchange for the tickets. Also, give the taxi driver a piece of paper with the address of your lodging destination. Taking this approach is likely to work better than asking your hotel or hostel host to arrange transportation from the airport.

Agree with Chris regarding staying in Roma Norte. Your challenge will be finding a hotel in that area with a kitchen. It looks like many of the places that come up on Booking are air bnb type places, which typically don't have 24/7 front desk. Which may be something you might want to help with transportation or other needs etc. Roma is safe after dark as is nearby Condesa. One area you'll probably want to avoid, given your criteria, is the Zona Rosa. It's not necessarily dangerous, but there are some pretty tacky bars and clubs.
One place that might work, though I've never stayed there, is Suites Capri. In your price range, kitchens, close to Chapultepec, the Insurgentes glorieta Chris mentioned, & and just outside Roma Norte's strip on Obregon. Gets good reviews.
https://suitescapri-mexico.com/colonia-roma/
There was another hotel with kitchens near Roma that i almost booked a few years ago whose name now escapes me. I couldn't find it on Google but I'll keep looking.

You might also consider this hostel near the zocalo. https://www.hostelworld.com/st/hoste...xoC_8UQAvD_BwE

I have not stayed there, but it seems to meet your criteria, including having cooking facilities. The zocalo area is quite lively these days and features several worthy sites, the cathedral, National Palace and the Templo Mayor and its museum. That said, it will certainly be noisier than Roma Norte, and maybe a tad edgier.

Two other hostels located fairly close to the Insurgentes Glorieta are Hostel Home and U Co-Juarez. U Co-Juarez has its own web page/booking site.

Michael--If possible, arrange your air booking so that you are scheduled to arrive at MEX no later than mid-afternoon. Arriving there late at night would not be unsafe, but it could possibly make you feel less comfortable as you taxi to your lodgings.

"That said, it [the Zocalo area] will certainly be noisier than Roma Norte, and maybe a tad edgier."

I feel comfortable walking around both areas during the day, but for me at night the Centro Historico its more than 'just a tad' edgier than Roma. The Centro Historico/Zocalo area has museums, important government buildings, and lots of commercial establishments, but these days very few people (other than some tourists) reside there. So, after dark some streets in the Historic Center become spooky, with little pedestrian activity . That's different from Roma which is primarily a residential neighborhood. At night I've enjoyed watching many of Roma's relatively affluent residents (women, men, children, and pampered dogs on leashes) outdoors casually strolling along the streets.

Some time ago I would. have agreed with you, but recently I've found the area quite busy in the evenings. The pedestrian only areas seem to have brought in more shops, restaurants and people. Twenty years ago I had a few nervous moments there, but I felt comfortable my last visit in 2019.

My original reason for staying in hostels was to increase my chances of having some minimal conversation or interaction with other English speakers. I was 32 when I first stayed in a hostel. The reason I stayed at all hotels on my last trip (I went to Spain in March 2022) was because I was afraid somebody would accuse that I would catch coronavirus-2019 from sleeping in a shared bedroom.

My current itinerary is flights to Oaxaca, 4 nights in Oaxaca city, 3 nights in Puebla city, 8 nights in Mexico city, flights back to Michigan leaving from Mexico city. I probably will arrive in CDMX on a bus.

In Spain I arrived on a Saturday morning. just over 2 days later, about 50-52 hours later, I had a sudden onset of severe gastrointestinal symptoms, maybe noro-virus or roto-virus or some kind of disease that affects travelers. I don't know what would have happened if I had caught this disease and if I had been staying in a hostel. I recovered 75% after another 3/4 of a day and was approximately completely normal again 1-3/4 days after my disease started. I bought two medicines at a pharmacy at different times. My respiratory system was completely unaffected. It wasn't coronavirus-2019.

As I mentioned above, some hostels in Mexico rent private rooms, in addition to offering dormitory beds. Arriving from Puebla, just 2 1/2 hrs. away, your bus will take you to into large bus station called TAPO. Using the same procedure that I described earlier concerning the airport, it's possible to buy a ticket a a booth inside at TAPO to use for safe local transportation on government authorized, taxis. The predetermined cost of that ticket is regulated, dependent and upon distance to the zone of the city that includes your destination.

Thanks for your input.