Dalia is an amazing host with a beautiful apartment in a vibrant neighborhood. This was my first visit to CDMX, and I stayed for a month. Dalia made me feel welcome from the start. She showed me the apartment, explained everything I would need to know, and gave me a list of places to eat nearby. Dalia works from home, so she’s almost always available immediately for any questions; but at the same time, she’s very respectful of privacy and I always felt like I had my personal space. There’s hot water in the shower and the temperature in my room was always nice. A full kitchen and fridge to cook and store food. She made her spices available to me.
From Dalia’s apartment, there’s a brick oven pizza shop across the street, and a Panadería next door to the pizza spot that is delicious. A lavandería next to her place. 2 coffee shops half a block away with very friendly workers. A Harry Potter themed restaurant at the end of the block - overpriced, but fun. A gym one block over for 300 pesos for the month. Endless food street food vendors. Tacos, tortas, hotdogs, hamburgers, mango cups, empanadas, helados, on and on. Tons of other restaurants close by.
If you’re going to take a taxi, Ubers are cheap compared to where I’m from in America (1/3 the price in my experience), and some of the drivers hustle which was nice; but there is a ton of traffic. The Metro (subway system) is a great way to travel. It’s only a couple blocks away from Dalia’s place, and is very affordable. Single use tickets are only 5 pesos and that will get you all over the city; and the further away you are going, the more likely the subway will actually be faster because of traffic. Busses are cheap, but there is the traffic problem.
Chapultepec park is a 15 minute walk away. It is massive and beautiful, like Central Park; and there are a ton of things to do within the area. There are vendors for everything; but what is nice is they keep them all relatively in the same area. So you know where to go to get what you want, but you can get away from it and enjoy a quiet, peaceful park. There are a lot of museums in the park, and a zoo. Oh and a castle.
It was a great trip. I would highly recommend staying with Dalia. I plan on staying with her again when I return.