I read many reviews about Hotel Catedral on this site and also on the Hotel Catedral site, before booking my stay there earlier this year.

We were at this hotel for 3 nights at our arrival at Mexico city at the end of january 2006 and also 2 nights 2 weeks later. We found Hotel Catedral to be a great little hotel for all the reasons cited in other reviews. As mentionned on others reviews, ask for a room on a high floor on the interior, and you'll be shielded from noise. There are two balconies on the 7th floor for overlooking the Catedral area and the city, also a great place to have a drink or just watch the sun set of this area. The hotel also offer a very good exchange rate for your money (US or Euros), better than at the bank or the airport. The restaurant and the bar were excellently priced and the food very tasty.

I very highly recommend this hotel to anyone. I will definately stay there again, if I return.

We heard of this small clean hotel from friends in Canada and were very pleased with its proximity to the entire historic area. We were just a block from the Zocalo (main square)and Cathedral, the Templo Major, and many other highlights. The front street is filled with flea market vendors so it was not possible in the mid afternoon to drive the taxi to the front entrance. We changed rooms twice on our arrival and ended up with a nice, quiet room. Very reasonably priced and a 10% discount if paying cash so we'd certainly return.

Great location, whether you are arriving by taxi, metro or on foot- it's right next to all the tourist action! Spotlessly clean, white towels, soap, drinking water on tap, helpful reception staff, a buzzy, busy vibe, safe deposit boxes and restaurant/bar on site (with ultra-frindly staff). There is a 7-11 two blocks away, for those who arrive late, and lots of breakfast places close by. I agree that it's a total osais of calm after the craziness that is the centro historico. For new arrivals in Mexico, it's a nice gentle way to ease yourself in!

We stayed for four nights at the beginning of our trip, and another night at the end, and can't complain about a thing. The Catedral is surprisingly cheap (with a 10% discount for paying in cash), extremely convenient (a minute or two's walk from the Cathedral, Templo Mayor, and National Palace, among other Centro Historico highlights) and friendly. We had a fifth-floor room facing Donceles (away from the Cathedral), with a balcony and a great view of the charming cobblestoned street, and then a second-floor room, and while the higher room was better, they were both nice enough, especially for less than US $50. The second floor room didn't have purified water on tap, but bottled water was provided. Our room on the fifth floor at the back wasn't loud.

While (as other travellers have noted) the Centro Historico is pretty deserted at night (although we happened upon a fun, if smoky little 80s-gothic-industrial club night a block and a half away, on the top floor of a computer school, one Friday night, if you're interested in dancing) we never felt unsafe walking around, even quite late. We also heard from hotel employees, cab drivers, and others that the last mayor of Mexico City has made great improvements to public safety. But, as with other hotels, the staff is happy to call you a car if you're feeling uneasy. They use the most expensive, unmarked 'turismo' cabs, but they're very convenient, and by US city standards the fares aren't unreasonable -- around $100 (US $10) for a trip across town to Condesa, for example, or $140 (US $14) to the airport.

The restaurant offers the best breakfast in the neighborhood -- the food is even better, in our experience, than the highly touted Casa de Las Sirenas around the corner, although without the same spectacular view.

There are at least three Metro stations within easy walking distance, so you can get anywhere in town for a paltry 2 pesos (US $0.20). In terms of cleanliness, ease of use, and frequency, the subway's one of the best I've ever used, although it can get crowded.

I can think of only two big reasons to avoid this hotel: if you want to be within walking distance to nightlife (try Condesa for that, or the Zona Rosa), or don't like crowds. Although abandoned at night, the neighborhood is EXTREMELY bustling during the day, when Calle Donceles and the other streets just off the Zocalo become a colorful, chaotic, jam-packed street market. I loved it, but cab drivers and the claustrophobic aren't so fond.