Real Del Monte

There's a confusion--this town has two names. Real del Monte is the name given by the Spanish in the 1500s, Real indicating that it was property of the Spanish crown. Later on, for some reason, the name was officially changed to Mineral del Monte to reflect all the minerals taken from the mountain upon which this town nestles. Whatever you call it, it is truly of of Mexico's fabled Magic Towns, and a truly astounding chunk of Mexican history. You gotta go, and when you do, you gotta stay somewhere. That said, it would appear the people of Real/Mineral are neither hoteliers nor restauranteurs, though they do their wild west level best to accommodate your visit. This hotel has its high and low points--we spent one night in a suite with a big clawfoot bathrub, with adequate hot water to fill that sucker, as promised! Oboy! On the low side, the management seems inexperienced in making guests feel welcome and at home. It would cost little to put on a pot of coffee in their lovely lobby tv area, with, who knows? Maybe a cookie or two. The signs in the rooms exorting visitors NOT to steal the towels and iron their clothes on the wooden furnishings are, well, not terribly welcoming. It's very historic, very old wild west in feel, and the rooms with views can't lose, because you are in Mineral! Or Real, whatever. Which is definitely, most assuredly worth your visit. And you gotta stay somewhere! We cajoled the staff into providing two bottles of water for a two person room, which was a good thing, and they do provide good little space heaters to ward off the mountain chill. A little TLC would bump this up to a Very Good, possibly even an Excellent choice!

Our family of five (three children aged around 10-11) stayed for a Friday and Saturday night in this hotel. We had a junior suite and a double room. Both rooms were comfortable. The juniour suite is very spacious - there is a seperate sitting area, and we had a beautiful bathroom with a standalone bathtub and the walls tiled in Mexican tiles. The beds were comfortable, although even in July we had to make use of the heater at night, it got a little chilly. Real del Monte is charming. The hotel is right next to the central park and the street stretching either way is lined with restaurants and shops. The highlight was the tour of the mine, which included a guided tour into one of the tunnels (with hard hats!)

Traveled there as part of a group, based on the recommendation of a group member who had enjoyed a nice room with a view on a previous occasion. The room we were assigned was a major disappointment: while the bed was nice and firm and the room quiet, it felt like staying in a cave: the small window opened to the inner-courtyard, was hard to open and yet it was indispensable to keep it open all night due to the heavy smoke smell of the room. The courtyard was brightly lit all night. Luckily, a large 1980's style TV obstructed a good deal of the light, as it was sitting on the window sill and blocking the small window. The bathroom was moldy and had been retiled "creatively". No hanger was provided in the closet and when asked, hotel management responded that hangers are not provided as "they get stolen all the time". The wifi worked (slowly) in common areas but not in our room. In summary, a cheap low-end property best avoided unless you can see the room in advanced and can get one of the better ones.