Casa Mexicana
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jd950
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Well, the view requires looking over the wall that is the front of the deck area, maybe 4 ft? You can see the sunset, but you have to stand at the wall to see much else. If money is a concern, I would not worry about it. But, I don't spend a lot of time in the room anyway. Too many other fun places to be. By the way, I think the lyrics are actually, Id'' rather die while I'm living..."
They should not move you into a sister property of you book the Casa Mexicana. By the way, ask for one of the higher floors when you book and when you get there. Quieter.
Have a wonderful trip.
They should not move you into a sister property of you book the Casa Mexicana. By the way, ask for one of the higher floors when you book and when you get there. Quieter.
Have a wonderful trip.
Brodydog
Contributor
We stayed in one of the rooms facing the ocean on the 5th floor several years back during October. It was a complete waste of money. It rained the entire week so sitting on the balcony was extremely limited. And as someone mentioned earlier you couldn’t really see the ocean while sitting in a chair. You had to stand up. That defeats the purpose for me.
I had requested a 5th floor room in hopes that the street noise would be lessened. At 3:00 in the morning on Saturday night/Sunday morning there was a motorcycle on Melgar right in front of the hotel that kept reving his engines. It sounded like he was on our balcony.
Would I stay there again? Yes, if my current favorite place was booked. Would I stay in a front ocean facing room again? Never!
I had requested a 5th floor room in hopes that the street noise would be lessened. At 3:00 in the morning on Saturday night/Sunday morning there was a motorcycle on Melgar right in front of the hotel that kept reving his engines. It sounded like he was on our balcony.
Would I stay there again? Yes, if my current favorite place was booked. Would I stay in a front ocean facing room again? Never!
deepsea21
Contributor
I say if it ain't broke don't mess with it! 3P's and a city-view Casa Mexicana room dive-and-stay package booked though Jeanie al the way. However, I don't see any dive op having any issues with you trying out other dive ops during your stay whether or not you booked your accommodations through them... You'll just be paying more per dive if you book fewer than 5 dive trips (which generally gets you the maximum discount).
For the most part, 3P's pricing on Casa Mexicana's rooms matches the best Casa rates I've found on-line searching and shopping and no, booking directly through the Casa will NOT get you the lowest rate. I tried booking once directly asking for a price that matched that I found on a hotel website and management informed me they couldn't match it as they only release so many rooms to the 3rd party booking agents at discounts and keep so many to book directly at higher prices. Sometimes during peak season I've noticed Casa Mexicana availability on booking sites is gone so the only place to find rooms is booking direct at the higher priced rooms they've held for direct booking. I also prefer to let 3P's book my room because the clout they have with the Casa usually gets my general room requests (generally I like the 4th or 5th floor southern facing city view rooms) fulfilled.
There have been some issues reported by people booking through 3rd party sites who "thought" they were booking the Casa and ended up booking a sister hotel - bottom line, if a deal seems way to good to be true for the Casa look very carefully as the site may have confused the Casa with one of its sister hotels (Suites Bahia or Colonial).
With regard to rooms, the best are the delux ocean view rooms on the 5th floor (501, 502, 503 & 504) that offer panoramic views. 501 & 504 are the corner rooms and the best in the place. However, you do pay a premium for ocean view and give up some privacy for the 5th floor delux ocean view rooms as their balconies are not closed off from one another, there is only about a 3' tall wall separating each balcony. I personally wouldn't pay the premium for delux ocean view rooms unless I can request and get one on the 5th floor. Some have commented that the 5th floor city-view rooms that overlook the dining area can be noisy with breakfast being set up and they can but I'm up early as diver anyway. Those rooms offer nice water views out the side of the hotel and what you get in terms of breakfast noise can be offset by the fact that they are under roof so if/when it rains you can be hanging out on the balcony nice and dry when all the other balcony rooms are either getting rained on or wind-driven rain blown into them. During the late summer and early fall "rainy season" those 5th floor rooms overlooking the breakfast area can be really great (especially if diving with an op that doesn't take care of your gear like 3P's does and you do the daily rinse and hang on your balcony thing).
For me personally, I'm sticking with 3P's all the way as I just have no interest in complicating my trips trying out other dive ops that are generally more expensive. If you want to try HP tanks I believe 3P's now has HP 100's you can request. As I generally dive a shallower profile for photography (more light/color) and the extended bottom times that come with a shallower profile an AL80 on air always gets me 60+ minutes but for those who like to hang deeper longer the 100's with Nitrox (if you want to pay for Nitrox) can provide more time.
If you do book a dive-and-stay package with 3P's or another op and only elect to dive a few days with the op you book through while you try out some other ops, as a courtesy I'd offer to pay the entire cost of the accommodations they booked and paid for when you arrive on the island so they aren't carrying that cost until you settle up at the end of your stay. I think that would probably be a nice gesture that eliminates your concern about booking accommodations through the dive op and not diving exclusively with that op. Remember, the more divers who book their accommodations through dive ops improves their standing with all the hotels and resorts they offer packages with which helps us all out when it comes to special requests at those resorts and hotels. It also ensures that those discounted rooms remain available as they will release rooms held for the house at higher prices to accommodate the dive ops and honor the discounted rates they've quoted after the rooms released to the 3rd party booking sites are all gone. I experienced that once playing the wait-and-see game to see if a 3rd party booking site could get cheaper and all of a sudden all the rooms vanished. I emailed Jeanie in a panic wondering if their posted and negotiated rates were still good. She contacted the Casa and a room was released to honor 3P's quoted discounted price. Lesson learned. These days I just book it all through Jeanie and forget about it.
