Hotel Montecarlo

A change of routing on our trip home from holidays presented us with an opportunity for a three day stop over in Mexico City, our first visit. Friends suggested we check out the Monte Carlo where they had stayed in 2000. We checked out reviews on Trip Advisor and folks seemed to either love it or hate it. But, based on location and price, we decided 'let's be adventurous!' It was the cheapest hotel we could find in 'Centro' but the only way to make a reservation was via Booking.com and they asked for a deposit via PayPal if arriving after 6:00PM - for not so well connected seniors, this seemed complicated but nevertheless, once we made the booking, it was simple to call the hotel and make changes. The hotel itself is located on Av. Uruguay about 5 minutes walk from the Zocalo or old town square. The hotel is at least 100 year old - D.H. Lawernce stayed there in the 1920's when it was no doubt a very different place; you can imagine the luxury but that has long since faded. The place is quirky. Its parking lot is inside the building and cars enter through the lobby! When we asked if the front desk could call us a taxi, we were told to take a seat and a short while later a car pulled into the lobby for us! The rooms are very dated but adequate even if not the most comfortable. Electrical outlets are scarce if you want to recharge a laptop or phone. We unplugged the TV to recharge our electronics sequentially. Later we found another outlet in the bathroom behind the towel bar. The bathrooms themselves are special. Of course, there is no bath just a shower but no shower stall! Your shower space is the floor area between the wall and the toilet...seems that most of the water that doesn't land on you goes down the toilet or all over the bathroom! A few extra towels would have been nice. There are rooms in the center of the hotel whose windows open into the hallway or atrium with others on the front of the hotel over looking Av. Republica de Uruguay. The fresh air was well worth the trade off the sounds of a little morning traffic. This is not an area of town for nightlife so we found no trouble with noise for sleep. We rated the Monte Carlo as high as we did because we enjoyed the experience but if you are in search of a refined stay with amenities, looks else where but the next time we are routed through Mexico City for a couple of days. the Monte Carlo will be our spot.