Guanajuato (approximately pronounced "Wa-na-hwa-to") is a beautiful
town nestled in a valley in central México, and the capital of the
eponymous Mexican state. It has a few claims to fame, such as how
president Vicente Fox established a political foothold by being a
relatively popular governor of Guanajuato state, his hometown. Guanajuato itself has
in recent decades attracted international attention by its world
famous Festival Internacional Cervantino, International
Cervantine Festival, usually simply dubbed the Cervantino in
both English and Spanish (but I'm stubborn about borrowings between
languages I speak when I don't feel a need to borrow, so you'll hear
me refer to the festival as the "Cervantine Festival" in English). The
festival started out by staging a series of skits by Miguel de
Cervantes Saavedra, the author of Don Quixote, but has since
evolved into a cultural and artistic festival that has very few
performances anymore relevant to Cervantine literature.
But Guanajuato is much more than a festival. It is a town with a rich
cultural and architectural history, with a large and active student
population, with a strong international community of visitors from
around the world who frequently decide to remain here out of romance
for the town or its inhabitants. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage
site in 1988.
Guanajuato is... ah, well, let me start from the beginning.
History
Guanajuato started as a mining town when in 1558 large silver deposits
were found in what became Mina de Rayas, named after Juan Rayas
its discoverer, and later in La Valenciana, so named because
it was founded and managed by a family from Valencia, Spain. The
name Guanajuato comes from a native Mexican word transcribed as
"Quanax-Huato" which means "froghill" or "frogplace". For this reason, frogs are
still Guanajuato's symbol, though I have yet to see a real frog
anywhere here. When Guanajuato was being founded, when there was a
New Spain and before there was a México, the Spaniards decided to
use the slave labour of the natives and build an empire out of silver,
gold, iron, lead, zinc, tin, and other precious metals. For 250 years,
20% of the world's silver was produced in La Valenciana, and
the silver deposits have still not been fully depleted, but through
the vicissitudes of economics, the mine has not been exploited in
recent years. Other lesser mines in Guanajuato were also discovered
and some of them are still being mined. Mina de Rayas has a
depth of 1400 feet, one of the largest in the world, and Mina de
Cata is famous for the Baroque Catholic temple that decorates
its entrance.
Guanajauto was officially founded in 1570, when it received the royal
approval. Mining haciendas quickly flourished,
economic centres comparable to U.S. plantations both in
breadth and mode of operations, massively wealthy economic centres
mostly driven by slave labour or later de facto slave labour,
when its workers and miners were given wages but maintained in
perpetual debt so as to ensure their permanence. Most people think of
agricultural haciendas or plantations, but in Guanajuato city
(a title which it was awarded in 1741 by King Philip V of Spain) the
principal economic activity was mining, which is around what
haciendas were built. Modern neighbourhoods of Guanajuato are
often named after the hacienda that used to be there, such as
San Javier, Bocamina San Ramón, Marfil (Ivory), and Santa Cecilia.
In 1765, King Charles III of Spain took a large chunk out of the
wealthy mining barons of Guanajuato, and in 1767 discontent arose when
the Jesuits were expelled from Spanish lands, since both the wealthy
owners and the poor miners held allegiance to the Jesuits. This
discontent with Spanish rule among the criollos (Creoles, but
in this context means Mexican-born Spaniards who under the strict
caste system imposed by Spanish rule did not hold the same rights as
Iberian-born Spaniards) slowly focussed around conspiracies and secret
meetings among the Mexican bourgeoisie. This finally erupted in the
night of September 15, 1810 into the Mexican War for
Independence. In Dolores, north of Guanajuato city and now named
Dolores Hidalgo, Father Miguel Hidalgo gave the cry for independence
and marched on towards Guanajuato with an undisciplined and unruly
rabble of native Mexicans and mestizos, of mixed Mexican and
Spanish blood. As always, it's the intellectuals who spur revolution
and the lower classes who fight the wars.
