Had an extremely pleasant stay end of Feb/ early March 08. Staff was very friendly, but desk staff had rather limited grasp of English. Restaurant was fairly good, but one the one evening meal was accompanied by a bland mole. Restaurant too noisy with active street location and door/windows (2) wide open all the time. Decorating was very nice and open/airy feel. Staying in the rooms away from the street highly advisable as most of the street sounds did get readily transmitted. Nice to have free computer with internet access in the lobby. Found the hotel very clean. Location was outstanding with excellent foot access to almost all of the main sites in the city. Be prepared for a very hard bed consisting of mattress sitting on top of plywood platform - bring your Ibuprofen. Would definitely stay there again.

I recently spent three nights at this hotel and found the staff extremely friendly, the building and room immaculate and nicely appointed, and the restaurant and location (two blocks from the zocalo) excellent. We requested a quiet room, and were given an interior room mostly insulated from street noise. The only downsides were that there was a rowdy group also staying there at the same time and there is virtually no insulation from interior building noise. Most of the time this was not a problem, except when this group returned to the hotel late at night, and continued celebrating in the hallways and courtyard. Also, the door to the room had a large pane of frosted glass, which was impossible to cover so the room was not completely dark. Otherwise, I would recommend the hotel, and plan to stay there on future visits.

We learned a lot about lovely Oaxaca during our five-night stay, including the fact that the Zocalo is the center of the universe and that honking is the town's unofficial sport. If we had it to do over, I probably would have booked in a quieter neighborhood. The lovely stone and tile work of the Parador San Miguel amplify every honk, shout, and bang, so bring earplugs. That being said, if you want to be in the middle of the action this is a great location. Be aware that the "standard" rooms are indeed very small, more like a ship's cabin than a hotel room. I didn't pay attention while booking and by the time we arrived it was full and too late to switch to a "superior" room. The decor is charming, the front desk staff very helpful, and the computer station with 30 minutes free Internet/day very handy. The restaurant is good if you're too tired or hungry to budge from the hotel, but the service is a bit slow. Did I mention to bring earplugs?

We stayed at Parador San Miguel in Oaxaca City for four nights and were satisfied with the choice. The location is excellent, just a block or two from the Zocalo, which is extremely pleasant at night, and a few blocks from Alcala, the main pedestrian shopping street. Several of the markets are just a few blocks south. The lobby and courtyard of the hotel are pretty and pleasant, with plants, tile and wrought iron. The rooms seemed a step down, certainly not bad but with a little more of a budget feel than I'd expected for $95 a night (380 pesos total). The room had a TV and both a fan and an air conditioner. The beds were wrought iron and comfortable but squeaky; they'd look a lot more inviting with new cotton blankets instead of the current brown poly ones. The bathroom was fine, with a large shower and no tub. I did like the huge etagere next to the sink, which helped keep the counter uncluttered. I don't know how the hotel compares with other hotels but there are several others in the vicinity. We ate only breakfast at the hotel restaurant, mostly because it always seemed quite dead and service therefore a little spotty. The desk clerks were always pleasant but their English was not fluent.