Staycation - Fiesta Inn

3/12 Staycation: Fiesta Inn

Fiesta Inn
Calle 5 B #290A x 20A y 60
Colonia Revolucion
https://www.fiestainn.com/en/web/fiesta-inn-merida
999 964 3500
443 137 8728

Being a tourist in your own town is one way to see and do things you have on your to-do list but didn’t get around to.

Vacations are also often full of surprises and Staycations are no different.

For all my research and planning, I forgot my pajamas, one of my OTC medicines and a few other things like the tour company did not take credit cards. Luckily, I could use another piece of clothing as sleepwear, Chedraui’s was right next door, and my friend had enough cash to get us through the weekend.

Expectations can be useful or counter-productive. I had high expectations regarding my stay at Fiesta Inn in norte Merida but found the stay a bit odd.

It started with the entrance. You enter the hotel from the street and need an escort to the reception desk one floor up, because until you get your key card as an official guest, a key card is need to put into a slot in the elevator to get it to function. I do understand that the system is part of the hotel's security operations.

The first floor is the reception area, lobby area, the bar, the cafe, and the business center.

Then, once in the room, another 3rd floor room, my lucky floor, you see the wash basin sitting outside the bathroom with a sliding mirrored wall set in front of it. At first, it seemed innovative but even if I carefully washed my hands, water still spilled onto the counter that held the hospitality items, and the mirrored wall was eventually shifted aside and hardly used.

The card system was frustrating. You had to leave the card in a wall slot near the door to keep the lights and AC on. When you wanted it dark, you had to turn off the lights individually, but if you turned off the light over the basin, you could not use any of the lights in the room. The only way to use the bed light was to turn on the basin light which can be too much light for late evening reading. Plus, if you didn’t want AC, you had to turn it off manually. It got confusing.

Fiesta Inn has the smallest bar I have ever seen. It is an island right next to the reception desk and serves as part of the entrance to the cafe just beyond the bar.

On the plus side, the floor staff, room service staff and reception staff were prompt and helpful. Also the room was clean and the AC worked well.

More pluses -  Fiesta Inn is next door to Gran Museo Maya. Chedraui, a grocery store, is one block over. Gran Plaza and Merida Gallerias, two shopping malls, are close by and Costco is nearby, if you like shopping. Also, you can catch a bus on Calle 60/Avenue Technologico to centro.

Norte Merida is a modern development with highrise buildings, good sidewalks, but little else to see. Can't help but think it is rather sterile.
 
On my first night, the kitchen provided a great dinner: Sopa Xóchitl (shredded chicken breast, vegetables, rice, avocado, and savory spices), Fajitas de Arrachaera Pollo o mixtas with refried beans and guacamole. Room service is one of my favorite pleasures when away from home.

I usually check out the cable channels on the hotel’s television. I guess I am hard to please because even with 34 channels that featured soap operas, “News”, movies, cartoons, comedies, history and nature channels with some shows dubbed or subtitled, I found little of interest.

But, I got lucky. I had just watched the movie “New Year’s Eve” at home on DVD, it was showing on one of the channels, dubbed in Spanish. Since I was familiar with the movie’s various stories, I enjoyed watching it again, in Spanish.

Another positive, there was a coffee maker in the room and you could call room service for more coffee packets. But, they did not have decaf coffee packets.

Friday night was spent exploring the area, while I had a great walk, there was not much to see other than shopping malls. While the sidewalks were great, the area is not designed for pedestrians. Be careful crossing the streets.

Saturday morning, I went out again to explore before my friend arrived. When she arrived, we took a swim in the hotel's outdoor pool. While the pool was not very deep or long, it was clean and pleasant. Towels were provided. I love hotel pools.

After the swim, we visited the Gran Museo Maya.

The El Gran Museo del Mundo Maya is a wonderful building. I appreciated the design in many ways. The architects beautifully incorporated a walking ramp with a staircase.

Various plantings dot the wide upper and lower plazas. The entrance and foyer are open and combined with the windows that surround the building give a sense of space. Friendly security guards assist you with interactive exhibits and guide guests along the wide corridors from one exhibit or other areas.

