Casa Decu — Hotel in Mexico City

We stayed at Casa Decu in May 2023. The rooftop terrace is beautiful, and the staff is generally nice, but we had several serious issues with our stay. ||First, there is no AC. There is no air system of any kind. I believe this has to do with it being a historic building. The only ventilation comes from opening the windows. The problem, however, is that the windows do not have screens, which means that in addition to the loud noise from outside, the room fills with mosquitoes. There also somewhat inexplicably were no ceiling fans. I understand that a historic building may limit installation of an AC system, but the lack of fans and screens made no sense. It forces guests to choose between overheating with no air or being eaten by mosquitoes. ||Second, it is EXTREMELY loud. There are no sound barriers between rooms and something about the layout of the hotel courtyard makes it so it sounds like people talking on the rooftop are screaming in your open window. To give a sense of scale, I finally wore earplugs to sleep and could still hear everything through the earplugs.||My third point was the most concerning to us and relates to the first two. One night, close to midnight, we were unable to sleep due to the extremely loud noise — blaring music and shouting voices. After enduring it for several hours, we decided that because it was close to midnight, it would be fair for us to ask the hotel staff if they would kindly ask the people on the roof to take the party to their rooms and to turn down the music so that others in the hotel could sleep. I sent multiple text messages to the front desk and also called down. I never received any responses. Finally, I got dressed and walked down the four flights of stairs to talk to the front desk in person—and there was no one there. The front doorman said that the day person had had to leave when their shift was over but the night person hadn’t arrived, so there just was…absolutely nobody at the hotel who could answer the phone, check text messages, access the hotel computer, turn down the music, turn off the lights, etc. Not only could he not leave the front door (people buzz to get in), he didn’t even have access to the computer. Beyond being frustrated at our inability to sleep, this actually is a HUGE safety issue. What if there had been a medical emergency? Or an earthquake? Or the front doorman had a medical emergency or conflict with someone trying to get in? He’d have absolutely no backup. The hotel should never, EVER find itself in a situation in which there is not even one person in the hotel able to use the computer, help guests, etc. It was shocking and deeply concerning that there was no manager on site, that the phone calls didn’t route to a manager, etc. I don’t know when the first person left, but I know that from the time I starting reaching out until when I finally heard back from someone, several hours had passed with no hotel workers in the hotel beyond the doorman. It was just… empty of workers. Never in all my lifetime of traveling have I ever experienced this kind of breakdown in a hotel. ||Finally, note that the hotel is five floors with fairly steep stairs separating them. There is no elevator. Breakfast is on the roof. If you are not comfortable going up and down multiple flights of stairs per day, do...

We stayed at Casa Decu in May 2023. The rooftop terrace is beautiful, and the staff is nice, but we had several serious issues with our stay.

First, there is no AC. There is no air system of any kind. I believe this has to do with it being a historic building. The only ventilation comes from opening the windows. The problem, however, is that the windows do not have screens, which means that in addition to the loud noise from outside, the room fills with mosquitoes. There also somewhat inexplicably were no ceiling fans. I understand that a historic building may limit installation of an AC system, but the lack of fans and screens made no sense. It forces guests to choose between overheating with no air or being eaten by mosquitoes.

Second, it is EXTREMELY loud. There are no sound barriers between rooms and something about the layout of the hotel courtyard makes it so it sounds like people talking on the rooftop are screaming in your open window. To give a sense of scale, I finally wore earplugs to sleep and could still hear everything through the earplugs.

My third point was the most concerning to us and relates to the first two. One night, close to midnight, we were unable to sleep due to the extremely loud noise — blaring music and shouting voices. After enduring it for several hours, we decided that because it was close to midnight, it would be fair for us to ask the hotel staff if they would kindly ask the people on the roof to take the party to their rooms and to turn down the music so that others in the hotel could sleep. I sent multiple text messages to the front desk and also called down. I never received any responses. Finally, I got dressed and walked down the four flights of stairs to talk to the front desk in person—and there was no one there. The front doorman said that the day person had had to leave when their shift was over but the night person hadn’t arrived, so there just was…absolutely nobody at the hotel who could answer the phone, check text messages, access the hotel computer, turn down the music, turn off the lights, etc. Not only could he not leave the front door (people buzz to get in), he didn’t even have access to the computer. Beyond being frustrated at our inability to sleep, this actually is a HUGE safety issue. What if there had been a medical emergency? Or an earthquake? Or the front doorman had a medical emergency or conflict with someone trying to get in? He’d have absolutely no backup. The hotel should never, EVER find itself in a situation in which there is not even one person in the hotel able to use the computer, help guests, etc. It was shocking and deeply concerning that there was no manager on site, that the phone calls didn’t route to a manager, etc. I don’t know when the first person left, but I know that from the time I starting reaching out until when I finally heard back from someone, several hours had passed with no hotel workers in the hotel beyond the doorman. It was just… empty of workers. Never in all my lifetime of traveling have I ever experienced this kind of breakdown in a hotel.

Finally, note that the hotel is five floors with fairly steep stairs separating them. There is no elevator. Breakfast is on the roof. If you are not comfortable going up and down multiple flights of stairs per day, do...

“Scam” might be a strong word, but that’s exactly how it felt. We stayed one night and decided to leave.

We had arranged a hotel pickup for 1100 MXN, thinking it would be safer and more convenient. In reality, the hotel just ordered a regular Uber for us — at three times the normal price. The driver was 45 minutes late, and we had to wait at the chaotic terminal drop-off area, texting back and forth on WhatsApp, feeling lost and uncomfortable. No one was waiting for us at arrivals, which was the whole reason we booked a pickup in the first place. To make things worse, the Uber dropped us off a block away from the hotel — in the middle of the night.

[Edit after hotel comment: Hotel confirmed the pick up 36 hours prior arrival at MEX airport. Not even close to short notice - we can proof by WhatsApp confirmation]

The hotel itself is clean and spacious, and the interior design is stylish (as expected from a design hotel group). But that’s where the positives end.

The so-called “queen-size” bed was only 1.3 meters (51 inches) wide — far too small for two people. There’s no elevator, so we had to carry our luggage up three floors via narrow, winding stairs.

[Edit after hotel comment: International queen size standard is 150cm plus. Claiming the iPhone camera is wrong is quite a cheap way to try getting out of the fact these beds are NOT queen size]

Noise was another huge issue. Although the surrounding neighborhood is quiet, our room faced the inner courtyard, and we could hear everything — footsteps, conversations in the lobby, and even people climbing the stairs. It was impossible to relax. On top of that, a loud travel group was staying next door and had no regard for other guests trying to sleep.

As a final touch, the standby light on the nightstand glowed so brightly that the room never truly felt dark.

Breakfast? What breakfast? Two overwhelmed staff members did their best, but the experience was a disaster — no cups, no plates, no milk, no courtesy, no service. Just two people hiding in the kitchen. Other guests looked just as disappointed, with some even going next door to buy breakfast at a bakery.

[Edit after hotel comment: We had breakfast at 8:10 AM and above was the case. 8:00 is the breakfast start. Sorry, but that’s quite poor. We are not talking 6:00 am morning. Which is a different game compared to comfortable eight morning time]

Not recommended. We won’t be returning.

[Edit after Hotel comment: I am disappointed the hotel management not listening to their customers but trying to blame them. Not taking the change to improve rather trying to sabotage the customer comments. Never seen...