Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

In 2002, the old Freeman was reborn as the historic district experienced a renaissance. The round windows allow it to claim a sort of art-deco image, and the rooftop pool bar is an icon of the lifestyle of Olas Altas cove...which WAS Mazatlan back when Lee Marvin, John Wayne, and Jane Fonda romped there.

The painstaking restoration gave the new version the look and feel of modern hotel convenience with a touch of the old days: the old design and colors have been retained: the cheerful blue/white/yellow tile, the lobby dome, even the pattern of the carpet. Glass cases in the lobby display artifacts from the old days: a bronze DC3 clock, blue logo plates, invitations for Carnival and rooftop concerts...subtle accents from a period art that recalls the Cunard Line, PanAmerican Clipper, and Ford Trimotors.

What stands now is solid comfort and service: efficient, clean living just steps away from the museums, clubs, opera house, and narrow old streets of the Historic Downtown. And, of course, the view: a commanding, 360 view of the territory, the downtown, and the wide sweep of ocean. Porches on the West side of the building hang dramatically over the beach, and the continual play of backlit water against rock.

Rates run from around $75 USD for a small but comfy singles with king bed, cable TV, coffee maker, strongbox, air-conditioner, private balcony and enough drawers and closet space for a change, to $130 for a suite with kitchenette, sitting room, and sea view deck. It's not the typical Mexican resort hotel and caters more to Mexican business and tourism than foreigners (though English is spoken). The beach is not just out the door, it's across from a real boardwalk where real residents congregate on the seawall to fish, party, and neck. The beach is there, but secondary to the Mexican city that edges up to it. This isn't exotic third world adventure, but neither is it exactly the Holiday Inn.

There is a "business center" offering free computer/internet use, and room rates include a free buffet breakfast in the lobby café where tables overlook the street and sur (and the bacon&eggs and beans&chiles are served from spherical stainless chafing dishes--more of that Titanic-class decor). But the real payoff is up on the ninth floor, where a spacious bar and rooftop pool with lounging deck offer a killer wraparound view. The pool is small, but just leaning up on the edge of it gives you the picture of the downtown layout, the surrounding hills and lighthouse, and a big bright chunk of horizon. Looking down at flying pelicans gives a feeling that is hard to describe, but all roof visitors mention it. During the summer electrical storms the roof pool is one of the world's most exciting places to have a drink.

Click here for WEBSITE

Read Less

On weekends, especially Saturday when the Artizans Bazaar is across the street and fire dancers perform in front of the tables, this is a good place to see a lot of good-looking young women and some interesting guys into dance and music. Listen inside, or out at the sidewalk tables. Wednesday nights they show movies on a projection screen inside.

Open 9am-1am Sunday-Thursday, 9am-2am on weekends. Movie club Wednesdays at 8pm. For schedule and menu check the Internet at this site.

A main anchor of the historic zone's rebirth, P&L pleases aesthetics as well as palettes. Across from the cultural heart and famous theater it's a natural "afterwards" where the artists themselves are entertained. It´s romantic-- sitting at sidewalk tables with flaming drinks and dishes flambed at your table. It's a legitimate musical center with live music every night in the winter season, including dinner jazz by Jock when he's not playing in Antibe. Luxury fare here, but always save room for their famous banana pie. Check their website where you can also make email reservations.

The old Fregata, a gigantic palm-thatch watering hole right across from the water on Olas Altas, went from the embodiment of Mexico to the local capital of Canada when pianist Phil Nevile moved in and turned it into a showcase for the best rock and blues band in the city. It's the spot to be on Canada Day, but all nationalities find the food good, the music fantastic, and the view splendid.

The seafood tradition continues even under the Maple Leaf, but the new chef also does a great job with Mexican food and North American chow. (Is there such a thing as Canadian cuisine?) Sunday is a good time for barbecued-rib specials and romantic Mexican music by top local groups. But Friday and Saturday are when the place really rocks, with Phil's great quintet pouring out rock, R&B, blues and Santana stuff. One of the more professional sound systems in town, and some of the top musicians.