The outer design of the upper portion of the museo is symbolic of the Ceiba tree, central to Mayan mythology.

"La Ceiba and the sacred tree connects the world with the underworld and the sky and the shadow as ineffable value in a sun-scorched land but refreshed by the breeze." -- Designlike)

I spent most of my time in the first exhibit about the Chicxulub crater, a crater formed on the Yucatan peninsular by the impact of a giant meteorite or comet billions of years ago. The impact caused major changes in the environment causing of the extinction of the dinosaurs and more. The crater had been "discovered" several times in past but it's existence was not officially announced until 1981 by Glen Penfield and Antonio Camargo, Pemex employees. (See wikipedia link below.)

For more information, consider visiting the Crater museum at Parque Cientifico Technologico de Yucatan.  

At the exhibit, I saw my first meterorite. The displays were attractive and informative. Several were interactive.

Then we moved on to the Mayan exhibit. I still find it hard to grasp the scope and diversity of the Mayan civilization. It is going to take years to really understand Mayan history.

The exhibition is well done. Several exhibits are interactive and some displays are beneath the floor under glass. There are replicas of Mayan writing on stone and in rare book form, and various representations of Mayan life. The wall plaques are in Spanish, Mayan and English and some exhibits feature recordings in Mayan.

From the upper windows of the museo, you can see the Fiesta Inn.

One surprise find was a statue outside on one of the museo's lower plazas, it is dedicated to Yury Knórosov who deciphered the ancient Mayan language. What made the find more surprising was the man in the statue is holding a cat.

We had an early dinner in the hotel’s cafe. We were their only customers, so we got a lot of attention. My red snapper with steamed vegetable was very good. My friend enjoyed her “special” fajitas and margarita.

On Sunday, Tours Sol de Turquoise picked us up for a tour of Dzibilchaltún and Parque Arqueologico de Xcambó, two ruins less than a hour from Mérida. We spent a lot of the day walking but both sites were fairly easy to walk.

Dzibilchaltún (Lugar donde hay escritura en las piedras/“place where there is writing on the stones,”) is my favorite ruin. I've been there four times already. On each visit, I have had a different experience.

On my first visit, I was there at 5:00 in the morning to watch the sun rise and shine through the windows and door of the Temple of the Seven Dolls. This biannual event, on the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, highlights the skill and knowledge of the Mayans who studied astronomy, math and other topics. The cenote was closed and the museo was under construction.

The Temple of the Seven Dolls got its modern name because of the seven small carved figures found during excavation of the temple.

On my second visit with my niece, we walked the whole site and saw lots of iguanas and butterflies. We climbed the seating areas and were shown a small alcove where a carved stone had been found and was now in the museo. We dipped our feet into the cenote and fish nibbled our feet.

For those with trouble walking, the main pathway, called a Sacbé, is a roadway made of white stones which may be difficult for those in a wheelchair.  Getting down to the cenote is difficult.

Then, we went to the museo. I like the layout of the museo. A person in a wheelchair may have difficulty coming down the stone path leading to the museo but the building has wide doors and a wide floor plan and there are bathrooms at the site.

In the museo, there are many examples of carved stones and graphics that tell stories or glorify Mayan gods. The seven figures found when the Temple of the Seven Dolls was excavated are displayed.

On my third visit with my sister and her husband, we walked the site, inspected the stelaes and the Spanish chapel set in the Mayan game field. They went swimming in the cenote. From where I sat, I could see fish and other aquatic life in the water.

On my fourth visit, I treated two Méxican students studying English to a tour. Getting to the site was an adventure because on the day I choose to go there were no tours or autobuses going to the site. We ran to a calle in Centro to catch a collectivo to Chabekal, a town near Dzibilchaltún. From there we took a motor taxi.

I enjoyed showing them the site.

Sacbé

On most of my visits, I have taken a picture of a particular cactus.

