el crispito

All the same, it's considered one of the best hotels in town, and it's the place where dignitaries stay when they're in town. And don't get me wrong. It's not terrible. It's certainly clean and safe, and the location, right next to the Plaza Río is damned convenient when you want to pick up some things that you forgot to pack. But it kind of fits the stereotypical image of a half-assed Mexican operation, and I suspect that perhaps that is why so many Americans have that image of all things Mexican: their image is based on the Mexico of Tijuana.

They claim to have a concierge, but it turns out that it's a couple of bellhops. The "Aquellos Tiempos" restaurant that they advertise in some of their online literature as "the most exclusive in Tijuana" seems to be so exclusive that it has slipped into non-existence. Their gift shop seems like a store from the former Soviet Union, with only a handful of items on each shelf, and it closes at 4 PM daily, despite the fact that the hours listed on the door say it's open until 6 PM. While sitting at the desk, the bulb in the desk lamp flashed and them popped into darkness. We exchanged the bulb with another in the room and it didn't work either. It turns out that the all the electrical stuff along that wall had shorted out.

So it's on to the Hotel San Francisco Plaza where they promise little and deliver a lot. But then again, maybe I'm just biased because we had such a delightful time there last year scoping out our future, uh, rather, current home.