Not a hotel, a MOtel!
OK, here's the promised motel adventure in Mexico.
I was coming back from Mazatlan and wanted to spend the night in Culiacan. I was following the highway signs through the city and managed to get lost anyway. When I found my way back to Hwy 15, I had to go to the potty really badly. And keep in mind that being without water for almost a week, I was pretty filthy as well. I was desperate to poop, to shower, and to sleep in a bed rather than on a yoga mat. After I get headed in the right direction I found no hotels until I was actually headed out of town. Then I saw a motel sign on the right and three in a row on the left. They all looked quite fancy from the road and were behind a huge wall. The wall was decorated with the name of the motel, tall palms with lights on them, a seperate entrance and exit. They just had different names and colors.
I turn my car around and pull into the first one. It's still a little bit light outside. I can see that these have garage doors, some closed and some open. No obvious office or even signs to an office. So I keep driving done a row of rooms with garages and then the road curved around andcame back the other direction and was also lined with rooms with garages and then meandered on out back to the highway. No office. How odd I thought. Maybe "motel" means condo in Culiacan. I know in other cities in Mexico it's the same as the US, a place where travelers can rent a room and drive up to the door of the room and unload the car.
I pull into the next motel. Same thing. Now it's getting dark. No one around. No office. Path leads me back to the highway.
I pull into the third motel. This time a security officer with a head set walks up to my car and I roll down the window. He asks me if I have a reservation and I say no. Where's the office. He looks at me oddly and says, "Do you have an invitation?" I say no, where's the office? He tells me, rather shortly, that there is no office. "This is a MOtel, not a HOtel." I'm too tired to argue with him about what a motel is and just leave. Later I find a hotel and get my nice long shower and clean sheets.
Next night. I decide to stop in Hermosillo rather than hit the border in the middle of the night. Once again I stay on the highway through town and don't see many hotels. Finally I see a sign that says "hotel zone" and an arrow which is the direction I'm going. Yay! I drive by them giving them a look-see and then I see one of those closed and private "MOtels" but this one had a sign out front that said $200 (pesos) which is very cheap for a motel room. So I think, what the heck, and give it a try. This time a young woman comes up to my car. She's also wearing a headset. She looks over my car and sees that I'm a traveler. I tell her that I'd like a room for the night. She smiles and says that it will be $310 and I tell her the sign says $200 and she says, "That is for four hours. For the whle night the rate is $310." That's about $25 USD so I say OK and she says go to #118 and I ask for a key and she says, there isn't one; but that I'd find it open. I pay her skeptically I drive on around the bend.
Sure enough, the garage door is open for #118 and I drive in. Then I see the door to the room is from the garage and I push the button that closes the garage door. I get my luggage and go into one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever stayed in. There is a big kingsized bed there with a beautiful bedspread. The room is carpeted which is very unusual in Mexico. There are two big leather chairs at a round table. There is a big dresser and above the largest television I have ever seen in a hotel room with a dvd player attached and two remote controls. There are ash trays $200 USD hotel room for $25!! I lucked out!"
I turn on the TV and this giant TV suddenly has porn on it. I remember that they also rent in four hours blocks. Hmmmmmm. I go to the windows and there is no door out of the room except through te garage. What a marvelous concept. The ultimate in privacy. Some executive can take his mistress here for four fun filled hours, drive his tinted windowed car right into a garage, put the door down, and get into the room without being seen by anyone at all except for Security. I bet some guys rent them by the month.
This place had a bar and a restaurant and room service as well as privacy and very big porn. I did find some regular cable channels and was able to watch a movie in Enlgish. But in all there were four different porn channels.
I wish I were rich so I could build one of these motels here. I love the concept of them. Bring on the private eyes and paparazzi. They'll never get pics in this place! And if Lindsey Lohan wants to tear up the place, the security gate won't let you out until a maid has checked your room. And the cost for damages are listed on the door and they are not cheap.
I was coming back from Mazatlan and wanted to spend the night in Culiacan. I was following the highway signs through the city and managed to get lost anyway. When I found my way back to Hwy 15, I had to go to the potty really badly. And keep in mind that being without water for almost a week, I was pretty filthy as well. I was desperate to poop, to shower, and to sleep in a bed rather than on a yoga mat. After I get headed in the right direction I found no hotels until I was actually headed out of town. Then I saw a motel sign on the right and three in a row on the left. They all looked quite fancy from the road and were behind a huge wall. The wall was decorated with the name of the motel, tall palms with lights on them, a seperate entrance and exit. They just had different names and colors.
I turn my car around and pull into the first one. It's still a little bit light outside. I can see that these have garage doors, some closed and some open. No obvious office or even signs to an office. So I keep driving done a row of rooms with garages and then the road curved around andcame back the other direction and was also lined with rooms with garages and then meandered on out back to the highway. No office. How odd I thought. Maybe "motel" means condo in Culiacan. I know in other cities in Mexico it's the same as the US, a place where travelers can rent a room and drive up to the door of the room and unload the car.
I pull into the next motel. Same thing. Now it's getting dark. No one around. No office. Path leads me back to the highway.
I pull into the third motel. This time a security officer with a head set walks up to my car and I roll down the window. He asks me if I have a reservation and I say no. Where's the office. He looks at me oddly and says, "Do you have an invitation?" I say no, where's the office? He tells me, rather shortly, that there is no office. "This is a MOtel, not a HOtel." I'm too tired to argue with him about what a motel is and just leave. Later I find a hotel and get my nice long shower and clean sheets.
Next night. I decide to stop in Hermosillo rather than hit the border in the middle of the night. Once again I stay on the highway through town and don't see many hotels. Finally I see a sign that says "hotel zone" and an arrow which is the direction I'm going. Yay! I drive by them giving them a look-see and then I see one of those closed and private "MOtels" but this one had a sign out front that said $200 (pesos) which is very cheap for a motel room. So I think, what the heck, and give it a try. This time a young woman comes up to my car. She's also wearing a headset. She looks over my car and sees that I'm a traveler. I tell her that I'd like a room for the night. She smiles and says that it will be $310 and I tell her the sign says $200 and she says, "That is for four hours. For the whle night the rate is $310." That's about $25 USD so I say OK and she says go to #118 and I ask for a key and she says, there isn't one; but that I'd find it open. I pay her skeptically I drive on around the bend.
Sure enough, the garage door is open for #118 and I drive in. Then I see the door to the room is from the garage and I push the button that closes the garage door. I get my luggage and go into one of the most beautiful rooms I have ever stayed in. There is a big kingsized bed there with a beautiful bedspread. The room is carpeted which is very unusual in Mexico. There are two big leather chairs at a round table. There is a big dresser and above the largest television I have ever seen in a hotel room with a dvd player attached and two remote controls. There are ash trays $200 USD hotel room for $25!! I lucked out!"
I turn on the TV and this giant TV suddenly has porn on it. I remember that they also rent in four hours blocks. Hmmmmmm. I go to the windows and there is no door out of the room except through te garage. What a marvelous concept. The ultimate in privacy. Some executive can take his mistress here for four fun filled hours, drive his tinted windowed car right into a garage, put the door down, and get into the room without being seen by anyone at all except for Security. I bet some guys rent them by the month.
This place had a bar and a restaurant and room service as well as privacy and very big porn. I did find some regular cable channels and was able to watch a movie in Enlgish. But in all there were four different porn channels.
I wish I were rich so I could build one of these motels here. I love the concept of them. Bring on the private eyes and paparazzi. They'll never get pics in this place! And if Lindsey Lohan wants to tear up the place, the security gate won't let you out until a maid has checked your room. And the cost for damages are listed on the door and they are not cheap.