In addition to the music, we really recommend the chicken cordon bleu, seafood platter, or even just the quesadillas. In addition to the main dining room, a huge tropical seaside space, there are smaller, more intimate spaces out back with a view of the cliffs and jungle trees. If you want a nice place to dine by the breakers and watch the locals parade by...or want to dance your butt off on the weekend, just say, "Canucks, eh?" 10-10 on Sundays and Tuesday-Thursday. Until 1am on weekends, closed Mondays. See their WEBSITE

Read Less

Bar service from 10am to midnight Monday to Saturday. There is no phone, and the courtyard occasionally closes due to club events--but it's only steps away from Olas Altas, so you won't have to go thirsty.

LOCAL RESOURCES

RADIO FREE MAZATLAN

The top local website, with message forum for questions.

MAZTRAVEL

Mazatlán's best visitor site

NOROESTE

Major local newspaper (in Spanish)

Carnaval in Mazatlán

Including schedule of events

Mazatlán On Line

General info.

All About Mazatlán

Read all about it...

Official Page of Municipio de Maztlán

(In Spanish)

Mazatlán Area MAPS

To print or download

Local TIDE TABLES

Courtesy of Pacific Pearl

Mazatlán WEATHER

Very complete and accurate

26&Mes=6&Ano=2002" TARGET="_new">Local WEATHER MAP

Spanish, Temperature in Celsius

FERRY SCHEDULES and information

From Maz to La Paz by water!

CURRENCY CONVERTER

Dollars to Pesos, etc.

Maztlán Reading Library

In Olas Altas area

Centro de Idiomas

Learn Spanish downtown

Earth View

See Mazatlán from space!

FUN, GAMES AND CULTURE

Carnaval in Mazatlán

Including schedule of events

Jose Limón International Dance Festival

Spanish, but includes schedule of Festival

Mazatlán Film Festival

English language page

MOVIE SCHEDULES

Cinepolis Theaters

Cinemas Gaviotas

MM Cinemas

Events at Angela Peralta Theater

The Theater's own website

Schedule of Civic Events

Marathon, baseball, arts festivals, theater...

Sand Castle Contest

Dig and delve with "Don Beto"

Municipal Center for Cinemagraphic Arts

Spanish, but has schedule for free film series

Diving and Water Sports

Hudson Snorkeling Tours

One of the better operators

Hudson Spearfishing Tours

Freedive spear hunting.

Mazatlan has a great many charms, but to many the main ones its relative close access by highway and its low costs. Everything seems cheaper in Mazatlan, especially to travelers used to prices in the Baja and border areas. And it has so many nice, inexpensive hotel rooms that they never fill up except during Semana Santa and Carnival, so car travelers have an excellent chance of finding rooms with no reservations. Better yet, unlike hotels in places like Cancun, these hotels have parking lots and accommodate drivers. Most fly-in package-deal visitors to Mazatlan end up in the "Golden Zone" strand of high-rise hotels directly on the beach. Golden Zone rooms tend to start at around $90 a night and head up steeply.

But between the Zone and the downtown is Avenida Del Mar, a curving street four miles long with a broad seaside promenade studded with statues, steps to the sand, and small surfside seafood shacks. It’s along this stretch, called the Malecón, that you are likely to find bargain lodging without giving up comfort or ocean views. Malecón hotels might require you to cross the street to hit the beach, but they also offer access to cheaper dining and relief from the tourist trap atmosphere of the Zone. Access to the Zone or downtown is cheap and quick: "Sabalo-Centro" buses pass directly in front. Besides, car travelers can use their hotel pool as a base, while driving to nicer beaches and villages in the outskirts.

Taking the Malecón hotels from north to south, the first is Bungalos Dany, directly across from Valentino’s, the white "Disney Castle" that sticks out into the ocean and marks the beginning of the Golden Zone. It’s a motel-style layout with a secure parking lot and a small pool out front. Rooms for one or two people run around 360 pesos on the beach side, 300 in the back. At the current exchange rate of 9.20 Pesos to a dollar that amounts to $32 and up. For 480 pesos (around $52) you get a suite with kitchenette. The shops, restaurants, and discos of the Golden Zone are just a short walk . . . and there’s even a McDonalds across the street!

Suites Los Fuentes is an odd duck, but could be a great deal. It can’t quite decide if it’s a hotel or an apartment building, and you can rent here for day, month, week, or the duration. A suite with two bedrooms costs 390 pesos for one or two people (kids are free here . . . so that would also be $42 for the whole family) and include kitchen and parking. The Los Fuentes is situated in a commercial complex that includes a cocktail lounge that is only open at night, and a sushi bar.

