El Hogar de Carmelita

Carmen is a delight! I spent 3 nights there earlier this month. There are undoubtedly fancier places, and places located right in the city center... but there is no place with a friendlier, sweeter, more helpful host. When she tells you "mi casa es su casa," you know she really means it. Carmen’s English is good enough to communicate with you, even if you have little Spanish. She’ll provide you a map, directions, bus info and recommendations for restaurants and cafes. The city center is an easy, interesting 20-minute walk and there’s a bus stop right across the street if you prefer. And not only do you get Carmen, you also get a delicious breakfast every morning (she cheerfully accommodated my need for vegan), an excellent bed, and abundant hot water in the shower. Our room had a terrace from which we could see the mountains in the distance and activity on the street below. El Hogar de Carmelita is a tremendous value! …

We absolutely LOVED this place! Carmelita is just the sweetest lady, and so, so funny. Staying with her truly felt like staying with a family member, she was that welcoming and warm. We spent a great deal of time talking to her about her life and family, and we came away with a real glimpse into the life of an older woman living in Mexico. Her house features a number of rooms over multiple floors, each decorated as you’d expect in the house of an aunt! The rooms are accessed via a steep, narrow staircase, so that was a bit of a hassle with our big backpacks. It was worth it for our room, though! My husband and I had an upper floor room with a balcony looking out onto the beautiful old building across the road, equipped with a little table and chairs, and although we shared a bathroom with the room across the hall, it was never an issue. Our visit was so short that we didn't take advantage of the balcony, but it would have been a great place to sit out with a drink or a book and watch the world go by. Carmelita's house is located approximately 15 minutes walk from the heart of this stunning town. The walk was so beautiful that the location was not an issue at all. Carmelita can organise taxis that arrive in just a few minutes, if the walk doesn't appeal to you. Carmelita offers some wonderful services, including a delicious cooked breakfast, recommendations for places to eat/things to see, and the organisation of tours. One thing to note, though, that we were not informed of beforehand, is the tours are conducted fully in Spanish with a non-English speaking driver (well, ours was, anyway), so if you don't speak Spanish it's probably not worth the time and effort! The tour was also one of those dodgy "take you to all these places where you then need to pay entry and buy things", which made the lack of Spanish all the more worse. Still, it was experience :) Overall, a fantastic place to stay, and highly recommended! Guanajuato is by far the most beautiful town we visited in Mexico, and deserves a good few days to really soak it all up. We only stayed for one night, unfortunately, but would have benefited with a good day or two more. …

We absolutely loved this place! From the minute we arrived owner Carmen was so friendly and charming we wanted to stay longer, and get to know her better. The rooms are quirky and very Mexican in style, but comfortable. Its located a bit out of town but is an easy and interesting walk into Guanajuato. Carmen prepares breakfasts every morning for guests and really aims to please. If you want to experience warm Mexican hospitality we couldnt recommend El Hogar de Carmelita more. Were considering going back to amazing Guanajuato to say hi to Carmen - she was so warm and welcoming it would be worth the trip. It really felt like a home away from home.