March 2018

On this visit, the area around the Temple of the Seven Dolls had been cleaned and you could get closer for a better view of the temple. I loved it. It was as close as I had ever been to the temple.

This time I saw a turkey buzzard come to its nest atop the temple and a red raccoon-like animal (could be a coatimundi) burrowing into the soil for grubs.

Set back from the sacbé is a replica of a Mayan home with a yard, and various everyday tools on display. There is more to see and I have yet to see it all.

From there, we went to Techauc Puerto to see Parque Arqueologico de Xcambó, one of the lesser-visited ruins in the Yucatan.

As you approach Parque Arqueologico de Xcambó you will see salt ponds alongside the road. Xcambó residents harvested salt thousands of years ago and many still do today. Xcambó was a Mayan fishing village as many of the villages along the Gulf of Mexico are today.

The site surprised me. It is big. It is set in woodlands with mangroves nearby.

It runs lengthwise, so when you see the first part of the ruins you are not prepared for the various stone buildings and steps you find further as you walk down the road from parking area. While the walk is easy, wheelchairs may have difficulty with the stony road.

As I walked among the various "rooms," it made me wonder how the rooms were used.

Visiting Xcambó made me want to understand the various types of stone construction methods used by the Mayan over time. It seemed to me that these structures were made in a different fashion.

I loved the woods. Walking about the ruin surrounded by trees gave me a sense of peace.

We completed the tour with lunch at a Progreso restaurant where we had delicious soup and hardy fish and shrimp tacos.

Sunday evening, my friend and I kept running down the hall every 30 minutes, in our nightwear, to look out the window trying to see the lunar eclipse. I got lucky, for a few seconds the clouds cleared and I caught a glimpse of the early phase of the eclipse before the clouds blocked the view. The cloud cover was impressive, it went on for miles.

As with vacations, I came home exhausted and dizzy with a brain full of wonderful experiences.


Other Resources:


Gran Museo Maya

https://www.granmuseodelmundomaya.com.mx/
http://yucatan.gob.mx/?p=museo_mundo_maya 
https://www.archdaily.com/326274/gran-museo-del-mundo-maya-de-merida-4a-arquitectos/
https://designlike.com/great-maya-world-museum-of-merida-in-mexico/


Chicxulub Crater

Parque Cientifico Technologico de Yucatan
http://pcty.com.mx/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater


Dzibilchaltun

http://www.yucatan.gob.mx/?p=dzibilchaltun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzibilchaltun
http://yucatantoday.com/dzibilchaltun/?lang=en
https://www.afar.com/places/dzibilchaltun-yucatan


Coatimundi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-nosed_coati
http://www.yucatanwildlife.com/species/mammals.htm


Parque Arqueologico de Xcambó

http://www.yucatan.gob.mx/?p=xcambo
http://yucatantoday.com/xcambo/?lang=en

Updated 1/29/19, 1/30/19

1/12 Staycation: Casa del Balam

Staycation - Casa del Balam

Casa del Balam 
https://www.casadelbalam.com/ 
Calle 60 x 57 y 55 Centro
Mérida, Yucatán, México
01 99 99 24 21 50
info@casadelbalam.com

Prices: Moderate

Accessibility: Non-ADA accessible but has entrance ramp, elevator, and safety rails in the bathtub.

Amenities: 

• Independent restaurant services including dining room lobby level, room and pool service
• Free wifi
• Pool
• Boutique and Silver Shop
• Convenience Store
• Business Center
• XBox
• Massage services
• Babysitting services
• 24 on-call medical services
• Laundry services
• Tours and rental car service assistance
• Security safe (not in room)
• Free access to Yucatan Golf Club
• Wake-up calls and 24-hour desk service

Cautions: 

Watch where you walk, the sidewalks vary in condition and size, they are often cracked and uneven.

For those with walking difficulties, while there are ramps and elevators in the hotel, many tourist sites do not have elevators.

There are touts, people offering items for sale or trying to encourage you to visit their store, restaurant or tour services, on many Calles and corners. Just say, gracias, no gracias, if you are not interested in their items.

There are few trash receptacles.


