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After spending several marvelous days in the sophisticated and hip Colonial City of Morelia, we decided to visit a town less than an hour away, named Patzcuaro.

Centuries ago, this town was important during the Colonial period. So much so, that the leaders of Patzcuaro and the leaders of Morelia were in a competition with each other to obtain legal recognition from Spain and all the status and money this would bring into their corresponding cities.

Morelia won that battle, and this is where the futures of the cities diverged.

Antonio, our taxi driver from Morelia to Patzcuaro

After having breakfast in our hotel in Morelia, we stepped outside to grab a taxi to take us to Patzcuaro.

We were looking for a price around 300Pesos which would be under $17USD for the less than 1 hour trip. The first man quoted us 400Pesos, so we let him go. But the second cabbie said 300, and off we went!

 

Taking the road into Patzcuaro

It was a smooth ride into Patzcuaro. The road was easy with few curves and some beautiful greenery from time to time.

This is a pretty modern area as we enter into the city of Patzcuaro.

The modern side of the city

As we moved into the area of the main city itself, we weren't sure what we'd be seeing.

Patz had a reputation for indigenous crafts and artistry, but this looked like it could be "anywhere, U.S.A." with its movie theater, modern shopping and Wal*Mart.

The streets were newly paved, the sidewalks were not broken and fairly modern cars were on the roads.

Ancient window and shutters overlooking rooftops - the view from our small room

Antonio drove us into the old town and to our first hotel choice, ... and my heart dropped.

This was supposed to be the #1 value hotel in Patzcuaro and had decent ratings online.

Unbeknownst to us, we happened to arrive on Mexico's Mother's Day and the streets and portales were jammed packed. (Mexico celebrates Mother's Day on a specific date, dissimilar to the date it is celebrated in the States.)

There was construction being done down the street, so that added to the chaos and things everywhere were kind of a mess. At 11 a.m, we had not expected this at all.

Billy paid Antonio and tipped him handsomely while I trepidatiously climbed the ancient steps to ask about a room.

Up from the attendant's desk, the hotel opens up. Fresh drinking water is offered.

From the outside, the hotel and the surrounding portales looked poverty stricken and dirty. My mind was racing a bit but I found the attendant at a lone desk in a bare bones room at the end of the stairs and I verified the address with him. I was hoping we had mistakenly arrived at the wrong place.

He would laugh and tell me, "No, that's just down the street in the garden-lined area, there. See? You'll have a balcony view and great WiFi."

But such was not the case.

The address was correct. I told the attendant that we found him on the internet and quoted him a price of 350Pesos, including breakfast.

We dickered around a bit with him saying the rate per night was 500Pesos, no breakfast.

We settled on 400Pesos per night, and I asked to see a room.

View from the defunct dining room of the Plaza Chica

Upstairs was definitely brighter and more open and held a sliver of promise. He showed me to a smallish room with a tiny bed (but firm!) and promised hot water and WiFi.

It was surprisingly clean.

I mentioned the dining room we had passed and asked how much he charged for breakfast, but he sidestepped the question entirely. "There is no one here to cook, you have to reserve breakfast 2 days in advance, we don't use this dining room anymore," etc. and so on.

I wasn't getting anywhere, but I sneaked this view from the dining area. I could at least see where we were in relation to the town's happenings.

I told the man we'd take the room and went down to pay and tell Billy "the good news."

I thought we'd start here and maybe find another place tomorrow.

Looking to the right from the dining room balcony

As it turned out, this hotel was smack dab in the middle of the action in old town Patzcuaro.

The day after Mother's Day, the streets cleared of jammed humanity and there was more air to breathe.

The Day Market and terrific street food was to the left from this balcony view and so having action, cheap, tasty food and a park was all at our fingertips.

So, while our initial moments were disappointing, it turns out that our room was very clean, the bed was firm, we had a view and best of all, it was only $20 bucks a night!

Hotel Posada San Agustin

 Portal Benito Juuarez 27

Centro 61600 Patzcuaro

 Tele: 01. 434. 342. 0442

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