What a jewel. After a rather stupid all night flight from Oakland, CA to Merida we were taken to Luz for our 5 day stay in Merida. It was hot, we were tired, and everyone was oh so nice. The place is owned by 2 Americans, one of whom is there a lot (Tom Williams) and staffed during the day by a lovely local woman, Lupita. The inn is very clean and relaxed. If you are looking for a Holiday Inn or a Weston this is not your place to stay. While it is not fancy there is a certain calm charm about the place. We had the "penthouse" which was probably one of the more funky places. Large room, nice bath, queen bed and one single, kitchen with table, roof top patio off the backdoor. Refrigerator was stocked with 2 very nice cold beers, there was good coffee for the coffee maker and one of those large bottled water dispensers. There was a TV but we never turned it on, no phone.
I will ask for another room for our next trip that is closer to the back of the building. EVerything was clean and comfortable with lots of common space outside of your room to enjoy.

This would be a great place to take your posse if you have a group who likes to travel together.

When we arrived we were also greeted by a great group, Brazos Abiertos. This was a group of college students, 3 adults, the MD director and local administrator. They were in Merida for 2 weeks teaching high school kids in the surrounding villages about AIDS/HIV and safe sex. They were using about 2/3rds of the rooms but it was never any negative energy. There is a large communal dinning room were you could find them working on their next days project, checking email etc. I am adding this because 1. it was great to see this happening in our world and 2. it gives you the feel for the place.

More tourist info. The location is perfect for getting to where you want to go in Merida. It is right next to Parque de Santa Lucia where there is always something happening. Also a very easy walk to the Plaza Grande. Close to nice resturants. There is also a tour company just down the block where Lupida assisted us in arranging for a day at the cenotes. Do it.

Of note, there is no hairdryer in the room but they have one you can use. No elevators but there are some ground level rooms. There is free wireless that seemed to work well (we did not take a PC)

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If you love a hotel with local character, lots of ambiance , a great location and a terrific price then book the LUZ . We stayed here twice during our visit to Merida and will stay again. This is a spanish colonial style hotel with a walled front and a central courtyard. The pool is fantastic during the heat of the day or as the evening cools off. There are different styles of rooms all very comfortable- tastefully decorated with varying prices per accommodation style. The rooms have bottled water dispensers, fridges and very comfortable beds. The hotel is located around the corner from the main area of the weekend entertainment. Saturday nights the streets are blocked to traffic and the restaraunts set up in the streets - three or four bands provide entertainment and people dance in the streets and visit. There is often stage entertainment and you can take a horse and buggy ride through the center. There are also a number of theaters and live - concert type entertainment venues that regularly host plays and musical events.
The hotel's owner and the staff are friendly and very helpful and knowlegeable about the area. When shopping check around for prices of things you want to buy - some stores charge twice as much for an item as another. It costa $10 - $12 for a cab ride from the airport - there are rental car agencies right around the corner. We used Veloz car rental - they were efficient, friendly , spoke English and had good cars in excellent condition. we found them to have the best prices which included all insurances. Merida is a great city - clean and friendly - hard to tell it is a city of one million people. Enjoy your stay

The first thing I encountered upon entering Luz en Yucatan was a strong scent of male cat spray that lasted thru the first two entrance rooms (one of which walks you past a glass wall overlooking what must be a patio, but looks more like a disorganized storage area with a few haphazard plants.

The second room when entering (where the glass wall is located) begins the entry into what turns out to be a beautiful renovation of a colonial building. There is a seating area here that opens up to a "communal" large dining table, a hallway with more pleasant seating options and the hotel office. There is a communal kitchen that is bleak and stocked with items belonging to various tenants/guests.

After the itnroduction via cat spray, I was not thrilled to be there.
I was led to my room which was up a set of outdoor plain cement stairs with no railing as I recall (and overlooking the sad patio).
Upon opening the door of my room, a very strong odor of mold came wafting out and I must admit it was hard to like the room given the 2 unpleasant olfactory introductions. The pool looked fine, however, the wall behind it was a drab multi-cement colored blurr (paint it?)

After having dinner at a restaurant and returning, my room seemed more comfortable than previously assessed. Air conditioning seemed to either help the mold or else I was used to it by them. After settling in, the room actually was cozy in a first-college apartment kind of way. It was huge, had 2 queen beds, a hammock, a chair, a little table and 2 chairs (both worn, sort of Salvation Army items) and a small kitchen w/similar Salvation Army bits and pieces of kitchenware, coffee pot & some coffee in a plastic bag in the freezer (which made the ice taste like coffee) - this was a studio apartment. The bathroom was small and the shower did not have sufficient force. Quite early in the morning someone nearby flushed a toilet and it sounded like a bomb landed in my room.

Aside from this, a fuse blew in the middle of the night and I had no electricity when I woke up wanting a drink, it also became unbearable hot, since there was no air conditioning for most of the night (after an over-100 degree day). They resolved this by replacing a fuse first thing in the morning.

Luz needs update the rest of the hotel to reflect the beautiful renovation on the entrance floor, fix the cat (snip snip) and get rid of the mold (other hotels close by do not have a mold smell).

Hardly an oasis, the two good-will beers in the refrigerator were left untouched. I moved to another hotel after one night. I would like to give the hotel a good recommendation, but in all due honesty, I cannot. The hotel was purchased 2 years ago and the new owners apparently have made improvements (like Very comfortable mattresses), apparently, but there is still Much to be done. Once they do work out all of the kinks, this will be a lovely hotel, I am sure of this because the renovations on the entrance floor, that make one wish the room upstairs would be just as nice. I wish them the best in their future efforts to update the hotel.

We spent 10 days in the Yucatan, poking around ruins, and our 2.5 days in Merida were the best. Not only because Merida is not chock full of tourists (it felt like a genuine Mexican city full of regular folk), but also because this hotel was so excellent. The rooms were spacious and well appointed, the poolside area was immensely enjoyable and peaceful, and the staff and owner were helpful and friendly, yet not over the top. There are two owners, and we spent some time chatting with one of them, who originally hails from Ireland, who was easy to talk to. He also was full of good tips, and we loved the very simple cafe across the street for bkfst and lunch.