When Ruy says "This is your home" he means it!! Everyone has said that Lupita, Wilberth, and Ruy are wonderful and that cannot be said enough. I never thought that the inn keeper mattered, all that mattered was the space. Was I wrong !

However, in addition to these helpful and wonderful people the inn is lovely. My friend and I were in Merida for a week and were completely happy and comfortable. The rooms are clean and attractive. My room#4 was spacious and had a window onto the garden. Breakfast was enjoyable, tasty, and nutritious if a little repetitive. A really nice bonus was having easy (and free) access to the computer in the lobby.

Merida is a beautiful city --be sure to take a bus tour or your car and explore the entire area. You will have all the advantages of being on vacation and the comforts of being well taken care of.

Bette Hollis, San Rafael, CA

Casa Sacnicte

Their web site can be found at www.casasacnicte.com.

The place looks minimal from the front door, but once inside, Casa Sacnicte is like a dream. Beautiful plants, colors, staircase... Wilbur and his son, also Wilbur, his daughter, Lupita, and his son-in-law, Roy, are wonderful hosts, and Wilbur (the elder), Lupita and Roy are fluent in English, having lived a bunch of years in Los Angeles.

I stayed in Room 6, upstairs and in the back, for three nights, to see Merida and go to Dzibilchaltun (definitely worth seeing, and swimming in the cenote) and Progresso (in my opinion, not that exciting). A must-do is to go to Izamal at some point, which is about an hour’s drive away. It´s a slice of heaven.

The Casa is in a quiet, neighbourhood setting that is only four blocks from the bustling, main square, or zocolo – it’s truly the best of both worlds. I was able to park in the lot next to the building (no extra fee).

Note that you will be asked to pay the full amount of your stay (via PayPal) when you make your reservation. And make sure you go, since you won´t get a refund if you cancel (as far as I could tell).

Merida is HOT. Be prepared to sweat, drink water, and put on your walking shoes. You´ll be approached by vendor after vendor, so get used to saying “No, gracias” with a smile, each and every time.

Word on the street is that many shops/vendors at the various market squares and on Calle 60 are Lebanese or Chinese owned. Some locals try to get tourists to avoid these stores, and they ask you to go to the Maya collectives, a couple of which are supposedly on Calle 62, right off the zocolo area. I was never able to verify to my own heart’s content which stores really were Maya collectives and which ones weren’t. The word is, too, that many of the handcrafts at the huge, bustling Merida Mercado are knock-offs and not authentic Maya goods (and perhaps not even produced anywhere in or near Mexico).

There are frequent free cultural and dancing performances in Merida so get a current, free copy of the publication Yucatan Today. You can plan your whole trip with that wonderful little magazine, which includes great maps and helpful tidbits on day trips out of Merida.

We booked Sac Nite for 2 nights and wound up staying for 2 weeks. The B&B is run by Senior Ramirez and his extended family in their grandfather's house.All of family are very congenial and helpful--even to the extent of helping me learn some basic Spanish!.Some members of the family have lived for an extended period in the US ; we had good conversations comparing the two societies. The personal relationship with the family was really the highlight of the stay.
Sac Nite is located about 8-10 blocks south of the square where the local people shop and live ,rather than on the more touristy side of the square. It's very clean with an inside and outside common area. The breakfasts are great with fresh fruitbowls and fresh orange juice, with other items on request. It is very competitivelly priced at $35 to $65, depending on the number of people and room size.

We stayed at Casa Sacnicte for 4 nights at Christmas time. This is a beautiful B&B with eight rooms so it is a very cozy size.

Casa Sacnicte is close to the center of Merida. This can be a busy and noisy area, but stepping inside this B&B was like finding an oasis. Suddenly it was quiet and peaceful. Everything has soft, warm colors.

Ruy, Lupita and Wilbert, who own/run Casa Sacnicte, are the nicest people. They made sure we found the interesting things to see, best places to eat and that we were always comfortable. They spoiled us with a great breakfast each day. On Christmas day, Ruy made sure we had food on Christmas. Lupita had made a special souffle that Ruy brought in from home.

This B&B puts you in a good central location, just a few blocks from the central plaza, the bus stations and the big market. Do not miss the market. I have never seen anything like it.

There is a nice park 1/2 block away when you want to sit and relax.

You can set up a whole range of day tours at the hotel. Prices are really about the same as doing it on your own. We went to Uxmal on an afternoon tour that included dinner and the night light show. Wow! Another day we did a self-tour by bus to Celestun to see the Flamingos. Ended up costing the same as the tour that would have picked us up and dropped us off at the B&B.

If you are going to Merida, Casa Sacnicte is a great lodging choice.