The Sands/Arenas may have a bilingually confused identity, but is very popular with Mexican families and excursion groups, probably because they are efficient, pleasant, clean, and friendly. Their double rooms run around 450 pesos, $48 at the moment, and include telephone, cable TV (meaning channels in English), and even air-conditioning. Their lobby restaurant is very nicely set off with stained glass and marble floors. But the most fun is outdoors, where a decent-sized pool surrounded by a large apron with dining shelters is always full of kids having fun. There’s a waterslide and even a jacuzzi. Abutting the pool is a fountain that sports bronze statues of dolphins leaping out of the water in front of a smiling statue of Jesus. Walls and hedges cut street noise to the point you can't hear it over the kids.

The Acuario is pretty much a generic motel, on the downside of "lived-in" but not quite "shabby". No frills for 250 pesos single or double. (By the way, for the real bargain freaks who don’t mind a purely Mexican hotel, there is also the Perla, a block back from the Avenue. Rooms here start at under $15 and run up to around $25 with TV and AC. It would have a nice ocean view if only somebody had thought to put in the necessary windows. Anybody comfortable with this level of accommodation and price, by the way, should look in the Playa Norte area (south of the Fisherman’s Monument), where hotels like the Del Rio and Mexico are under $10 a night. Best is the Lerma, commodious, English-speaking, with a large secure parking lot-the best budget hotel in town.

Between the Perla and the Del Sol is the famous, if not ubiquitous, Senor Frogs restaurant and, for the sports-minded, a batting cage where kids or aging ballplayers can step up to four levels of pitching machines. The Del Sol itself is a frequent choice of people who are going to be around awhile, but don’t want the bother of rental contracts, or those who want a place with a few amenities right across from the beach and an easy bus ride to downtown or Golden Zone. The basic room is 380 pesos, but the suite, at a hair over $50 comes with two beds, telephone, cable TV, air-conditioning and a kitchenette.

The PlayaMar is a bit of a bargain for families or people who want to stay awhile. Their rooms start at $350 for a double -- around $38. But that's a room with two beds, a little refrigerator, and a dinette set -- a sort of mini-suite. Rooms have telephones and color TV, and in the back by the parking lot is a very cute pool with a little bridge over it and picnic shelters around the apron. Pool-front rooms are probably better than seafront ones, actually . . . they are quieter, shadier, and give handy access to the pool from their porches.

The last of the Malecón hotels is the Cabinas Al Mar, where a single room is just $200 pesos a night, doubles at $400. So around $20 for a couple. And you can upgrade to an apartment with kitchenette (and all the savings on meals and drinks that come with it) for only $600 a night, around $65. The Cabinas is a humble "efficiency" type place, but has a secure parking lot, and even a teensy pool.

Before the Zone, before the Malecón, was Olas Altas, a curved cove by the historic district, just blocks from downtown and the central market. The two old hotels there are well-known to bargain hunters, who can be seen on their ocean-view patios or body surfing on the beach. When the Belmar was built in 1918, it was the most elegant thing on the coast, but these days it's grandeur is faded and a bit scuffed. It still has the position across from Olas Altas Beach, still has the polished tropical hardwood paneling in the halls, still the huge hardwood front doors and traces of the old wooden artwork. But these days it can seem a little gloomy to some. To others, it's a fun place and a major bargain. Don't worry about the ping-pong room or the old rocking chairs, or the tile pool with its bridge and fountain, don't sweat the creaky elevator or flaky service...just take a sea view double on one of the upper floors, and walk in past the gleaming old hardwood doors and closet. Don't bother with the cable TV or the two comfy beds. Just step out on your balcony and look out over Olas Altas, with the hills and islands flanking the view. Then tell yourself that you are only paying only $28 a night for this. If you insist on two king beds, and a refrigerator take a suite for only $50 and change. Secure parking lot, too.

Two blocks down, the La Siesta is another Mazatlan tradition that has been shuffled aside by "progress". It's better kept and better run than the Belmar, at similar rates. The Siesta gets a mix of young people and older travelers who have been coming back for years. Sometimes these prices get bumped up a bit during high season, and of course the peso fluctuates, but the Malecón and Olas Altas will always be top value in hotel rooms, especially for those arriving by car.

Read Less