Lonely Planet Review

The Majestic, a Best Western franchise, has a lot going for it, including an attractive colonial interior, an unbeatable location and a terrace restaurant giving panoramic views of the Zócalo. Rooms, however, are less fabulous than you'd expect at these prices.

Now in its eighth decade, the hotel boasts a superb tezontle stone façade that can stand up to the other magnificent structures surrounding the central plaza. (Toward Christmas, it becomes a canvas for decorative light displays.) Inside, the lobby gets the full Mexican treatment, with Talavera tile laid into terracotta flooring, beautiful archways and a carved stone fountain. About a third of the 85 rooms face the plaza, including five suites. Another third look over Madero, a major shopping thoroughfare, and the rest give onto a peaceful interior patio, with red vinyl sofas and lots of potted plants at the bottom of a soaring series of balconies. On the downside, standard rooms are rather small and indifferently furnished, though you'll probably spend too much time gazing outward to notice. More difficult to overlook is the service - staff here seem less attentive than elsewhere.