We used the city of Merida as our base for other adventures in the Yucatan area. For more on our flight to Merida and other international logistics, see here.
The City of Merida
Merida is a large city in the Yucatan with its own international airport. It’s about half an hour from Progreso, the closest beach and a cruise ship town. This city offers a different experience than the beaches found in other parts of the country. There are a ton of cultural activities offered, yummy foods, and it’s a great walkable, safe city. If you have young children, a single or double stroller would be good for the airport and city-walking but an infant carrier may be better for adventuring.
We were also pleasantly surprised by how cheap our stay was in this city. There are a ton of expats (people from the US who make their home temporarily or permanently in Merida) and digital nomads who are working remotely while living in Merida due to the cheap cost of living. Hotels can be found for less than $40 a night, tacos and beers for less than a dollar. We caught a 10-minute taxi ride and paid $2, and our private driver costs for our tours were all very affordable. We used our standard boosters for the longer drives and went without for the short taxi ride downtown.
We learned from our driver that sometimes Americans come for a long period of time with their kids and hire a local nanny for $40 a day while the parents continue to work their remote jobs! Something we may consider in the future.
Hotel: Hyatt Regency Merida
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Merida. Hyatt is our favorite brand, and while looking at an award map of Hyatt hotels near Cancun, we found this inexpensive hotel in the city of Merida. This city was the perfect city to use as a home base while we explored the Yucatan area. This hotel was fantastic. When we first pulled up at the hotel, it was raining, and 3 bellmen rushed to open our car doors with umbrellas. The managers and front desk staff repeatedly called us to ask us how we were doing and what we needed. Many greeted us by name throughout our stay and all were phenomenal. The hotel had a great pool and a small fitness center. We packed our swim goggles and dive sticks for lots of water fun. It was a quick 8-minute taxi ride or 30-minute walk downtown. It was also across the street from a grocery store, a 2-minute walk to Walmart, and next door to a Chili’s
How We Paid For Our Stay
We paid $75/night through a promotion. Something I didn’t realize until we got to Merida was that although that seemed cheap to me as an American, average 3 star hotels in this area cost closer to $40-$50. We booked a standard room. Because of our Hyatt Globalist status, we were upgraded to a suite with a separate sleeping area for the kids. We earned the hotel status through a combo of promotions and credit card bonuses. You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card, and Chase points which can be transferred to Hyatt. You could earn one of these sign-up bonuses and spend a week here for free. Learn more about points here.
Restaurants On-Site and Nearby
Because of our hotel status, we received free breakfast, which consisted of standard pancakes and eggs in addition to unique offerings of plantains, tacos, empanadas, Yucatanean specialties and tons of desserts. Breakfast was available from 7a-12p. If we hadn’t been out exploring everyday, we could have delayed breakfast to closer to lunch and skipped lunch.
We also received a free evening hors d’oeuvres reception in the lobby similar to our stay at the Hyatt Regency Maui. There were several small entrees, meats, cheeses, fruit and, most importantly, desserts for the kids and free drinks for the grown-ups. We could have exclusively eaten at the hotel if we wanted to. Next door to the hotel was a shopping complex with an excellent traditional restaurant called Teya. We ate traditional dishes such as cochinita pibil (orange and achiote marinated pork), tacos and margaritas. At this upscale restaurant, we ate multiple entrees, many margaritas, various appetizers, desserts and still managed to only rack up a bill of $50.
Transportation Around Merida
The downtown area is safe and walkable. (Bring a stroller or carrier for littles). Our hotel was about a 10 minute drive north of downtown near the northern end of a road called Paseo de Montejo. Near our hotel was a large sculpture on a traffic roundabout, called Monument to the Fatherland, depicting Mexican history from the Mayans to modern day. We took a horse carriage ride tour down the pretty street of Paseo de Montejo. After our evening downtown, we took a $2 taxi ride back. (Although we used boosters for longer drives, we went without for the short taxi ride downtown)
Plaza Grande Square
At the Plaza Grande, you will find the Cathedral de San Ildefonso, art galleries and museums, the Merida sign, and other cool things to see and do. We visited on a Saturday evening and found this to be a really fun, safe atmosphere. There were slightly pushy sellers with shirts and toys and kids and carts selling Churros (cinnamon donut sticks) and Marquisetas (crunchy crepes filled with cheese and chocolate). We stopped by a gordita shop in one of the corner shops for dinner (cash-only, staff didn’t speak English).
Cultural Events
The city of Merida puts on numerous cultural events including video projections on the church, cultural shows, demonstrations, markets, and other really cool events. You can see a calendar of events here. We had originally planned on seeing a Pok Ta Pok Maya ball game demonstration. We had watched El Dorado prior to our trip and were looking forward to seeing the courts at the ruins and the reenactment. However, after waiting past the time and after some charades with some locals, we learned that it was canceled. If you are planning on visiting in 2021 or 2022, check this website for updates.
Other Activities
We didn’t spend a lot of time in Merida itself. We used it as a home base for other adventures, and were usually exhausted in the evening and ready for some brief pool time and early bedtimes. If we return for another visit, other areas around town we may explore include Merida Central Market, Great Museum of the Maya World, the zoo and other parks around town.