Advisories: 

Bring an umbrella, bug spray, and sunscreen.

Always carry a bottle of water.

On Sundays, several streets are closed for bici-ruta and pedestrians. Rent a bike and take a ride.

Note: Tiendas' hours of operation will vary.


Casa del Balam is a large, multi-story, renovated colonial home of the Don Fernando Barbachano family with an interior patio-garden area and easy access to Calle 60, a main street in Merida. The hotel is just two blocks from Plaza Grande, the parque in historic centro. The hotel room had a bathtub, a rarity in Merida apartments and casas. Plus, it had hot water, another rarity in apartments and casas.

The independent restaurant, Bistro 57, adjoining the hotel offers a buffet breakfast on Sundays from 7am - noon.

This is what I wanted to experience, Centro at various times of day from various perspectives.

While all throughout Yucatan, there are hundreds of places to see and learn about Mexican history. You can get a lot of history around Plaza Grande parque.

The quickest way to get tons of tourist information is to go to the Palace Gobernor's office, Palacio Municipal on the North side of Plaza Grande, Calle 61 x 60 y 62 and visit the Tourist Information Office.

Get a copy of the Yucatán Today, a magazine for tourists with lots of information and maps or visit online at https://www.yucatantoday.com.mx .

Check Olimpo's calendar for weekly events like free movies or art exhibitions, located on West side of Plaza Grande, Calle 62 x 61 y 63.

As you walk around Plaza Grande, look for the pictogram street signs on buildings at the corner of intersecting streets.

Ladvovesita at Calle 60 x 61, Centro.
This is a replica of the original sign. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-corners-of-merida-merida-mexico
 
According to Atlas Obscura, these Calle signs were added to help people give directions and for the illiterate to navigate the city.

Around Plaza Grande, you can find familiar tiendas like 7-11, Subway or Burger King. Plus, there's Oxxo, the Corporate Mexican convenience store.

You can also find economica cocinas, I suggest trying Gorditas Bena Gorda or Las Quekas on the corner of Calle 61 x 60 across from the Cathederal.

I also recommend Cafeteria Pop on Calle 57 x 60 y 62. It has economical prices and a varied menu. I often go for my favorite meal, breakfast.

There are non-emergency medical services offered by Farmacias Similares on Plaza Grande, Calle 63 x 60 y 62.


Activities around Plaza Grande: 

City Walking Tour: Sign-up for tour at City Tourist Office at City Hall on the West side of Plaza Grande, Calle 62 x 61 y 63.

At the moment, there are three tourist offices around Plaza Grande, each one serves a different purpose.

On my city tour, the guide was bilingual in Spanish and English. His audience of about ten people, seniors, young people, and children, from around the world.

The guide lead us upstairs in the City Hall building to a terrace overlooking Plaza Grande. There he talked about the history of the Mayan and the founding of Mérida. He also explained the various stops along the tour: Casa de Montejo, MACAY, San Lidefonso Cathederal, ending at Parque Hildago across from Iglesia Tercera de la Orden. The tour took about an hour.

Mérida was founded upon the site of the older Mayan city 'Tho' in 1542 by the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco de Montejo and his son after suppressing and enslaving the Mayan through war, torture and abuse. They used the Catholic religion to criminalize Mayan religious beliefs, books and rituals.

Mérida's architecture reflects Spanish and French influences as seen in the use of arches and lattice ironwork on windows and doors.

Local lore says the name Yucatán is a Spanish corruption of Mayan words meaning I don't understand what you are saying.

The city Mérida is named after Merida, Spain which was named after a old Roman city.

As you learn more about Mérida, you will learn about the history of henequen, also called "Green Gold" or sisal that at one time, made Mérida one of the richest cities in México. Henequen is a rope-like material made from the Agave cactus plant (See picture below). Henequen was grown, harvested and processed on plantations around Mérida and the product was shipped around the world. Plantation owners built grand Haciendas on their plantations and mansions in the city, many along Paseo de Montejo.

