San Luis Potosi seems to have been overlooked by the corporate hotel chains, at least when it comes to serving the downtown area, but that's really okay with me because a little digging turns up some surprising diamonds in the rough that can represent great lodging deals for the discriminating but budget-conscious traveler. One of these gems is, unquestionably, the Hotel Real Plaza, where I stayed last Friday night.

Around the Hotel...
First impressions count, and the hotel itself is fairly impressive from the street. It's a modern, gleaming downtown tower, shimmering with black glass and sporting a shopping arcade at street level. The Real Plaza is a good-sized hotel, with 270 rooms on 14 floors.

Bellmen are quick and efficient, and the lobby is surprisingly spacious and comfortable given it's small, narrow entry way. The front staff are efficient and check-in is a quick and painless process.

Meeting rooms are available on the second level of the shopping arcade area, and there is a travel agency on site as well as a trendy men's clothing boutique.

The top floor of the hotel sports a good-sized outdoor pool, though one that's rather shallow.

Food and Drink...
The food is servicable enough at Hotel Real Plaza, but it won't pull people in from the streets since it's really not at a par with the very high quality of local restaurants nearby. The prices are reasonable though, and it is convenient if you're not the adventurous sort. The hotel's restaurant is called El Mezzanine, and their restaurant is called the Winchester Bar.

El Mezzanine
The hotel's restaurant is a large, cafeteria style affair, located on the second floor (well, actually the first floor since Mexicans start counting at 0, which is "planta baja"). The decor is not particularly inviting, with lots of chrome tube chairs and plain ceramic tile floors. It's neither traditional nor homey, but rather stark and institutional feeling. The menu is a mix of basic Mexican foods (enchiladas, tacos, etc.) and basic American foods (burgers, sandwiches, etc.). A beer is under $3, a burger under $4. For a hotel restaurant, the prices are quite reasonable.

Winchester Bar
The bar is comfortable, but it doesn't open until 7pm. The hotel's brochure imaginitevely describes it as an "english style ladies bar". I don't recall ever being in a bar like this in England, and it's neither quaint nor homey. It's ultra-modern, with purple velour chairs adorned with modernistic chrome tubing.

It turns out that the bar is actually quite a lively spot though. By 10pm, it's got a good-sized crowd, including about 10 or 15 people who are obviously part of a group tour of the area. The bar has three different live entertainment acts on the night I visited. The first was a young troupe performing traditional folk music from Spain. The group was remarkably talented, and the bartender said that they're often invited on evenings when tour buses will be in town. After an hour or so, they leave, along with the obvious tour group patrons, and the place takes on more of a local flavor.

Two groups trade off with stage time, performing a mix of modern Mexican musical styles, ranging from rancheras to pop hits from the last few years. One of the groups seemed more mainstream, with a steadier diet of boleros and romantic favorites, while the second group seemed more cutting edge, with a sharper, more rock-like sound. Both were excellent.

Step Into My San Luis Potosi Lair...
The rooms themselves are decorated in modern colors and styles. The furniture is fairly new, but of dubious quality and style -- it's servicable enough, but it has the same kind of attractive, cutting edge design that you find in self-assembly furniture sold at Wal-Mart and other fine stores. But the room has charms that go beyond wood and springs...

I love the spaciousness of my room, and I love the huge bowed bay window, with glass from floor to ceiling, affording me an incredible view of the city and the mountains that rise up from the valley floor just a scant few miles away. San Luis Potosi is a busy and fairly attractive city, and it's best appreciated from an 11th story room of the Real Plaza, which towers over all of its neighbors.

The bathroom too is quite spacious, with rustic red quarry tile floors and a very large shower stall that's easily big enough for 2 or 3 people to shower together (now I just gotta work on my pickup lines). While some hotels seem to skimp on the toiletries, this hotel actually left 5 bars of soap and 2 bottles of shampoo in the bathroom! So much for cutting corners to save a dime...

The room isn't packed with extras though. The 27 inch TV does get a ton of cable channels, but there's no coffee maker in the room -- no ironing board either. No hair dryer in the bathroom, and no alarm clock.

There is a nice sized work desk, the hotel does offer room service (until 11pm), and there is a one-day laundry service at surprisingly affordable prices (just $1 for a pair of pants or a shirt -- that's 1/3 the price of some other hotels I stayed in during my recent Mexican trek). Evangelical christians will appreciate having a big fat bible on the desk (not a Gideon's either -- it's emblazoned with the hotel logo -- how often do you see that in hotels?). Just in case the bible isn't enough Good Word for you, the hotel staff have thougtfully placed a couple handy dandy prayer Quick Reference Cards on the desk and next to the toilet in the bathroom -- praying for your soul can now be an easily multi-plexed task thanks to the thoughtful folks at Hotel Plaza Real!

Given the spaciousness of the room, the cleanliness and good condition of everything, I have to give the hotel generally high marks on room quality, especially considering their reasonable prices.

Location, Please...
Hotel Real Plaza is in a good, upscale, safe neighborhood about a half mile from the colonial center of San Luis Potosi. Avenida Venustiano Carranza is a wide, tree-lined avenue filled with upscale shops, banks, office buildings, and good quality restaurants and coffee houses. Walking to and from the hotel is safe and enjoyable.

Near the hotel are several extremely good quality restaurants that serve outstanding food with top notch service in comfortable, upscale dining rooms. If you're staying in the Hotel Real Plaza, I can especially recommend the Virreina, practically next door at Av. V. Carranza 830. This restaurant is a traditional, colonial style dining room with innovative nouveau Mexican cuisine augmented with the occasional inspiration of true old-style classics. All of their baking is done on premises, and the array of fresh-baked desserts cry out for temperance throughout the meal. The house salad is an absolute taste treat -- shocking, I know, considering that its foundation is little more than garden-variety iceberg lettuce. But the dressing is nothing short of sublime, redolent with garlic and dill.

Bottom Line...
Hotel Real Plaza is hardly the ritziest hotel I've ever stayed in, but it is surprisingly good in many areas and represents, in my opinion, an outstanding value for anyone who wants to stay in downtown San Luis Potosi. It's an easy walk to much of the city's historic center, but in a safe, upscale part of town. At rates of just over $50 per night, it's really quite a steal considering that this a pretty large leap up in quality from your basic bare bones Motel 6 type of room. It's the kind of hotel that I think works best at the 3-star quality level, but given the relative bang for the buck, I'll boost it to four and recommend it for anyone visiting the area.

Unitl next time, see you on the road. As always, I'll be the guy looking for the biggest bang for my travel buck.


Closely Related Reviews...

* Westin Hotel San Luis Potosi
* San Luis Potosi (coming soon)



Recommended: Yes