Hostel Catedral (Mexico City)

Equipped from rooftop to lobby with terrace bar, laundry room, elevator, kitchen, restaurant and travel agency, Hostel Catedral lacks very little, including customer service. The staff are helpful, professional, and were sympathetic to my concerns. I arrived with an emergency and am very, very grateful for their trust and hospitality.

This affiliate of Hostelling International and Mundo Joven Hostels is placed in prime real estate in Centro Historico right behind the Metropolitan Cathedral--hence the apropo name---near the Palacio Nacional, Mexico's White House.

water fountains on each floor disperse cold, drinkable water...just like in America!

Rates vary but members of Hostelling International or ISIC receive room discounts. I got the cheapest dorm room for $163mxn (non member rate= $187) 
and shared it with three Austrailians. Austrailian travellers never fail in being gregarious, engaging, and up for adventure! As regards the room, the beds were quiet, clean and comfortable (linen and blanket included). Just like the beds in INOUT, each comes with a reading light and foot locker. The shower was pretty large and, on the night I arrived, with plenty of hot water---¡viva aqua caliente!

Internet is not free but one of the few freebies in the hostel is breakfast. The breakfast spread is definitely worth attending but unless you are starving--which I was--full of imagination and have a working sense of humor pass on the free dinner. On the night I was there it consisted of scrambled eggs, lettuce, fruit water. To call lettuce dinner is a gross overstatement. Since everything in Hostel Catedral seems to have a price tag attached to it, making it more gringo "touristy" than youthful and cheap, it is worth mentioning two other notable freebies: Beer...and water.

I arrived with an emergency and am very, very grateful for their trust and hospitality

Guests receive a 2x1 coupon on cerveza and, to my surprise, water fountains on each floor disperse cold, drinkable water...just like in America! Cold beer and drinkable water are two respected stables in Mexico.

República de Guatemala #4
Colonia Centro (metro: Zocalo)
+52(55) 5518.1726
01.800 823 2410 toll free (ONLY in México)
www.hostelcatedral.com

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Bed&Breakfast Mexico (Mexico City)

This hostel is NOT a bed&breakfast as the name implies. It is a short walk from metro station Insurgentes although it may be a tad hard to find due to the sharp angles of the dissecting streets. Thankfully, it sits right on a corner. Like most, if not all, Mexican hostels one has to ring the buzzer to enter and at the B&B you also have to buzz to get out so, yeah, coming and going gets old after a short while.

B&B's reception has cable television, lots of DVDs and novels, and free Internet on the one computer. There are also storage cabinets for safe-keeping valuables. The young guy at the front desk is super cool and helpful.

I slept in the basement dorm for $110mxn. Aside from poor lighting it was fine. Sufficient showers and toilets but the water didn't get pass lukewarm.

I called the racist owner a jackass and checked out the next morning

Breakfast is not worth getting out of bed unless you particularly fancy eggs. At the time (early October) the staff was busy painting the place. Future guests can expect a more youthful decor of eccentric hues and colored squares. Guests, however, can no longer expect to receive calls or messages via the front desk---at least that's the case if you are black. A few of the white guests received calls but when a call came for me--international, no less--the owner himself blocked it because, in his words, it was his phone. To make matters worse, I was sitting in the room when he lied to the caller about my even being checked in. We argued and he told me to leave if there was a problem. I called him a jackass and checked out the next morning.

I always find racism to be a problem. Contrary to Mexicans' beliefs, Sí, there is racismo in their Third World country.

Calle Durango #145 (and Calle Tonala)
Colonia Roma

+52 55 5207.5585

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Hostel Amigo (Mexico City)

Very jovial, backpacker atmosphere which is to say boisterous, party-hardy gringo good time! The night and day staff are happy to encourage a good time. In fact, every night the bar loudly celebrates "La vida!" and shares free tequila shots. When I checked in, a fiesta was in full swing with (clumsy) dancing and booze. "C'mon and join the party!" the guests shouted.

I paid $150mxn for a dorm room. Some boards of the wood floors (and doors) squeak without mercy but the bunk beds in my dorm did not! The matress was thick and firm. A sizeable foot locker comes with each bed. What's more, guest can enjoy free breakfast and dinner meals. Not bad.

Free Internet is available through the four consuls in the lobby and has fast service. Showers have hot water, strong pressure and, thanks to etiquette reminders above every urinal, facility, and light switch, Hostel Amigo stays clean, energy efficient, hospitable for all guests.

"C'mon and join the party!" the guests shouted.

With its downtown location in Colonia Centro (metro stop: Isabel de la Catolica) I chose to stay here on my first night in town. As it is in the downtown area renting beds here should be convenient for people who like to get party-hardy outside of the hostel without much worry in using taxis to return home after a late night.

Isabel de la catolica #61

Colonia Centro

+52 55 5512.3464

toll free: 01 800.7.467.835

website

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Hostel Home (Mexico City)

As a youth hostel in D.F. it is very attractive and affordable with an easy enough location from either of two metro stops (Insurgentes or Sevilla). Insurgentes might be closer but if you're toting serious luggage, then the less congested walk from Sevilla will be more appreciated after riding ass to elbow on the subway. All beds cost the same $120mxn irregardless of length of stay and all are dorm room style.

As of this posting, word has it that said rate will go up soon in response to the country's banks response to America's recession.

I liked the beds here. Very thick mattresses. Although some squeak I manged to snag a quiet one each time. The two showers and three toilets served us well but I can imagine things maybe not flowing so smoothly when more gests are here. Ditto the kitchen. There's free Internet access on the one computer--can't beat free Internet!--and a small exchange library of novels and magazines. Hostel Home has a small and friendly staff who gave me no problems or attitude whatsoever.

I met so many characters here! No other hostel has come close to the colorful assortment of guests that have bedded here...a middle-aged junkie ex-pat, a self-exiled (American)refugee, a porn actor, plus the obligatory young German couples and Austrailian backpackers.

On the downside, the hostel lacks a smoking terrace. Since smokers tend to be inconsiderate of others' breathing space from the start and with most foreigners regarding it bothersome to have to buzz in and out of the place, the smokers generally went to the front room window/balcony façade to suck on cancer, allowing the breeze to make second-hand smokers of the rest of us inside.

No other hostel has come close to the colorful assortment of guests that have bedded here...

Also, the owner, for all of her politeness, came off too money oriented. She smiles because you paid, not because of hospitality. Greed is never attractive. One of the more queer things she did was to put "Afuera de servicio" sign on the perfectly working microwave---in order to deter its usage. Greenpeace, my ass! An unflattering inside name for her developed among some of us.

Calle Tabasco 303

Mexico City (Colonia Roma)

+52 5511.1683

website

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Hotel Amigo (Mexico City)

In looking for the hostel of the same name I mistakenly walked into this place which is right next door. Honestly, there is not too much difference between the two save for the boisterous imbibing of tequila and revelry and, perhaps, a younger clientele.

This much I found out from the friendly and professional front desk before finding out that I was at the wrong front desk:

• single room costs $160mxn (just ten pesos more than a dorm room in Hostel Amigo!)


• shower was down the hall although some rooms have private facilities but cost more.


• no free Internet or breakfast


• bright and clean looking lobby


• restaurant on premises

Hotel Amigo appeared to be a nice choice for different people travelling together like, say, parents with teenage or older children. Those wanting a calm hotel stay might opt for this place while those comfortable with the backpacking mix might prefer the hostel next door.

Centro Histórico
Calle Isabel de la catolica #63
metro: Isabel de la catolica
+52 5518.1213 al 17
website
hotelisabel@prodigy.net.mx

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