The first major battle in the war for independence was fought in
La Alhóndiga de las Granaditas, ("alhóndiga" is an old Spanish
word of Arabic origin that means "the granary") which Mexican legend
El Pípila managed to put to torch by carrying a large stone
slab on his back to protect himself from the Spaniards' bullets. Today
a famous monument in his honour stands atop a hill overlooking
Guanajuato. La Alhóndiga changed hands a number of times during
the decade-long bloody war for independence, alternatively serving as
a granary, a fortress, a prison, and a torture centre. It still stands
to this day and offers visitors a chance to learn about México's past.
After the war for independence, exploitation of Guanajuato's mines
continued without Spanish taxation. During this period many structures
were added to Guanajuato's rich architecture, such as mansions,
theatres, and churches.
In the middle of the nineteenth century when the French intervened in
México in an attempt to settle a dispute over debt and eager to
perhaps annex Mexican soil to their waning empire, beloved Mexican
president Benito Juárez and often compared to U.S. president
Abraham Lincoln because of his humble origins, was forced to flee
México City. He therefore temporarily established the nation's capital
in Guanajuato city.
Mexican muralist and painter of the people Diego Rivera was born in
Guanajuato in 1886, but was unwelcome in his conservative Catholic
hometown for many years because of his Marxist tendencies. Today his
home is a museum hosting a small sample of his work. In 1903, Mexican
president and dictator Porfirio Díaz embodied his admiration for
French culture by commissioning the building of the Teatro
Juárez (Juárez Theatre, an ironic name, since Díaz had been an
enemy of Juárez, but probably had to recognise Juárez's popular
appeal), the Palacio Legislativo (I don't need to translate
that name, do I?), the Monumento a la Paz (Monument to peace),
a monument to Hidalgo, and the Presa de la Esperanza (Dam of
Hope).
In 1945 the Colegio del Estado, State College, became the
University of Guanajuato, and Guanajuato's modern cultural environment
began to flourish. The Entremeses Cervantinos (Cervantine
Skits) were first staged in 1953, which culminated in the full-blown
Cervantine Festival in 1972. Near the end of 1962, a group of music
students from the university kindled an interest in
estudiantina (uh, "studentine," I guess) music of Spanish
origin, and on April 13, 1963, the first estudiantina made its
debut. Music students from the university dress up in
fifteenth-century Spanish student garb and play music appropriate to
that time and genre with old Spanish instruments such as lutes and
tambourines, all amidst joking, dancing, and skits, much of which
involves audience participation. Today there are many different
troupes of estudiantinas and daily two or three different
troupes attract a crowd with their music and take them on the
callejeonada (uh, another difficult word to translate,
"alleying" I guess captures the meaning), around the twisty little back alleys of
Guanajuato, often explaining in jest and in seriousness the local
legends after which almost all of the alleys are named.
Guanajuato Today, Sights to See
Guanajuato is cramped little town difficult to navigate by car, but
small enough to be traversed on foot from diametrically opposed ends
in little more than one hour and thirty minutes (yes, I've timed
it). Its smallness and old architecture add to its charm, and so do
the underground tunnels which had to be built on old riverbeds in
order to allow some vehicular traffic without destroying the old
colonial layout of the town. A great deal of the town consists of very
narrow alleys steeply built into the mountainous topography of
Guanajuato that necessarily must be traversed on foot. They're great
for building buns of steel, as well as stong thighs and a generally
healthy cardiovascular system. When walking around Guanajuato, you may
see some of the following.
Mines, mines, mines
There are many mines to see in Guanajuato, and they're a popular
tourist attraction. Some of them are
- Mina de la Valenciana
- Mina de Rayas
- Mina de Calderones
- El Cedro (The Oak)
- El Cubo (The Bucket? I think it means a kind of hole or
depression in this context, as a mine is.)
- Peregrina (Pilgrim)
- Villalpando
- La Garrapata (The Tick, as in a bloodsucking arachnid)
and there's lots more. Not all of them are still active, and some are
already depleted, but I understand that Guanajuato still has a
minerological richness waiting to be exploited. The more famous mines
are Cata, Rayas, and Valenciana, all of which are usually open to the
public. You'll often find eager tourist guides eager to make a buck
around these mines, but I've personally had better luck avoiding the
young ones and chatting instead with the old men who really were
miners and often have an impressive knowledge of mining, geology, and
minerology that they share quite freely just for the pleasure of
having an audience. They might attempt to sell you quartz or other
semiprecious rocks.
