Hotel Meson De La Merced — Hotel in Querétaro

Some hotels have redeeming qualities that balance out the bad. This one has a few, but not enough...||||Positives:||-Gorgeous courtyard. The courtyard, the courtyard, the courtyard. ||-And the bed is comfy. ||-Staff is friendly and accommodating. ||Beyond that, it's downhill.||||Negatives:||-The doors to the rooms are flimsy and mostly crumbling wood, so airflow from outside is an issue in colder months. ||-The rooms have the layout of a 3-story rowhome, but there's nothing of much use on the first and second floor since the bed and bath are on the 3rd level. The stairway to the 3rd floor is poorly built, curves at odd angles with very low ceilings and has no banister. We visited in December and the rooms are COLD. There's no heat in the rooms. ||-Worst of all were the showers. The shower heads in the two rooms we stayed in were covered in mineral calcification. The calcified buildup was so bad in both bathrooms that around 90% of the water spout holes on the shower heads were blocked. This made the water flow come out incredibly hard (it felt like fine pinpricks on your skin) in one room and to spray all over the bathroom except on the person attempting to shower in the other. What's so ridiculous about this is that all someone would have to do to resolved this is unscrew the shower heads, put them in a chemical solution that will dissolve calcification buildup and screw them back on. Pretty basic stuff. The bathrooms also reeked of mildew. There were stick on air fresheners in the bathrooms which did nothing to cover the odor.||-Not one staff member could speak so much as a few basic words in English, so you better habla Espanol and fortunately one of us did. ||-The breakfast is disgusting. Breads were stale and remarkably low quality. Even the eggs were poorly cooked.||-Some of the tables in the courtyard were covered with garbage, candle wax or bird pooh which was never cleaned up during the 48 hours of our stay.||||Final Opinion:||This hotel is in dire need of lots of maintenance, needs a better trained staff and should be far...

First the good: the room was just want we wanted for a couple and another person traveling together. A three level suite with great little sitting area on first level, twin mattress on second loft level and very comfortable (not too hard) king bed on third level where servicable bathroom also located. Note no door between third level bedroom and bathroom, so if second level guest comes up to use facilities everyone will know. Breakfast was a delight: the breakfast cook prepares beautiful eggs and makes a delicious green sauce. Continental breakfast was included in our rate, and the very honest management gave credit for what the continental would have cost when the more expensive full breakfast items are ordered. ||||Second the average: it's a typical central Queretaro nice historic hotel. We've stayed in Queretaro many times and the historical hotels are located in either former big houses or haciendas with rooms around a central patio. Nothing good or bad about the architecture, just the usual.||||The not so good: irritating that every night we had to ask for a third set of towels. To me it should have been obvious to the chambermaid that three people were staying in the room in that she kept making the beds used by three people and taking away three sets of used towels. But for our three night stay we only got two sets of towels refreshed nightly so had to ask at the front desk. Front desk team surly and grudging with dispensing of said towels; no "of course, let me get that extra set right to you." Front desk staff not helpful about excursions or what to do in the city. One breakfast waiter seemed to know how to serve, but others couldn't generate the charges right or refill everyone's coffee cups at the same rounds (so just one person at our table would get coffee and the other two cups would sit empty). The issue didn't appear to be staff interest in doing a good job serving, rather training. ||||Bottom line: until evident that the management brings the service quality up, I recommend Casona de la Republica, Dona Urraca or Casa de...

This was our third trip to Queretaro. The other two times we stayed in a condo away from the city centre so we really can't compare to other hotels, but we enjoyed our stay very much.||||We liked the fact that our suite had 3 levels. The first floor was a very comfortable sitting area with leather couches with a bar with a small refrigerator. The second level had a small sofa bed, and the third a king size bed, flat screen TV, safe (no extra charge), small table and chairs, bathroom with shower and toilet, and a sink area.||||It would have been good to have a sink and some utensils (glasses, cups, plates, cutlery, etc.) on the first floor, since we sometimes ate in our suite, and brought our own portable cappuccino maker and blender (for smoothies and margaritas). Whenever you need water, you have to go up to the third level. It would also be nice to have an ice machine, although we did get some ice from the kitchen after asking the front desk staff one night. The reception on the TV was very bad, but the internet worked well, especially in the front area of the suite.||||All the staff were very helpful and friendly. The room was clean and made up every day with fresh bed linens and towels. Some of the lamp shades and other fixtures were a bit dusty, but the main areas were clean. Be sure to leave a tip (una propina)! We left 20 pesos per day.||||The hotel is ideally located very close to El Centro, but about a 10-minute walk away so you get away from the noise. It was very quiet at night. It is also just a few blocks from a huge market near Calle Garibaldi, and about a 10-minute walk to Los Arcos. If you want to stay within the city, and like to walk, you don't need a car or taxi if you stay...