281carmenc
ngày 14 tháng 1 năm 2022
We traveled to Oaxaca City in December 2021, right before Christmas and in fool pandemic, with Omicron in full development. Thinking that travelling there would be hard and stressful – I was right – I thought I should look for a place to stay a few days to really rest and relax before we move to another hotel in the downtown Oaxaca to enjoy more of the historic center. When we arrived in Oaxaca there was a strike of the garbage collectors so downtown Oaxaca was covered in piles of garbage, so we ended up staying at Casa Bonita for six nights instead of three. LOCATION Casa Bonita is located 15 minutes by taxi when the traffic is OK from downtown – 30 minutes with bad traffic which happens every day. The neighborhood is very beautiful, and it looks very exclusive with huge houses surrounded by immense walls that you can not peak over or through. Some houses are old, some new, very quiet and safe neighborhood, we had no problem walking around even late at night. The hotel looks like a compound. It looks like it was somebody’s big house transformed into a hotel. With different floors, rooms of different sizes. It is unique and interesting. It has two restaurants, one advertised as a steak house – which we never tried but we could smell the delicious steaks – and the other is set up outside in the courtyard it is called Estrella de Mar and it is where breakfast – which is included – was served. It has an outside pool, but you cannot use it in the winter. Even though it is very hot outside, it is still winter, and the water is heated by solar panels, and it is cold. It has also a spa, which we never tried, and a small gym, with a bike and a treadmill and weights, good enough. Also, there is a bar on the premises, very cool, it looks like a tower from outside and the bar is situated going down the stairs. It wasn’t opened, we were there during Christmas, probably not a good time for bar business. It is an expensive hotel with almost every standard achieved. Air conditioned, good internet, even free Netflix in the rooms. We switched rooms mid stay and both rooms were very nice. The furniture is a little over the top, in my opinion, but this is a personal taste. I am not crazy about big white chairs (or black) and chandeliers in the outside restaurant. One thing that we really appreciated is free transportation where you need. Because the hotel is out of the way they have a nice van with a driver that speaks good English and it is very helpful to take you where you need, usually downtown. Oaxaca City is not very big, the old downtown takes maximum a day to visit. The Botanical Garden is also downtown. Also, notable and to appreciate, I felt very safe, everybody is wearing masks, all personnel, no exception. Another unique thing about this hotel is the booze, mainly Mezcal of course being in Oaxaca, where you hear Mezcal at least a hundred times a day. The owners of the hotel own a mezcaleria and they sell their mezcal to Walmart, so it
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