Churches, churches, churches
Guanajuato is traditionally a deeply religious and Catholic town,
though some of this tradition is being chipped away by the young
generation and foreign influences (I have seen Mormons walking in the
alleys and wearing their traditional missionary outfit: short-sleeved
white shirt with tie, dark pants, and a schoolbag). But since
tradition is easier to chip away than churches are, a good deal many
churches still exist in Guanajuato. Most of them are lavishly
decorated and the Baroque style predominates. Here is another list.
- Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato (Basilica of Our
Lady of Guanajuato)
- Templo de San Diego
- Templo de San Cayetano
- Templo de San Javier
- Templo de San José Santiago
- Templo de San Roque
and many more. The one worth checking out is probably San Cayetano,
which was built with money from La Valenciana and lies near it.
Mummies, mummies, mummies
Actually, unlike all the churches and mines you'll see all over
Guanajuato, the mummies are quite localised. They're all in one
place. I have never heard quite a satisfactory explanation, but it
seems that the Guanajuatan soil and low humidity in the atmosphere
dries up corpses quite well and very quickly. This was discovered
sometime in 1865 when the remains of some people had to be dug up from
the cemetery in order to make room for more dead people. They saw that
instead of rotting corpses, they had well-preserved dry mummies. So
what do you do with a bunch of dead dry people you just dug up?
No, silly, you don't infuse them with a virus that
brings dead cells to life and makes them hunger for living flesh.
Rather, you put them in a museum, of course.
The museo de las momias (the museum of the mummies) is a prime
example of the Mexican obsession with death. It's nothing but one long
winding corridor filled with hundreds of mummies, without any labels
or explanations. Just lots and lots of dead dry people. Some are
clothed, but many are naked. It has become rather iconic of Guanajuato
too, so iconic that Mexican masked wrestler legend El Santo
has co-starred in one of those old black-and-white movies and there's
mummy wrestling all around. The mummies have also spurred the
imagination of more than one aspiring pulp novelist to write horror
stories about the Guanajuatan mummies coming to life and terrorising
the population.
Unfortunately, the museum is a little less exciting than El
Santo's movie, although it does have a special section dedicated
to death and other horror stories. This may be somewhat more amusing
thanks to its holographic effects. It may be worth checking out, but
in the memorable words of a girl who went with me on a bizarro date to
the mummy museum, "you've seen one mummified crotch, you've seen them
all."
Jardín de la Unión (Union Garden)
A sort of unofficial meeting place and cultural nucleus in town, its
central location makes it an ideal place in which to convene and
decide what to do later. If anything is happening in town, and
something always seems to be happening, the greatest bustle of
activity will be in Jardín de la Unión, a small plaza with a
central kiosk and lush trees. Teatro Juárez overlooks Jardín
Unión, as does the beautiful church of San Diego and some of the
snazziest hotels in town, such as Hotel San Diego, Hotel
Posada Santa Fe (Santa Fe Inn Hotel), and Hotel Luna (Moon
Hotel). Many estudiantinas begin gathering crowds in front of
the San Diego church when the sun sets.
Plaza de la Paz (Peace Square)
About 100 metres away from Jardín de la Unión, Plaza de la
Paz is much smaller and unfortunately surrounded by a trickle of
vehicular traffic, but nevertheless pretty with its minute hedge
gardens and central adorning statue commissioned by Porfirio Díaz
during the late nineteenth century. It's another popular meeting place
among the town's youth, since it's surrounded by the Basílica
(a large church) and the Palacio Legislativo, and it's not too
far away from the main building of the University of
Guanajuato. Upper-crust nightclub El Capitolio (The Capitol) is
also near, which promotes some of the popularity of Plaza de la
Paz as a meeting place.
