I spent two nights alone at the hotel (at a rate of 230 pesos per night) back in 2006, before I was joined by a friend and spent five days in a larger room (350 for the double). Alone and visiting Mexico City for the first time, I relied heavily on the hotel’s taxi service when I traveled around at night. He charged me more than twice what a normal street taxi would, but I was paying for peace of mind, as well as for conversation. I don’t know if their night taxi is driven by the same man three years later, but he was a kind older gentleman (as are most street taxi drivers, to be clear) who made suggestions of what neighborhoods would be fun to visit at night. (More info on taxis in Mexico City through this link.)

The rooms I saw (both the two I stayed in and those I peeked at while they were being cleaned by the housekeeping staff) all had dramatically high ceilings, but otherwise were very humble. Walls were painted neutral tones, floors were clean, beds were neat, mattresses firm. That bathrooms had showers, not tubs, that flowed into drains on the tiled floors. (This is a common set-up in inexpensive hotels in Mexico.) There was a faint musty smell in the bathrooms of both rooms I stayed in, but nothing too unpleasant. The furniture is far from fancy, but unlike other cheap hotels I’ve seen in Mexico City, the sheets on the bed were not paper thin.

The hotel is connected to a restaurant and bar that offers moderately priced food and drinks if you are too weary to go out to eat at the end of a busy day. I didn’t have a chance to eat at their restaurant (especially since there are so many other delicious options in the area), but other guests had positive things to say about it. Computers with internet access are available in the lobby. At times there was a short wait since there were only a couple of computers, but never longer than a few minutes. The staff was friendly and helpful. I can’t speak specifically to how gay-friendly the staff is, except to say that the hotel seems to be popular among young travelers, including gays and lesbians. Also, although the friend I stayed with in the hotel was not a girlfriend, I suspect that we did look like a lesbian couple on vacation, and no one in the hotel even batted an eye at us.

Hotel Isabel is located a short walk from several metro stations, the nearest of which is Isabel La Catolica, and many popular tourist attractions, such as the Catedral Metropolitano, Palacio de Bellas Artes, and the Torre Latino (Mexico’s first sky-scraper). It’s also a stones throw from El Moro, a fabulous churrería and a great place to go for a cup of Mexican hot chocolate, and La Pagoda, which has excellent and inexpensive chilaquiles and comida corrida. The streets around the hotel get pretty empty late at night, but during the day, the streets are crowded with tourists and locals.

I recommend this hotel without hesitation to those who are not picky about luxury accomodations and are looking for an affordable hotel in the Centro Historico.

Hotel Isabel; http://www.hotel-isabel.com.mx/index.html, Isabel La Católica 63 (corner of Republica del Salvador), Centro Histórico; phone: (0155) 5518 1213, fax (0155) 5521 1233; email: reservaciones@hotel-isabel.com.mx

We made a reservation the next day at Hotel Marco Polo, which describes itself as a “small, luxury, gay-friendly boutique hotel in Mexico City.” We didn’t search hard to find it; it was the first site listed when we typed “gay friendly hotels mexico city” into google and the price was right. Interestingly, the page that professed how gay-friendly the hotel is can not be found easily from the main website. Rather, if you click on the site map, you will find a list of pages aimed at niche markets: gay friendly hotels, hotels near the American embassy, hotels with honeymoon specials, etc. I wondered if this might mean the hotel was not seriously committed to being gay friendly. When I asked our bellman if the hotel was gay-friendly, he was quick to explain that it was not a gay hotel, but that, gay or straight, “our guests are our guests.” On other gay-friendly notes, the desk clerk did not give us the hairy eyeball when we asked for a shared beds instead of two separate beds, nor was it a problem when we were affectionate with each other in the lobby or hotel restaurant. I wasn’t surprised; Hotel Marco Polo is located on Amberes street in the Zona Rosa, surrounded by gay bars, cafes, and street life. Arguably, it is on the gayest street in the gayest neighborhood of Mexico City.