Henequén, el oro verde en época prehispánica
(Source: https://www.gob.mx/firco/articulos/henequen-oro-verde-en-epoca-prehispanica?idiom=es)

Mayans worked the plantations and were treated as slaves. Often, they were fed and housed on the plantation and paid in script. They could only spend the script on the plantation.

http://www.travelmerida.com/henequen.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henequen_industry_in_Yucat%C3%A1n 

Casa de Montejo: Calle 63 x 60 y 62. Completed in 1549. Images on facade reflect roman mythological images like Hercules. Also, on the facade are images of Francisco Montejo, his wife, son and daughter according to the tour guide.

For more information, see: http://yucatantoday.com/museo-casa-montejo-2/ 

In 1542, the city of Mérida was only six blocks by eight blocks in size. Entrances to the city had arches built over calles. Only the Spanish lived in the city, Mayan workers had to get permission to enter. Later, other colonias like San Sebesian, and Santa Lucia were built for workers or slaves.

Macay Art Museum: Calle 60 x 61 y 63, is open Wednesday to Monday, 10:00am to 6:00pm. The walkway is always open where you can see the current sculpture displays.

San Lidefonso Cathedral: Calle 60 x 61 y 63. This is the oldest cathedral in the Americas. Completed in 1598. For more information, see: http://yucatantoday.com/san-ildefonso-cathedral/?lang=en

Above the altar is a larger than life-size wood carving of Christ. It is the largest wooden interior figure of Christ measuring seven meters.

Iglesia Tercera de la Orden (across from Hildago Parque with statue of Manuel Cepeda Peraza) - When the Spanish ruled the Yucatan, they dismantled many Mayan temples and structures and used the limestone bricks and blocks to build their own churches and buildings. Many tour guides point out various limestone blocks in the wall of this church to illustrate this fact.

On Friday, after many hours of walking and visiting various sites, I returned to my room just in time to catch an episode of Star Trek - The Next Generation on the cable TV. That was lucky because Star Trek did not show on the SyFy channel again over the weekend. There were lots of channels, lots of children's shows, history and nature shows, plus the usual reality, sex and violence shows.

Outside my room on the third floor, I had a view of the patio garden and a seating area to enjoy a drink and write.

Then, I went for a swim. You can get a towel from the reception desk and sign for it. The pool is large and clean. I was able to swim "laps" and do some in-pool exercises.

Saturday morning, I had breakfast poolside. What a delight! Then, I took a swim before going out.

I spent most of Saturday visiting shops in the local mercados/markets:

Mercado San Benito
Exterior Calle 54 x 67 y 69 Centro
Monday - Saturday
7:30am to 6:00pm
Sunday
7:30am to 3:00pm

Mercado Lucas de Galvez
Calle 56-A x 65 y 67 Centro
Open 5:30am to 6:00pm

When you visit the mercados, it can take hours because the mercados are large and spread out over many blocks.

I was looking for another pair of cancelas (sandals/flip-flops). In order to find what you want, you need to visit several tiendas.

I found my canceltas in a tienda inside one of the large mercados with hundreds of stalls. I won't be able to find that stall again.

Cancelatas can vary in construction, shape, color and style. I was looking for cancaletas that were firm with a slight arch. Then, once you have found what you want, you have to see if they have it in your size. In Mexico, my cancelatas size is 29. While you are out, you will often have a "Mexican Day" where something interesting happens.

After a long interesting day, I came back for a rest and a swim.

I love books so of course, I visited Dante, a bookstore at Plaza Grande. Although most of the books are in Spanish, I still buy some now and then.


Other Activities and Places to Go:

Palacio of Musica: Calle 59 x 58 y 60 Centro.

City Night Tour: Pick up at Teatro Peon Contreras.

City Bus Tour: Catch a Turibus on Calle 60 next to Plaza Grande.
https://www.turibus.com.mx

City Museum: Calle 56 x 65 y 65-A, Centro.

For Foodies: Enjoy a city tour and a visit to the local market. Select items for your meal and go back to the Chef's casa and help make your lunch. Try Adventures-Mexico Tour, see:  https://www.adventures-mexico.com
 

Casa del Balam's staff was very attentive and helpful.