University of Guanajuato
México unfortunately does not have many places were learning and
research can be pursued for their own sake, with many so-called
universities being more like places to get a shiny MBA, become a
lawyer, or other similarly useful but not always intellectually
fulfilling endeavours. The University of Guanajuato is a welcome
exception from this trend, as most state-funded centres in México are,
and music, theatre, literature, chemistry, and mathematics are strong
areas of academic activity in the university, as well as other more
business-oriented practices like law, industrial relations,
accounting, management, and economics.
The university does not have a centralised campus, and rather its
offices, libraries, and classrooms are scattered all around town. Some
of the building originally housed a Jesuit seminary, but the main
building of the university with the administrative offices was built
in 1950s as a mixture of modern and colonial architecture,
controversial in its time but now recognised as an achievement in
blending the old with the new. The hundreds of steps in the main
building a block away from Plaza de la Paz leading up to the
main building have become the university's icon and a bane to the poor
students that must walk up those steps every day to get to class (I
think they're mostly lawyers in that building). Its ground floor often
has artistic or scientific expositions open to the public, and it's
worth your time checking out what it may have to offer.
The University of Guanajuato was the originator of the Cervantine
Festival and is still a very active promoter of its events, and also
promotes other cultural events and performance arts throughout the
year.
La Alhóndiga de las Granaditas
If Jardín de la Unión is the pedestrian nucleus of town, then
the Alhóndiga must be its vehicular analogy. It seems that all
public busses and taxis at some point must go through the
Alhóndiga, probably owing to its proximity to one of the lowest
points in Guanajuato. Everything in Guanajuato is a steep uphill climb
away from the Alhóndiga. The structure itself isn't
particularly pretty, just a big granite block, but it never was meant
to be pretty, since it was first a granary, later a fortress and a
prison. Today it's a museum of México's history, and some of its
interiors have been partially beautified by murals depicting episodes
and attitudes of Mexico.
The large plaza and steps outside the Alhóndiga double as the
main stage during the Cervantine Festival. All seating on the steps
are open admission free of charge, while the handful of chairs the
coordinators place at the bottom of this courtyard can be accessed for
a relatively modest fee. The Alhóndiga is close to the
main traditional farmer's market (usually known simply as El
Mercado) and also close to the only supermarket in town, Comercial
Mexicana.
Callejón del Beso (Kissing Alley)
Have I mentioned that Guanajuato is full of twisty narrow alleys?
Well, the Callejón del Beso is what twisty narrow alleys are
all about. It's the final destination of more than one
estudiantina's callejeonada, and has become another of
the Guanajuatan symbols. It is an alley a mere 63 cm wide. The legend
tells of a tragically fated couple, where he was a poor miner and she
was a rich Spanish heiress. Her father caught them kissing from
balcony to balcony across the alley, and well, it ends like a Shakespearan tragedy.
For a modest donation, you can have one of the kids there recite to
you the legend of the Callejón del Beso, have your picture
taken as you kiss your partner, and buy tacky souvenirs with lewd
Spanish puns about kissing.
Nightlife
Besides the traditional estudiantina described above and below,
a lively nightlife has blossomed in town. These establishments are
usually quite volatile, so don't be surprised if in a couple of years
some of these go out of business, change their name, or if new ones
take their place. For now, some of the places you can find are:
- Guanajuato Grill: A rather snobbish night club with pop,
dance, and techno music. Frequented by the rich kids that come from
neighbouring León and other places looking for a weekend hangout. One
of the few places that charges a cover charge and enforces a dress
code. Not particularly suited to my tastes, but some people enjoy this
sort of place. May be good for finding a one-night romance.
- El Capitolio: Somewhat similar to Guanajuato Grill, but not
as snobbish. I've never been inside, but they have a couple of sister
projects worth checking out, namely, a karaoke bar, dubbed
Capitolio Light, and a quiet and pleasant little bar further
down the street called Las Musas (The Muses), which offers
trova music, a guy with a guitar playing Spanish ballads.
