Advantages: Gorgeous hotel, great food Disadvantages: A little bit expensive
Fiesta Americana Merida is a great hotel ideally located and stablished on a gorgeous building. Although is part of a major Mexican hotel chain it really respects the look of the city (white colonial buildings). It's very spacious as well. Can be a little bit more expensive than other small hotels in town but it definitely worths the price. Suggestion: suscribe online to their Fiesta Rewards programs so you can start earning points upon booking your first night!
It's close to several amenities like Merida's downton and fabolous restaurants. If you stay here try the Habanero, a good restaurant to try the delicious local food. I particularly recommend to have the Mayan Steak, a beef stake with Achiote, a culinarian delicacy from this southern region of Mexico. Enjoy! ...
Advantages: A unique and quaint hotel... Disadvantages: Lacking a few mod-cons...
We stayed in this hotel for a few days while on a little tour of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, including visits to Cancun (don't bother), Playa del Carmen & Cozumel (much better) and the amazing ancient Mayan ruins at Uxmal, Chitzen Itza and Tulum. (I'll try and get round to reviewing all these later...)
We arrived by taxi from Merida airport (a short journey), having flown in from Cancun, where we had arrived in Mexico the day before, and were delighed with what we found, a massive improvement of the brash touristy-ness of Cancun !
The Casa del Balam Hotel was formerly the family home of Fernando Barbachano Peon, pioneer of Mexican tourism. A blend of Mexican tiles, terracotta and wrought iron, it has a small pool in a walled courtyand, complete with a stone carved fountain and tropical plants, a restaurant and bar, along ...
Advantages: Cool city with loads to do Disadvantages: You always want more time
that I spent two days in Merida preparing for the expedition and a further couple of days upon our return. Merida is an adventure junkie paradise with a whole range of activities available which includes white water rafting, trekking in the mountains, jeep safaris and paragliding as well as parachuting and bungee jumping. If you want to get a natural high then head for Merida you will not leave disappointed.
You can fly into Merida as it has its own airport about 2km from the city centre however we arrived by overnight coach. Be aware that like many Venezuelan cities there are two bus stations, the long haul one which is about 4km from the centre and then the one that provides local services which is located in the centre of the city, transferring into the city can be either by local bus or taxi which was the option we went for, you can ...
