Hotel Plaza Almendros

Hotel in the heart of it

Small hotel right in town, very close to popular north beach. Nice clean room with queen-size bed. We chose this hotel for its proximity to the centre of town and because it had a kitchenette with fridge, which was handy for drinks and lunches. There was a microwave and toaster as well as the fridge. The rooms with queen beds were all arranged around a grassy courtyard with a small pool. All those rooms had small front patios. I didn't see many people swimming in the pool but lounging around it on the very comfortable lawn chairs was popular.

The staff were okay but slow and not terribly helpful when you needed anything. There was free internet and free breakfast at a cafe a few blocks away (not next door at Bamboo anymore). Nobody told us about the breakfast but we had heard about it on the web previously so we asked the front desk the evening before and were given the name of the cafe to go to. We showed up the next morning only to find out that we needed tickets that apparently we should have been given at the hotel in the morning. We went back with tickets a couple other days and the food was okay but off a special limited menu for hotel guests, so we ate elsewhere most days.

Unique Quality: You can't beat Plaza Almendros for the location in town. What was amazing was that it is locate right on the Hidalgo pedestrian strip, where all the restaurants and bars are, but once you are inside you hear almost nothing. I think that may not have been true for the smaller rooms on the second floor which overlook the street. I did see a very upset guest who had one of those rooms complain without much luck to the front desk about how loud his room was. I think all the queen bed rooms are on the quieter main level.