We found our room—a regular single—spatious (for Mexico City), well-designed, and very clean. There were several cute touches: little tissue paper fans accented every roll of toilet paper and box of kleenex, and a white terrycloth bathrobe was laid out on the bed invitingly. In addition to the bed, the furniture included a small breakfast (or work) table with chairs and handsome armoire that tastefully concealed the cable television. The color scheme of the room was in dark tones, mostly browns and greys, but floor to ceiling mirrors that run along a portion of the wall helped give the room an open feeling. The view, unfortunately, was nothing to write home about, since the hotel faces another tall modern glass building, but if you press against the glass you might be able to catch a peek at the night life brewing on the street below.

before

I’m happy to report how comfortable we felt in the room. The bed was clean, firm, and well-outfitted with good quality sheets and a fluffy comforter and pillows. You can control the temperature in the room yourself using a thermostat on the wall (which was perfect for Anahí, who can’t stand air-conditioning). The room offered the basic amenities of any nice hotel, including a complementary package of coffee, a small basket of toiletries, and a not outrageously overpriced mini-bar. (A mini-bottle of Cazadores brand tequila was 44 pesos.) They were also kind enough to visibly attach a price (35 pesos) to the bottle of water left enticingly above the mini-bar. (After unexpectedly getting charged 80 pesos for a carafe of water at the W Hotel in Mexico City, I was grateful for the warning.) Room service and laundry service are also available, but we did not take advantage of either.

We did, however, eat in the hotel’s restaurant, the Pimiento Verde, the following morning. The price of our room included complementary continental breakfast, and we went down expecting to find a pitcher of weak coffee and a plate of stale danish. Instead we found a lovely selection of sliced tropical fruits, some pan dulce, as well as yogurt and granola. When we sat down the waiter also informed us that eggs were included in the breakfast, as well as a a side of beans or chilaquiles. Our expectations for “continental breakfast” were further exceeded when the chilaquiles that arrived were spicy and delicious. I would not stop and eat at the restaurant if I were not staying in the hotel (the quality and prices, we decided, were about on par with Sanborns), but it was an excellent option for breakfast (and, I imagine, room service). Although breakfast is only served from 7am to 11am, bisquets and coffee are available from 4am to 7am, good if you have an early flight to catch but don’t want to deal with the airport on a empty stomach.

(On a related note, if you have a late departure, or simply want to spend a lazy day in bed, Marco Polo’s stated check-out time of 2pm can be extended until 5pm at no extra charge.)

after

One of the nicest things about Hotel Marco Polo was their rates, which drop 40-60% when you book online. The listed price for a single or double room booked online is $88 during the week and $80 Friday through Sunday. When we tried to make our online, reservation, however, the server wasn’t working properly, and we had to call and make sure they could guarantee the online price even though the server was down. At first, the receptionist said there was nothing she could do and that we would have to pay the regular rate of $144, but with a little persistance, we were able to make the reservation under the quoted online rate. Hopefully that has been cleared up, but in case you encounter similar problem, don’t hesitate to be persistant about the rate you should pay.

Hotel Marco Polo offers a nice middle ground between the myriad of budget hotels throughout Mexico City (most of low quality) and the high-end, high-priced hotels that run along Reforma. It is not a super-chic hotel (the bar closes with the restaurant at 11pm), but it has an elegent, professional feel to it, and, in additional to all the amenities I’ve mentioned already, boasts a small fitness center, business center, and valet parking. It is an excellent choice for gay and lesbian travelers looking for a well-equipped, moderately-priced hotel in the heart of the Zona Rosa.

Hotel Marco Polo; Amberes 27, Colonia Juárez, phone: (55) 50 80 00 63 , reservations:  (55) 50 80 14 45, (55) 55 11 18 39, (55) 55 14 39 07; http://www.marcopolo.com.mx/

After a friend decided to lend us her car for a few days, we decided to take a road trip to Acapulco. I wanted to spend a day or two indulging in the antique glamour of the jet-set 60′s I associated with the city, and then take a drive down the coast of Guerrero. I had heard there were places a few hours south of the city where, for a few pesos, you could sleep in a palapa on the beach and buy your meals from passing fishermen, eager to sell you part of that morning’s catch.

One day in Acapulco proved enough time to see the cliff divers at La Quebrada and explore Acapulco Viejo, the quaint neighborhood surrounding the Zócalo on the western side of the bay. We avoided the Cancun-esque neighborhoods further east, which are full of nightclubs (some gay) and chain restaurants like Planet Hollywood and Señor Frog’s.

The Xanadu I had hoped we would encounter a few hours south of the city never materialized. Instead we found a dirty stretch of sand and palapas that we affectionately referred to as “Bladerunner Beach.” There, quatrimotos (ATVs) driven by ten-year-olds criss-crossed the beach at high speeds while leering men attempted to sell us rides on the skeletal horses they dragged behind them. The ocean water was brown from the sand that had been stirred up by the rough surf and much warmer than this Northern California native was used to.

