Casa Mexicana Question

[deepsea21]

With money back?

Should get $ back. Suites Bahia is $45 a night right now with tax included. However, similar to the CM that is probably for their non-water front rooms. Prices there depend on the room location just as they do at the CM City View/ Ocean Ocean View rooms. I agree with you though, if the CM's breakfast buffet is history it's just another hotel. What sold us on it and most everyone else for years was that crazy good breakfast buffet (although you were entitled to the buffet for free even if you stayed at one of the 2 sister hotels but having it an elevator ride or staircase walk down was so convenient. Coffee and pre-packaged Danish or donuts isn't gonna cut it. They'll definately have to drop the price at the CM and the sister hotels if that buffet is gone. And they may just do it in time. I remember staying at the CM there during the Great Recession in a city view room for $27 a night tax included and the buffet was open despite the hotel being about empty. At that price it made no sense to stay home.

 

[gopbroek]

What is a la carte "mini"? Is it hot food? Is it rationed? Is it served promptly?

As I remember hearing was that you ordered from a limited menu but this is second hand If the Bahia is opened the good news is that there is currently a 10PM curfew so the Thirsty Cougar may shut down at a decent hour so you can sleep.

 

[ReefHound]

If I can order a hot breakfast - eggs, meat, potatoes, etc. - and have it within 5-10 minutes and get more if I want, then I'm ok with that.

Prices will vary by demand and room but there seems to be a wider range for CM. I've seen rooms for $60 in September and $120 around Carnival. Bahia is a tighter range but typically $30-40/nt less. Between that and losing the buffet breakfast, it is not remotely an even swap.

 

[Christi]

Neither Bahia or Casa Mexicana are open yet - only Suites Colonial. Todd, the buffet issue isn't just in Cozumel and it's not a hotel decision - buffets are gone everywhere right now. In the treatment center where I work, we cannot even have a salad bar for the patients - kitchen staff has to serve all food.

 

[ReefHound]

Didn't mean to suggest it was CM-specific or Coz-specific but I still think it's a knee-jerk reaction unsupported by data. The biggest threat from buffets is poor food handling/prep and inadequate warming temps by some places.

 

[deepsea21]

Didn't mean to suggest it was CM-specific or Coz-specific but I still think it's a knee-jerk reaction unsupported by data. The biggest threat from buffets is poor food handling/prep and inadequate warming temps by some places.

Seems to me this could be solved with gallon squirt bottles of hand sanitizer placed at the beginning and end of the buffet, maintaining social distancing and wearing a mask until seated with their food. What causes concern is probably that everyone's hands are touching the same serving utensils and how people tend to crowd buffets. People wipe down the handles of shopping carts that are touched by 100's of people every day. If everyone used hand sanitizer before touching a shopping cart or a serving utensil they wouldn't get contaminated in the first place. I personally always grab a shopping cart from the parking lot that has been baking in the sun and then sanitize the handle and my hands when I enter the grocery store. "Under levels of simulated sunlight representative of midday on the summer solstice at 40oN latitude, 90% of the infectious virus is inactivated every 6.8 minutes. For simulated sunlight representative of the winter solstice at 40oN latitude, 90% of the infectious virus is inactivated every 14.3 minutes."

 

[AdivingBel]

IDK, an area designed to be gathered around condusive to good natured chatting with lots of airborne particles floating around possibly landing on things (sneeze guard or no) soon to be ingested by others...I'm sure there's not been a double blind study, but as far as knee jerk reactions, this one doesn't seem to be too far off the reservation. I enjoy a good all-you-can-eat buffet as much as the next person, but I can live without them until we have things a bit more under control. Small potatoes (or hash browns ). All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[ReefHound]

IDK, an area designed to be gathered around condusive to good natured chatting with lots of airborne particles floating around possibly landing on things (sneeze guard or no) soon to be ingested by others...I'm sure there's not been a double blind study, but as far as knee jerk reactions, this one doesn't seem to be too far off the reservation. I enjoy a good all-you-can-eat buffet as much as the next person, but I can live without them until we have things a bit more under control. Small potatoes (or hash browns ). All IMHO, YMMV.

By that standard then the dining room shouldn't be open at all, even to a la carte.

 

[scrane]

I hope Casa Mexicana has taken advantage of the slowdown to finally fix that darned escalator.

 

[gopbroek]

Didn't mean to suggest it was CM-specific or Coz-specific but I still think it's a knee-jerk reaction unsupported by data. The biggest threat from buffets is poor food handling/prep and inadequate warming temps by some places.

Regardless of location I believe the greatest danger of a buffet is recycling due to low occupancy or slow business. If it doesn't get eaten on this round often it reappears (or is reconstituted) on the next meal. How often do you think the Golden Corral does a complete re-boot on the chocolate fountain?