a night at the Plaza

We are just back home from a night spent in Tecomán at the Hotel Plaza, a very attractive place known mostly for its buffet breakfasts.  This was not romantic little get-away but instead the means to an end.  Here's the story.

THE PROBLEM:  A week ago Thursday we showed up at the Nissan dealership in Tecománat 10 AM for car service for which we had made an appointment.  We had planned to go to breakfast at the Plaza while waiting. To our chagrin, there were 14 cars ahead of us and we would not have gotten to the front of the line until late in the afternoon.  Se we said, "No gracias" and made a new appointment for 8:15 AM today.  We were told it would take about 4 hours for the complete service.  New car, need to check everything, etc.  Ok, now what?  Here's an idea:  let's stay overnight in a hotel and show up at the dealership at 7:30 at wait until it opens.  Then we can go back to the hotel, have a leisurely breakfast and hang out in the room until check-out time at noon.  I made a reservation at the Hotel Plaza for one night.   Done!  Problem solved.

THE SOLUTION:  The hotel is on a lateral road off the main drag in Tecomán.  It has lovely, lush grounds, very well-maintained buildings, is sparkling clean, quiet, very inexpensive ($37.50 for our room).  It has a nice swimming pool area with lots of chairs and tables and shade, plenty of paved parking.  The rooms are very basic but clean and comfortable.  TV, air conditioning, WiFi, etc.  We decided to go to dinner at a place called Torito Pillin (Rascally Little Bull) but alas, for some unknown reason it was closed.  There was another place we looked for but couldn't locate, so we went to a seafood restaurant we had seen over the years but never tried.  (AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Ms. Neighbor Nelson, if you are reading this, it's the place where you get the fish soup.  We did NOT order it.  Enough said.)  Food was good, location is a bit noisy.  After returning to the hotel we went over to the restaurant/bar for a drink to cap off the evening. It was 6:45 and the place was deserted.  First we asked about a glass of wine.  Yes, they had wine, Padre Kino brand.  Padre Kino can be used to remove stains from carpeting or dissolve fingernail polish, so so it is rumored, so we demurred.  Ok, now about a margarita?  After all, this is Mexico.  Pretty soon a waiter came to the table and said they couldn't make a margarita.  This is not good news in a bar in a nice hotel in Mexico.  But the beer was icy cold land very refreshing and so we capped a nice evening with a nice bottle of Victoria.  Back in the room, I discovered there was something amiss with the top sheet on the bed.  It was way too short.  Thorough inspection showed it was a double sheet laid sideways on a king sized bed.  Once we sorted it all out by untucking it from the mattress at the bottom, we were ready for a good night's sleep.  And we got one.  This morning we left the hotel at 7:15 and pulled up to the service entrance at 7:30.  The doors went up about 7:45 and we pulled in, first in line.  The very delightful service manager, Pable, greeted us by 8:10, prepared all the paperwork, inspected the car, shook our heads several times, put us into a courtesy car driven by Juan and we were back at the hotel by 8:30.  He said the car would be ready by noon.  Breakfast was excellent, although no longer a buffet but the menu is extensive, the service excellent, even the coffee, frequently Nescafe, was brewed and very strong and flavorful.

view out of the dining room

view into the dining room from across the pond

We went back to the room and read for a couple of hours, then Mr. C walked over to the car dealer to check the progress.  I stayed behind to guard the goods.  Navigating the streets in this part of Tecomán is tricky.  There are NO crossings for pedestrians along this route for many blocks.  If you want to get to the other side you just have to hope there's a break in traffic both ways and make a mad dash.  Fortunately it all worked out  The car was ready, he was back at the hotel by noon and we were home by 12:45 in time to catch the Met's first radio production of the new season, Verdi's "Requjium".

We have to do this all over again the end of January in order to keep the warranty on the car alive and well.  It has to be serviced twice a year.  Although we can certainly show up at 7:30 from home, then what to we do?  We will probably do the hotel routine again.  But I'll know to bring my own pre-mixed margaritas, my own reading lamp (what do hotels have against reading lamps?  That's always been a mystery to me.), and my own bath mat ~floor was very slippery.

Next up is to find the aluminum/window screen guy so we can redo everything in the house.  Rust never sleeps.