REVIEW | Hotel Carlota in Mexico City

June 2022. Although I have been in Mexico before, the last time was in 1994-1995. Twenty-seven years later, Oriol and I are doing a classic tour of the United Mexican States, featuring Mexico City (CDMX); Palenque in Chiapas; Villahermosa in Tabasco; Uxmal, Mérida, Chichen Itza, Ek’ Balam, Valladolid, and a few cenotes (waterholes) in Yucatán and Tulum in Quintana Roo. We returned via Cancún to CDMX and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

Nicolas and Karl recommended Hotel Carlota in CDMX. Located in Río Amazonas in the Cuahtémoc neighbourhood, this affordable boutique hotel has a beach bar vibe.

It is named after Empress Carlota of Mexico, née princess Charlotte of Belgium. A connection I found to be an extra quirk.

Reception and general impression

Although the receptionist wasn’t unfriendly, she wasn’t particularly warm. Alberto, the ever-present manager, fixer or whatever his function is at the hotel, was much more friendly.

With a brutalist, concrete look, mixed with warm wood, Hotel Carlota certainly fits the label boutique hotel. The rooms are located around the long but narrow pool area and adjacent to bar-restaurant Casa Kun.

The barely used library features portraits of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, né archduke Maximilian of Austria and of Carlota.

The elevator is interesting. It is more a monte-charge and must be operated by an attendant

The pool is nice, very nice. You must not mind swimming next to eating people. But the water is really warm.

There is no gym.

The room

The room has an unusual lay-out. There’s no vestibule or corridor. You immediately see the bed. The bathroom featuring shower and toilet is on your left. But the sink is seperate, in the room.

Toiletries are by L’Occitane.

There is a desk, a wardrobe and a few drawers. There are a few power outlets with USB ports. No tea and coffee making facilities.

The room fits the general vibe of an industrial feel, with a concrete floor.

It is a nice room, with a few drawbacks. Noise isolation is almost non-existant. The ‘beach bar’ downstairs makes noise into the wee hours.

The warm water wasn’t really warm, but not cold. Annoying for a shave. The warm water was also brown on one day. Shaving was not easy, with the mirror being not great and as often in hotels, bad lighting. Wifi wasn’t great when there were many people.

Breakfast

Breakfast is provided by Casa Kun. The breakfast hours – 8 AM to 12.30 PM – indicate the hotel caters to party people. Not practical when you have a day trip or a flight before noon.

There’s no buffet. Included in the – uhm – included breakfast is tea or coffee, a juice or plate of fruits and one main item from the extensive menu. Not a lot, but it’s okay. They don’t have hot chocolate and they don’t have green tea. Which is odd.

So?

Hotel Carlota is a nice hotel. Make no mistake. But some quirks are a bit off-putting. The late breakfast, irregular towel service, not automatically restocking soap and shampoo. Loud music from the bar. Allthough it was oddly quiet on Saturday night.

Another oddity was working with the key cards. Somehow, the key-card-socket-for-power-in-the-room device kept deactivating our key cards. So we played with three of them.

It is a bit hard to ‘grasp’ Hotel Carlota. Yet, I would recommend it to people who like such beach club vibes. I’m critical in this review, yet I liked staying there.