Gran Hotel Diligencias

After several long days in the humidity and heat in the north of the state of Veracruz, including a very long ride in a second class bus the day of our arrival, this hotel was a wonderful place to spend our final night in Mexico. The staff, location, and room were all great. Even though it was right on the plaza, the room was quiet. The AC worked great. The TV, beds, bathroom, were all super--even the little soaps and lotions were good.

Based on photos and reviews, I expected some problems, but found the Hotel Gran Diligencias to be surprisingly good. Great water pressure, plenty of hot water, an iron and ironing board brought up quickly upon request, and air conditioning that worked well. The staff was also very professional, friendly and helpful. My one complaint would be that the restaurant attached tended to be all buffet, all the time, and being a vegetarian, it didn't offer much for us. It positions itself as a seafood place, so that's not too big a surprise in Mexico. When I asked if I could order from the menu, I was told that "there wasn't much available" from it. I don't know what that meant, but I high tailed it next door to the Gran Café del Portal and found plenty to my liking. The location isn't on the water, but in that area of town, all the hotels on the water look at the port, not sandy beaches. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but if you want that kind of thing, you're not going to be staying near the zocalo and the historic center of town. This hotel couldn't be more centrally located to that historic center. At first, I was a little bummed that my room didn't have a view of the zocalo, but rather a view of the other wing of the hotel. Nevertheless, upon seeing some of the rooms with zocalo views (the maids leave the vacant rooms open at times to air them out), I changed my mind. Those rooms seem smaller, and the bed is located on the same wall as the window, making it so that you can not enjoy that view unless you are standing up next to the window. Like many hotels, three-prong outlets are not readily available where you need them. There were two in my closet, another two by the sink, and two under the desk, but the refrigerator they supply (quite ample and quite cold) has a plug that blocks the second plug, making it hard to use the refrigerator, a laptop, the supplied coffee maker (for some reason always only decaf given to us) and other device chargers hard to use at the same time. I ended up brewing coffee at the vanity, charging my laptop in the closet and using the battery to operate it at the desk. I do not know what the problem was, but the wireless, while I was able to connect with my Apple devices to the router in the room, did not connect to the Internet. I always carry an Ethernet cable, which one can plug in below the desk. Because this worked fine for me, I didn't call to have this problem investigated.