Hi! My husband and I just returned from a week in Veracruz. We spent 3 nights at the Hotel Emporio downtown and 3 nights at the Camino Real on the beach. The Hotel Emporio is wonderful! Yes, it may be old but that is why we chose it: it has atmosphere and history. We had a kingsize bed as requested, and a view of the street and the original 'White House' (seat of the Mexican government). Great to sit out and watch the world go by in a bustling Mexican city. No complaints about that. We want to see how people live.
On the other side of the Hotel Emporio is the Malecon... an extremely busy and noisy street. Glad we did not have a room on that side. The hotel's restaurant was great and we were very impressed with their overall care and concern for cleanliness and hygiene. This is not something we have seen alot of anywhere in Mexico before. Nice little lounge, too. We swam in the pool .... there are 3 pools, actually and all quite nice. It got a little noisy around 4 in the afternoon when the Mexican families all returned to the hotel... the kids abounded and the music blared for about 2 hours, so we stayed away then.
The Hotel Emporio is ideally situated to walk the fabulous Malecon, shop, and get to the Portales and Zocalo for sightseeing and eating. Mostly we ate out...we wanted it that way and loved the sea food in Veracruz. We were 1/2 block from the most famous Gran Cafe Parroquia and enjoyed Cafe Lechero every single day. Yummmmm! If you're a Canadian like us, you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your coffee and Cafe Parroquia has something for you!
We took a cab out to the fort at San Juan de Ulua and paid a tour guide to take us through the ruins. Sooooooooo interesting! Pirates, Spanish conquistadors, slave trade, Spanish inquisition, dungeons, torture chambers, a moat with sharks, etc. We had the cabbie wait for us... honestly this is the best plan. It is NOT easy to get a cab back from the fort. Be warned. Cabs in Veracruz are very cheap, easy to get and we did not have one single one try to rip us off because we were foreign tourists. Excellent! We also took 2 separate tour buses around town: the double-decker at the Cathedral takes you through the colonial/historical city centre. The wooden bus (looks like an old trolley) outside the Hotel Emporio takes you all along the Malecon and up to Boca del Rio before it turns around. Cheap and easy to ride and you can hop off and on at different locations, if you want.
Veracruz is wonderful and so are the people. If you want to stay in the heart of things, the Hotel Emporio is an excellent choice.