Great visit, my only regret was there was no coffee maker in the room. Plus, three days and two nights was not enough time to see all the things I had planned, so next time, I will stay four days and three nights.

Buen Dia (Good Day)



8/10/18 Update:

Because I did not have time to do some of the other activities I wanted to do while staying at Casa del Balam, I returned to historic Centro over the next week.

I got lucky. I attended an Astronomical presentation "The Invisible Border" in Olimpo's planetario. This was part of a series of presentations by the Sociedad Astronómica UADY.

Then, I caught a movie, Bull Durham, at Olimpo during their tribute to Susan Sarandon.

After the movie, I walked up Calle 60, the street had been closed for pedestrians. It was a delightful night. Clear skies, cool breezes and the streets were full of happy people, walking, eating in the impromptu "popup" cafes in the streets, a spill over from the nearby restaurants.

Artists had their displays out in parques.

 

Annoucement: New Series, Staycations, Mérida, Mexico

Announcing a new blog series: Staycations in Mérida, México
 
I have always wanted to be a tourist in my own town and a Staycation is the perfect solution.

My plan is to stay at 12 hotels over a 12-month period. The hotels will be primarily in Mérida but a few will be outside Yucatán.

What is important to me, as a mature female with walking difficulties, is: budget to moderate pricing, accessibility i.e. elevators or ground floor units, ramps, attentive staff, security, cleanliness, and amenities like a pool, room service, room safe, and tour service assistance. Plus, I like knowing I am in walking distance or a short taxi ride to various services. I particularly appreciate on-call medical services.

Also, when making a reservation, I like hotels that have their own website. I do not use online booking services, often, because they don't offer enough information for me to make a decision. I generally contact the hotel directly by phone or email.

In each Staycation post, I will try to cover general hotel information such as location, price range, accessibility, amenities, transportation, cautions, advisories, and area sites and events.

Price range per night:

Frugal - Free to less than 100 pesos
Budget - 100 pesos to 900 pesos
Moderate . 900 to 3,000 pesos
Expensive - 3,000 to 5,000
Rich - 5,000+

Seasons: Mérida has four seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter which vary in temperature and precipitation. The rainy season is from May to October coinciding with the Hurricane Season. Some find November to April the best time to visit Mérida.

Tipping: I tip wait staff, taxi drivers, tour guides, room service attendants and grocery baggers.

Credit/Debit Cards: Make sure your bank knows when and where you are traveling, this will allow you to use your credit or debit card at ATMs, hotels, restaurants and more.

Transportation: Yucatán has great public transportation.

In Mérida, there are city buses, collectivos (vans), taxis, ADO and other long distance bus services, car rental services, and private transportation options. The current cost for a city bus or collective is 8 pesos.

Taxis - I do not use phone apps to get a taxi, I ask the concierge to call a taxi or I go to the street and hail a taxi. Then, I ask the driver the cost to my destination. This helps limit price scalping.

In general, there is a ADO Mérida Shuttle at the Cancun Airport International terminal as well as an ADO bus to Mérida in the city of Cancun. Check with your hotel to see if they will pick you up at an ADO terminal in Mérida.

Also, go online to Yucatán Today, http://yucatantoday.com/yucatan-bus-lines-and-taxis/?lang=en, to find much more information about various transportation options in Yucatán. Once you get to Mérida, pick up a copy of the current Yucatán Today, it has a wealth of useful information.

Tours: There are many tour services available. Many are affiliated with hotels. Ask at the reception desk about available tours. As a single person, it is easier to get added onto an existing tour from your hotel.

Special note: When visiting Mérida, México, if you don't speak Spanish, learn a few words before you come. Learning to say just a few words in Spanish like: Hola, Gracias, De Nada, Adios, Donde es el Baño (Hello, Thank you, You are Welcome, Goodbye, Where is the Bathroom?) for example, is considered polite. It shows that you are trying to speak the language of the country you are visiting,

Buen Dia (Good day).