I hate writing bad reviews, but this time I feel like I owe it to other travelers. I’m generally pretty tolerant of iffy spaces, and this is the only time I’ve had to switch accommodations midway through a trip because I was so uncomfortable.
It’s a shame because if things had been slightly different, I probably would have stayed. There wasn’t any one major thing wrong with this place, but there were plenty of minor annoyances that added up to make the overall experience unpleasant.
Here are some problems I encountered that weren’t in the listing:
1. There were ants in the room
2. The only window in the room receives direct sunlight all day, and the room retains all the heat, which means that the room was far too hot for me at night despite the fact that nights in CDMX are generally quite cool and don’t require AC
3. The built-in headboard light and the small reading lamp that were provided both didn’t function
4. The water pressure in the shower sucked (common in CDMX) but worse, I had no hot water
5. There are way too many locks and they’re all different and equally complicated. I’m all for security but this was excessive. The gate key works on this weird lockbox system, and the front door has an 8 digit code that I frankly did not ask to memorize on my vacation lol. The room has an additional (!) 8 digit code, but thankfully I got an RFID fob for that lock. It shouldn’t take me 15 minutes and 3 different codes to enter the building after hours.
6. There’s an Amazon Alexa plugged in in the room that you are warned “not to disable”. I know big tech has all my data anyway, but I’m personally still creeped out by Alexa, and the “do not disable” thing felt like a weird line in the sand to draw.
The following “problems” aren’t problems per se, but given the other issues up above I found it harder to forgive them:
1. The bathroom is across the hall from the room itself, meaning you have to cross a public area to get to it.
2. The building itself is jammed with other Airbnb units. Despite the fact that it’s billed as a coliving space, the layout isn’t really conducive to making friends. It feels like everyone is on top of each other in a bad way.
3. Yosef is over-communicative to an extent that I frankly found off-putting. He is omnipresent. Other people might vibe with it (and judging by the other reviews, they have!), but I felt a little bit smothered. His communication style coupled with the Alexa made me feel surveilled.
All that said, it’s cheap and it’s in a great location. The wifi is as fast as advertised. The roof is a nice perk.
Much of this is probably fixable, but I didn’t want to go full Karen and march up to Yosef with a laundry list of demands, so I found another spot instead. Maybe if they address some of this issues, this will be a fine place to stay in the future. But for now, be warned. Wasn’t for me, but maybe it will be for you.