Just stayed at this hotel in April. Since the reviews were mixed, I didnt know what to expect. Walked in w/ no reservation, and was treated great and given a room w/ a balcony over the street, as requested. (mistake if you dont like noise, ask for interior)
This is a clean, basic hotel room, w/ totally adequate in-room amenities. The hotel common areas are where this hotel stands out. Beautiful spotless interior courtyards surrounded by pillars and atriums w/ fountains. A great restaurant serving all 3 meals, which is a plus considering the absence of restaurants in the vicinity. The hotel is about 6 blocks from the main tourist square, but I felt safe at all times. Take 'Maestriano' St to get there. It is larger and more lit.
The good thing about this hotel is the genuine Mexican experience you will get from it Yes, the bathrooms have issues, especially plumbing, but just close the door. But, in all, it was a totally satifsying 2 day stay. 2 days? Well, the hotel was great, but I wasnt wild about Guadalajara. A big, crowded, polluted metropolis w/ throngs of people everywhere. Other than the main square and Mercado, theres not alot to see and do. For an outdoor cafe (scarce) go to the one in front of the cathedral at sunset, its a great place to have a beer or dinner and watch people and the sun rays on the cathedral are great.
All in all, the best thing was the hotel. If you cant deal w/ the drawbacks of an ancient but beautiful basic hotel then please please go to the Holiday Inn near the square so that your complaints wont put everyone else off to this gem.

I read other reviews before I stayed here & was curious to see it myself. I stayed here alone & speak Spanish well, though not perfectly.

This is a modestly priced ($49.00 USD/nt), older, Colonial style hotel used by Mexicans, both business people & families. There were a few tourists, American , French & Mexican.

My room & furniture were older but adequate for me. It was fairly quiet as I asked for a room away from the street. The room was serviced everyday by a maid who did a good job. The only problem was the shower head which was blocked; the water sprayed in all directions. One night I could hear the water from the fountain in the interior lobby plaza as someone had not turned it off.

The location is close to Internet, money exchange, taxi site, tourist info kiosks, and not far from plazas & points of interest.

The restaurant has a good buffet breakfast for $6.50 USD which includes several types of cut up fruit, juices, granola, a number of hot foods, eggs & panckakes, coffee/tea & milk. I ate there everyday & was so full that often did not eat again till evening. The manager & staff of the restarant were helpful.

I would stay there again. It is not perfect but overall I was satisfied.

Frederic
Chicago, Illinois, USA

We had a nice stay in this colonial hotel. The fountains in the courtyard gave the hotel a lovely open feel. While not right in the centre, it is a short walk away from the centre of town. We all really enjoyed the restaurant, with the cheap Mexican buffet breakfasts, but with eggs or pancake options for the kids. The staff in the restaurant were very friendly, and we got to know two of them very well in our short time there. Our room itself was a bit shabby, but perfectly adequate and clean. What you would expect in an old hotel, and for the price I am not complaining. We didn’t find any internet facilities in the hotel, but there are some nearby. Overall we had a great stay.

We just got back today from Mexico and couldn't wait to write a review about possibly the worst hotel that we have stayed in, in Mexico. Sorry guys but the San Francisco Plaza, Guadalajara is very disorganised, unclean and is very tatty and worn out.

We booked 3 reservations via their own website as we had plans to travel to different places such as Guanajuato and Puerto Vallarta but returning back to Guadalajara for a day or two before heading back out on the road again. We chose the San Francisco Plaza based on their website and several decent reviews about the place on Trip Advisor.

I speak Spanish and called the hotel before flying out to Mexico just to make sure that everything was ok with our bookings. All ok, we were told. We turned up for the first night (20th Nov 07) only to find that our room was unclean (especially the bathroom), looking horribly tatty and in need of a major overhaul. It was a garish coloured room that looked dated, in need of a paint job, re-wiring and window locks (we couldn't close the window at all). Added to this the receptionist didn't appear to know much about our reservations even though I had printed confirmations from their website and verbal confirmations after my previous phonecalls from the UK.

We cancelled our last reservation as we thought the whole place was terrible. Unfortunately, we had to go back and stay at the San Francisco Plaza one more night on the 24th Nov. We arrived after a very long day travelling from Puerto Vallarta only to be told at 10pm when we arrived that their system had gone down and that we had to be moved to another hotel!!!

The hotel did sort out another booking and a taxi to take us to the other hotel but it seems that all the paperwork with our reservations had disappeared. Perhaps this was the problem with the 'system' that the receptionist mentioned and not a computer error??! Who knows? Added to this, the receptionist didn't have any record of us cancelling our last reservations for a week later which we had just cancelled just 3 days before.

They are so disorganised there. We saw 3 different receptionists each time we made a complaint and the rooms were very worn and unclean. The place is also really cold as it is open to the elements between floors. It has to be seen to be believed!

It is cheap and it is central but be warned....they don't know anything about taking care of their hotel guests!