For the most part, 3P's pricing on Casa Mexicana's rooms matches the best Casa rates I've found on-line searching and shopping and no, booking directly through the Casa will NOT get you the lowest rate. I tried booking once directly asking for a price that matched that I found on a hotel website and management informed me they couldn't match it as they only release so many rooms to the 3rd party booking agents at discounts and keep so many to book directly at higher prices. Sometimes during peak season I've noticed Casa Mexicana availability on booking sites is gone so the only place to find rooms is booking direct at the higher priced rooms they've held for direct booking. I also prefer to let 3P's book my room because the clout they have with the Casa usually gets my general room requests (generally I like the 4th or 5th floor southern facing city view rooms) fulfilled.
There have been some issues reported by people booking through 3rd party sites who "thought" they were booking the Casa and ended up booking a sister hotel - bottom line, if a deal seems way to good to be true for the Casa look very carefully as the site may have confused the Casa with one of its sister hotels (Suites Bahia or Colonial).
With regard to rooms, the best are the delux ocean view rooms on the 5th floor (501, 502, 503 & 504) that offer panoramic views. 501 & 504 are the corner rooms and the best in the place. However, you do pay a premium for ocean view and give up some privacy for the 5th floor delux ocean view rooms as their balconies are not closed off from one another, there is only about a 3' tall wall separating each balcony. I personally wouldn't pay the premium for delux ocean view rooms unless I can request and get one on the 5th floor. Some have commented that the 5th floor city-view rooms that overlook the dining area can be noisy with breakfast being set up and they can but I'm up early as diver anyway. Those rooms offer nice water views out the side of the hotel and what you get in terms of breakfast noise can be offset by the fact that they are under roof so if/when it rains you can be hanging out on the balcony nice and dry when all the other balcony rooms are either getting rained on or wind-driven rain blown into them. During the late summer and early fall "rainy season" those 5th floor rooms overlooking the breakfast area can be really great (especially if diving with an op that doesn't take care of your gear like 3P's does and you do the daily rinse and hang on your balcony thing).
For me personally, I'm sticking with 3P's all the way as I just have no interest in complicating my trips trying out other dive ops that are generally more expensive. If you want to try HP tanks I believe 3P's now has HP 100's you can request. As I generally dive a shallower profile for photography (more light/color) and the extended bottom times that come with a shallower profile an AL80 on air always gets me 60+ minutes but for those who like to hang deeper longer the 100's with Nitrox (if you want to pay for Nitrox) can provide more time.
If you do book a dive-and-stay package with 3P's or another op and only elect to dive a few days with the op you book through while you try out some other ops, as a courtesy I'd offer to pay the entire cost of the accommodations they booked and paid for when you arrive on the island so they aren't carrying that cost until you settle up at the end of your stay. I think that would probably be a nice gesture that eliminates your concern about booking accommodations through the dive op and not diving exclusively with that op. Remember, the more divers who book their accommodations through dive ops improves their standing with all the hotels and resorts they offer packages with which helps us all out when it comes to special requests at those resorts and hotels. It also ensures that those discounted rooms remain available as they will release rooms held for the house at higher prices to accommodate the dive ops and honor the discounted rates they've quoted after the rooms released to the 3rd party booking sites are all gone. I experienced that once playing the wait-and-see game to see if a 3rd party booking site could get cheaper and all of a sudden all the rooms vanished. I emailed Jeanie in a panic wondering if their posted and negotiated rates were still good. She contacted the Casa and a room was released to honor 3P's quoted discounted price. Lesson learned. These days I just book it all through Jeanie and forget about it.
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ChrisM
Contributor
Haven't read thru all 6 pages of the vagaries of an ocean view or not (?!) but I've stayed there 3X,and Bahia Suites a couple. First time at Casa Mex we had oceanfront, nice bright rooms, and friend was on the top floor with great views. Next time we were OF but maybe third floor on the end. the huge walls on either side of the balcony blocked basically any view and turned the room into a tomb. Last time we had city view top floor, with a postage size balcony and a very dark room with no natural light.
Yes, I dive most of the morning but still want to have some place to relax in the afternoon. At Casa Mex other than the bed, there wasn't really anyplace to go, other than the chaise lounges overlooking Melgar.
Then I found heaven on earth Blue Angel, all oceanfront, lots of room on the grass or around the pool or in the hammocks to just relax and enjoy a snooze or a margarita or both... It's about a mile from town, so yes to you to walk, but that's a nice way (for me) to burn off a few calories.
Included breakfast is good, restaurant is very good (IMO), and decent shore diving right out front. I dive with Christi's op, btw, they pick up at the BA pier, so the rides to/from the sites are a bit shorter.
I know you weren't asking about different hotels, but just know about other options
Yes, I dive most of the morning but still want to have some place to relax in the afternoon. At Casa Mex other than the bed, there wasn't really anyplace to go, other than the chaise lounges overlooking Melgar.
Then I found heaven on earth Blue Angel, all oceanfront, lots of room on the grass or around the pool or in the hammocks to just relax and enjoy a snooze or a margarita or both... It's about a mile from town, so yes to you to walk, but that's a nice way (for me) to burn off a few calories.
Included breakfast is good, restaurant is very good (IMO), and decent shore diving right out front. I dive with Christi's op, btw, they pick up at the BA pier, so the rides to/from the sites are a bit shorter.
I know you weren't asking about different hotels, but just know about other options
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