We decided to bid farewell to Bladerunner Beach and instead of pressing further south in search of an idyllic strip of beach we did not even know the name of, we headed back up the highway, to Pie de la Cuesta, an isthmus just north of Acapulco. A lesbian couple we knew had just come back from spending a week there, and had recommended it as an alternative to the garbage-strewn beaches of Acapulco.

To get a room, I suppose one could make reservations, but we just drove up and down the single road that runs parallel to the ocean and inquired about prices and accommodations at places that looked nice. Most hotels offer swimming pools and beach access in sparse rooms with fans (and no air conditioning). Prices ran between 250 and 400 pesos per night. Our hotel, the courtyard of which is pictured below, was no exception, and was either called Quinta Blanca or Quinta Azul. There is also an RV park.

The main pastime at Pie de la Cuesta is lounging under palapas on the beach, where you must pay a minimal fee for use of the shade and hammocks. Food and drinks can be ordered directly to the beach. Vendors walk up and down the beach in the hot sun selling snacks, trinkets, and jewelry. A walk down the beach in either direction will reveal abandoned buildings as well as more upscale hotels. According to locals, it is not safe to walk along the beach at night.

(If you are in your twenties, expect to hear occasional murmurs of “coca… mota… coca… mota…” ["cocaine... pot..."] from passing vendors. The state of Guerrero is a center for drug trafficking, and merchandise on its way to the US has trickled down to locals and beach-going tourists. I cannot speak to the quality or safety of these transactions if you choose to buy.)

If you get bored of the beach, it is possible to take a boat up the river where there are many little restaurants of varying quality. Ask about getting a mud treatment at a site along the banks. Supposedly, Juan Gabriel swears by it.

The highpoint of our trip to Pie de la Cuesta was unexpected. We found ourselves famished after nine one rainy evening and walked down the road to the nearest open restaurant. We were the only customers at Restaurant Maryfer (alternately spelled Marifer on the menu) although it was hard to tell who was the wait staff and who was just hanging out in this modest restaurant. A faggy teen with frosted tips took our order and headed back to the kitchen. A door in the restaurant led to an adjoining apartment from which a big, butch lesbian would emerge every few minutes, usually in patient pursuit of a small child. We saw another butch lesbian, slightly younger, wander back from the kitchen into the apartment. Where were we?

We wanted to take advantage of the fresh seafood available on Mexico’s coasts, and the menu had several unusual offerings on it in addition to the usual styles of pescado and camarones (a la veracruzana, al la diabla, al ajillo). The waiter brought out the chef to answer our questions about the curiously named “camarones a la mamada“. He explained that he had traveled all over Mexico to learn different styles of Mexican cooking featured on the menu, but that the camarones a la mamada were his own creation. What arrived was a visual as well as gastronomic feast: an enormous plate of whole shrimps (with heads) seasoned with a mayonnaise and chipotle-based marinade were served with a side of rice. The color was a fiery orange, the taste was rich and spicy but not overwhelmingly so. I supposed the name meant that the shrimps were to be sucked out of their shells, but I’m not ashamed to say I ate each entire prawn, head and all, so flavorful was this dish.

The other gem on the menu was more traditional fair: the micheladas were the best I’ve ever had. Served with ice (necesary in the oppressive humidity of the Guerrero coast) these were spicy and fresh, lighter and yet more flavorful than the best bloody mary. We couldn’t resist coming back and having another round at eleven the next morning, when we encountered even more gay and lesbian locals hanging out and stopping by. One big machota that was working in the kitchen would occasionally come outside to hack open a coconut with a machete on a rough wooden table in front of the restaurant.

When asked if he would mind us mentioning his restaurant in a gay guide to Mexico, the chef and owner, Jose Manuel Nieto, happily agreed, stating that he was gay and pointing out the subtle rainbow on the restaurant’s sign. He also mentioned that they rented rooms behind the restaurant, though we were not able to see the accommodations. Additionally, he told us that there was a small water-park behind the restaurant, and that he would be willing to close the water-park to the public for private parties if there were gay groups that wanted to use it.

So, plan a meal, a trip, or a gay pool party at fabulous Maryfer.

Pie de la Cuesta is accessible by bus or taxi from Acapulco (it is about a twenty minute drive from Acapulco Viejo). Unless you are determined to explore surrounding areas, I recommend taking a bus from Mexico City over driving. Unless you are traveling in a group of four or five, the tolls on the highway are much more than a roundtrip bus ticket, and long stretches of the road are very poorly lit at night.

Restaurante Maryfer, Av. Fuerza Aerea Lote 3 Manz. 59, Pie de la Cuesta, Acapulco