- Bar Ocho and El Santo: These two are similar in
spirit and next to each other. More of a sit-down bar than a place to
shake your booty, with an eclectic mix of music, some of which does
sometime encourage booty-shaking, particularly true in El
Santo. Oh, and El Santo has recently begun offering (the
Mexican concept of) sushi, the only place in Guanajuato I know of
which does this.
- Why Not?: Another sit-down bar, and a good place to have a
beer with your friends, croon along to old favourites, and cry about
lost loves.
- Barfly: This place has become insanely popular
recently. It's a hippyish, ska/punk/reggae bar, under recent
administration by an entrepeneur kid who used to live in Montréal, and some of Montréal's diverse cultural background
somehow shows through the decor. It often has live shows, but it's a
very small place for such a thing. Expect large crowds from Thursdays
through Saturdays.
- El Bar: Let's make one thing perfectly clear: we Mexicans
are not known for our dancing ability, except when we have to become
generic Latinos in foreign non-Latin American countries. Heck, the
Colombians often make fun of how badly we dance their cumbia and
merengue music. We will happily sing you mariachi music, or
serenade you with ranchera ballads, but all these dancing tropical
Latin beats come from Central America down south or the Caribbean
islands. Nevertheless, because it has become expected of us as Latin
Americans, and because, well, it's fun, we have had to learn how to
salsa dance, and this creatively-named venue is one of the most
famous places to do it in Guanajuato. There are a few others, but this
is the place to start from. Handsome and swarthy men will be willing to
sweep you off your feet (literally, sometimes) and twirl you around to
the sound of Caribbean beats, sometimes for a modest fee if what
you're really trying to do is learn how to properly dance the damn
thing. I have seen some truly impressive feats of choreography in
El Bar, and I do recommend visiting it at least once.
Don Quixote and Cervantine Culture in Guanajuato
Given the prominence of Guanajuato under the Spanish crown, it is
perhaps not surprising that a certain Spanish character persists
here. What may be surprising is the strong presence of Don Quixote
in Guanajuato. Indeed, Guanajuato's nickname is "The Cervantine
Capital of America", where "America" in this context refers to the
continent, not just the U.S. (Forgive me for refusing to translate
the nickname using the term "the Americas". There is a complex reason for my refusal.)
It all begun in 1952 when students and faculty members from the
University of Guanajuato begun presenting skits penned by The Prince
of Wit, Cervantes himself, and about the same time the music students
decided to bring some of the music and character of Don Quixote's time
to Guanajuato. It then exploded into the Cervantine Festival which
nowadays has little to do itself with Cervantes, but Guanajuato offers
plenty other opportunities to soak up Don Quixote and Cervantes. Last
year may have been an exceptional Cervantine Festival, since I did see
a substantial amount of shows with Cervantine themes, although this
may have happened because last year was the 400th anniversary of the
first printing of Don Quixote.
Actually, "Cervantine Capital of America" is more than just a
nickname. The Spanish government officially bestowed this name to
Guanajuato in 2004 after carefully considering Guanajuato's
contribution to Cervantine culture through portrayals and analysis of
Cervantes' plays, popularisation of Don Quixote's character and
settings, hosting of international conferences for Cervantine
analysis, plus pure academic research (the university of Guanajuato
has an active department of Cervantine studies unmatched anywhere else
in the world). If the many plazas and sculptures around town of Don
Quixote, Sancho Panza, and Cervantes are not enough, this is some more
testament of the Cervantine culture in Guanajuato.
La Estudiantina
The first estudiantina troupe started playing in 1963
throughout the streets and alleys of Guanajuato. They attempt to
revive the old jovial Spanish student lifestyle from the fifteenth
century in music, dress, and spirit. Those who have read Don
Quixote will recognise the mocking and irreverent Salamanca
bachelor Sansón Carrasco in the music students from the University
of Guanajuato.
There are many estudiantina troupes, some of them old enough to
have been playing since 1963, but most are genuinely currently
enrolled music students in the university. Two or three every night
gather an audience in Jardín de la Unión and then take them on
a tour through the alleys. They joke as they regale their audience
with songs, and explain in good humour the history and legends of
Guanajuato. Part of the ritual involves drinking out of an
oddly-shaped ceramic called a porrón, or dancing like a chicken
to a certain song about a rooster.
