Chaya B&B Boutique
My decision to go ahead and take the trip was influenced in part by the strict cancelation policy of the hotel I had booked — I would have been required to pay the full cost of my stay if I did not cancel prior to 72 hours before I was due to check in — which may be the dumbest reason I’ve ever cited for doing anything. When economists calculate the cost of a human life, I’m hopeful they think bigger than I did.
So, if you want to call me an idiot — not just for putting myself at risk, but for putting others at risk as well — you will get no argument from me. I am a f*cking idiot.
With that said, I’m happy to report that the hotel, the Chaya B&B Boutique, was pretty great, strict cancelation policy nothwithstanding.
(I stayed at a new-ish hotel in Santa Monica in February that SUCKED and about which I was going to write a scathing post before the shit hit the fan, but — while I may be an idiot — I’m not an asshole and I’m not going to trash a business that may not survive the pandemic.)
What’s so great about the Chaya?
The staff is super gracious and helpful — including the shot of mezcal they gave me to calm me the f*ck down after Trump announced the European travel ban and sent me into a tailspin of terror about never being able to return to my home. I wish I knew the name of the young man who was working the night I checked in; I never saw him again during my stay, but he was particularly kind. (Maybe he was an angel.)
My room — the Master Suite — was exceptionally beautiful (and enormous), but the rooms overall are super comfortable and pretty. (One note, the Master Suite has soundproof windows, but my traveling companion’s room did not and she was awakened — or kept awake — more than once by street noise. So, ask for a quieter room when you book.)
While I can’t claim to fully grasp Mexico City’s layout and neighborhoods, the Chaya’s location worked out well for us, both in regard to what was immediately available outside the hotel’s front door — park, museum, market, subway stop — and the ability, in most cases, to walk to where we wanted to go, which turned out to be primarily restaurants in the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods.
(Getting around by Uber is astoundingly inexpensive, but I am a walker. We took an Uber to get to and from the Frida Kahlo museum and to the airport at the end of our stay.)
The extra perks are plentiful: free wifi that works; a real breakfast in the morning; super yummy coffee in your room; an evening happy hour, a great outdoor area with seating and hammocks; inexpensive laundry service; and travel books, film cameras, and bikes that you can borrow.
If you do end up booking the Chaya when you are again free to leave your homes and travel to Mexico City, here are a few additional tips to consider:
Don’t pay for the ride they offer to or from the airport unless you’re coming in super late or you are a woman traveling alone and have concerns about your safety. The cost was literally 5x the cost of an Uber for the same trip.
You need to walk up four (short) flights of stairs to get to the hotel entrance, so the Chaya is clearly not for people who are in any way disabled.
The hotel’s Booking.com listing suggests that you need to pay extra for your room to be cleaned; this is not true.
The hotel website does not indicate this, but the rooms do have hair dryers, so if you’re a slave to your hair dryer like I am, you can leave it at home.
I was basically a neurotic mess while I was in Mexico City (or CDMX if you’re a cool kid), so I didn’t have the kind of trip I would have had if things had been different, but I’m looking forward to going back — and booking the Chaya — presuming, of course, the world does not end.
Cross your fingers.
My Stay: March 11-15, 2020