Budget Travel : First Things First... Where to stay on a budget in Mexico city.

Suprisingly - staying in the city on a budget does not mean that you have to stay far out of town. Many cheap hotels and hostels are located close to the touristic sites and the downtown Reforma Area. Unless you are lucky enough to have a friend in Mexico City that can give you a place to stay - here are some good options when you don´t have a lot of cash to spend!

• Hostel Mexico City, Republica de Brasil No. 8. Mexico City Hostel offers economic, comfortable accomodation for the backpacker or budget traveller during a backpacking trip to Mexico, they offer both private rooms and comfortable dormitory style accomodation.Located very close to the Zócalo in the Historic Center of Mexico City. For 120 pesos you get breakfast, free internet and one bed in dorms.
  

• Hotel Tuxpan, near intersection of Republica de Brasil and Republica de Colombia in the Historic Centre. Great, cheap hotel that is a few blocks away from the zocalo. Foreigners usually don't venture over here but it doesn't seem dangerous at all. For 110 pesos you can get your own room with cable TV!

• Hotel Habana, Rep De Cuba No. 77, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, CP. 06010, 5555181591. The Hotel Habana in the Calle República de Cuba has well-appointed rooms for a good price.

• Hotel Rio de Janeiro, Republica de Brasil, near intersection of Republica de Colombia. Decent rooms and a good location near the zocalo. You can get a room with a TV and a shared bathroom for 70 pesos for a single person...90 for two.

If you are on a low-budget, you can find hotels as low as $7 USD if you take a room with a shared bathroom. Most are centred in the Centro Historico and are very decent.

The cheap hotels are not listed on the internet and many foreigners jump into the hostels for a much worse value than the low budget hotels. The hostels are a good place to meet people but you should only stay there if you dont mind noise, complete lack of privacy, sharing a bedroom with people who will be coming and going at all hours of the night, and a sometimes dirty restrooms and showering facilites. There are plenty of other places to meet people besides hostels so be sure to look around before deciding to stay at one just because it has a sign in English or offers a low price.

There is a medium sized hotel located close to Reforma that i will also be writing about which offers a double bed and a clean private bathroom/shower for around $320 Mexican pesos per night ( around 30 US Dollars, 15 British Pounds) and would be a good alternative for anyone wishing to stay closer to the zona rosa or have slightly more security/privacy. Rooms include a TV and radio and are in an ideal location for anyone wishing to stay in the living party area. Contact us for further details or look out for an upcoming post.