All of the show is unfortunately in a very Mexican Spanish, so I'm
afraid that a mastery of the language is necessary in order to
understand the jokes. I originally had some reservations about
following an estudiantina around in one of its
callejoneadas, but after done so once, I was quite positively
impressed and I recommend them, for their good humour and lively music
crosses linguistic boundaries and can be enjoyed by anyone.
I have also recently discovered that more than one of the "folk"
Mexican songs whose origin I couldn't pinpoint are in fact
estudiatina songs popularised since 1963. Foreigners probably
won't recognise what songs I'm talking about, but De Colores is
one such song.
Juglares (Bards)
These are somewhat akin to the estudiantina, but less prominent
and less frequent. They dress in a samilar style, but have more
well-developed comedic skits and focus more on the comedy than the
music. Each juglar has a unique and colourful
fifteenth-century Spanish gypsy style, unlike the estudiantinas
where all members of one troupe dress nearly identically.
Museo Iconográfico del Quijote
This is a museum with a fascinating variety of depictions of Don
Quixote. As an undying fan of what is arguably the world's first
novel, I cannot begin to explain how much fun I always have in this
museum. It's basically many different portrayals of everyone's
favourite mad knight-errant in paintings, engravings, drawings,
tapestries, coins, sculptures, and porcelain. Those damnable windmills
are as inconspicuous in most depictions as they are in the novel
itself, where they only occupy a single page. One of my favourite
portrayals here is of a statue of Don Quixote and Sancho in an Asian
style, half-Samurai, half-Mongolian warrior, in gorgeous porcelain.
It was inaugurated in 1987 and amongst some of its most famous artists
we can find José Luis Cuevas and Spanish surrealist legend
Salvador Dalí.
Festival Internacional Cervantino (International Cervantine Festival)
This is one of the largest artistic festivals of its kind in Latin
America, indeed, in the world. Originally completely focussed on
presenting plays and skits by Cervantes, the latter have more or less
become a separate activity and the festival instead brings performance
arts from around México and the world, usually having "guests of
honour" from one or two Mexican states and one or two countries from
the world. Last year Yucatán was the Mexican state and Japan the
country, and I managed to catch quite some interesting shows, amongst
which I best remember Gocoo/Goro, the Japanese drummers who played
in Zion in the second The Matrix movie, and Phillip Glass.
Mikail Bulgakov's theatrical adaption of Don Quixote was also
shown during the festival, and a huge inflatable Don Quixote mounted
on Rocinante graced the entrace to Guanajuato during the entire
festival.
The festival runs for three weeks in October, and Guanajuato's
population almost triples in size for those weeks, especially near the
end. It is responsible for much of Guanajuato's international fame. It
may be a Cervantine event almost merely in name, but I think it's
still one in spirit.
Entremeses Cervantinos (Cervantine Skits)
Every year since 1952 the university's theatre company has been
presenting Cervantes' skits a few weeks before the full-blown
Cervantine festival. They are somewhat less advertised, and they are held in the Plaza de Roque, an outdoor stage downtown.
Where to Stay
Since Guanajuato thrives on tourism, it has an attractive variety of
hotels, motels, and hostels. However, some of these "tourists" are
hard to classify as such when they decide to stay here for half a
year or a full year at a time, sometimes longer, sometimes even
deciding to immigrate here permanently. A profitable business in
Guanajuato is temporary real estate, renting out rooms, apartments,
and houses for the students that come from all around México and
abroad, or for those adventurers who very earnestly want to learn the
Mexican language and culture.
Below I shall list some of the lodgings I'm partially acquainted with,
but bear in mind that if you're planning to stay for a long period of
time, there's a fluctuating temporary real estate market to
consider. Many families rent out rooms for about 300 USD per month,
usually in relatively luxurious homes, and houses go for about the
same, perhaps a bit higher at 400 or 500 USD per month. This is
usually reasonable for travelers who can afford a comfortable margin
in their budget, but there's also a market for students where a price
of 200 USD is already considered high-end. A thing to watch out for is
that foreigners are perceived as wealthy, at least by Mexican
standards, so often they get quoted higher prices simply on account of
being foreign. Established hotels and hostels, however, have fixed
prices and this sort of inflation will not happen there.
When dialing telephone numbers in Guanajuato, remember that the area code
is 473 and the country code for México is 52. All of the telephone
numbers I list below have to be prefixed by these two numbers, plus
whatever prefix you need to dial from your country in order to get
international access (usually a short sequence of zeros and ones).
Although a good deal of lodgings are located downtown, bear in mind
that Guanajuato is tiny and cabs are easily found and quite cheap.
They will usually not charge more than 40 MXN for a ride, so the precise
location of the lodgings in Guanajuato is not a big issue, since
everything is near.
Hostels
El Hostalito: A centrally located and charming little
place, from what I can tell by its more public areas. I have not
personally stayed here, but it seems clean and claims to have some
comforts. It has a couple of private single and double rooms, plus
shared accomodations. Breakfast is included, and facilities include a
common kitchen, dining area, study room, and laundry service. Rooms go
from 125 MXN to about 200 MXN per night.
Contact information:
- Phone: 732 5483, 732 0095, and a mobile at 101 7622
- Email: hostalitogto@hotmail.com
La Casa del Tío (Uncle's House): Similar in style and
price range to El Hostalito, also quite centrally located.
Contact information:
-
Hostel Refugio de Ángeles (Angels' Refuge Hostel): Also
centrally located, has slightly cheaper accomodations starting from
100 MXN per night. Offers all of the same services as the above
hostels, plus separate washrooms for men and women.
Contact information:
-
Casa Kloster: It's a clean and comfortable place, with private
rooms for one or two persons, but only one shared bathroom. It has a
central courtyard with flowers and birds, although it could use a bit
more light for my taste. Most of the rooms do not have windows. It's
also one of the cheaper places at 100 MXN per night. I hear it gets
booked early, so plan ahead if you're staying here.
Contact information:
-
Hotel Hostal Cantarrans (Frogsong Hotel/Hostel): This
hostel starts to get into the high-end in the hostel range. It's very
well-kept, colourful, pretty, and quite comfortable.
Contact information:
Mid-range hotels
I have only ever stayed in one hotel in Guanajuato, creatively named
Hotel Guanajuato, so at this stage, I cannot really comment
much about these accomodations. I shall provide contact information
instead so that you may make a choice yourself. Prices in here range
from 200 MXN to about 500 MXN, but they may get hiked up to about 700
MXN per night during the Cervantine Festival.
You may wish to check out http://www.hotelesguanajuato.com for more
specific information than what I provide here.
-
Hotel Guanajuato: A bus ride away from downtown. Very
comfortable and relatively affordable.
Contact information:
-
Hotel Alhóndiga: Like other hotels in the Alhóndiga area,
this one is quite affordable with rooms going for 200 MXN or so.
Contact information:
-
Hotel Molino del Rey (King's Mill Hotel): Located downtown,
cheap at in 300-400 MXN range.
Contact information:
High-end Hotels
I have never stayed in any of these, but I'm sure you'll get your
money's worth from them. They seem luxurious enough from the outside.
-
Hotel San Diego: Located at the heart of Guanajuato in the
Jardín de la Unión.
Contact information:
-
Parador San Javier (San Javier Stop): This used to be where
guests of the San Javier hacienda would be housed. I've had
dinner in one of its dining halls for an event organised by my
school. It was snazzy.
Contact information:
-
La Abadía Hotel (The Abbey Hotel): Located right across from
Parador San Javier. I've had the breakfast buffet in its
restaurant and was delighted.
Contact information:
-
Hotel Real de Minas (Royal Mines Hotel): I think this is where
foreign diplomats and businessmen like to stay. It looks very
luxurious.
Contact information:
-
Holiday Inn Express: A Holiday Inn like all the
others. Probably not as high-end as Real de Minas, but
guaranteed quality at any rate.
Contact information:
This node sponsored by the Noderissima 2006 coalition.