What About Merida

Anyone been there recently? What's it like? Seems to be a couple of interesting properties offered by LL.

I thought Rosas looked quite interesting. Not sure of the value tho. dhdanner has been often, I believe, and knows the area fairly well.

I love Merida and am glad that LL has some properties there - it is a beautiful city with lots of great places to eat, lots of shopping, lots to do - population is around 1 million and traffic can be very heavy - we rented a car and drove all around the area - only 30 minutes to Progresso on the gulf - beautiful beach, 40 minutes to the ruins of Uxmal, 1 hour to Campeche (another beautiful city). We were in the area for 2 weeks in 2009 (during the H1N1 scare) and pretty much covered the whole Merida side of the Yucatan peninsula So we have now been in every part of the Yucatan except the very lower portion where it borders Guatemala.

I live in Merida part-time; own a house in Centro and generally go in and out each month. Merida is a a low key and extremely safe city. I generally fly in and out of Cancun and take a bus to Merida, but you can fly into Merida on Continental and I think Delta. Merida's airport is about a fifteen minute drive into Centro. I am familiar with Rosas; it is located at the mouth of Paseo de Montejo and within walking distance to Centro proper. I do not know the other packages currently offered. There are plenty of restaurants to enjoy; from cheap to expensive. Trotter's La Trotto; Nector; - all are fairly upscale. Rosas is expensive. On Sunday they close the main part of town along with the north side of Paseo for family activities. Saturday night they Mexican national entertainment about one block from Rosas. The beach is 30 minutes away from Centro. The beach is not like Cancun's; no turquoise waters and no ritzy restaurants, but it is a nice side trip to eat some fresh fish and drink a couple of beers. There is a bus you can take from Centro to Progreso. I do not recommend drinking and driving in that they throw you in jail in Mexico. Taxis are plentiful and cheap, and I do mean cheap.

May, June, July, August and September are hot, hot, hot. In June thru August you generally get a shower in the late afternoon which cools everything down so the evening is pleasant. May and September do not get the storms, so unless you really like the heat, these are not the months to visit. I was in Merida for ten days in August last year. No rain at night to cool it down ( a fluke). I had air conditioners in the bedrooms but not the rest of the house. It was so hot even at night that I called the air conditioner guy and had air conditioners put in every room of the house, including the kitchen. I'm generally don't sweat a lot, but I was dripping just sitting there.

On Friday and Saturday nights, the bars put tables in the streets and little bands play while you eat. There is a huge central market which is a great place to visit. I buy my fruits and vegetables at the market now.

There are a couple of nice museums and a lot of art galleries which are a very recent addition. There is a house tour which runs from October or November thru March. They take you thru four or five houses which have been renovated. There is a large US and Canadian population in Merida. Not as big as San Miguel, but fairly big. Lots of English speaking persons so you can get directions.

I walk into Centro to drink at night; never had any fear of being harmed. Generally see other females walking from Centro to their homes. There isn't much of a drug problem in Merida. Lots of police and a visitor information center which is helpful. All in all, Merida is a really nice place to visit. Also, we have a cooking school; Los Dos. I have taken cooking classes there and enjoyed them.

If you are traveling there; email me and if I am around, will offer some suggestions based upon what is going on. My house is within walking distance of Rosas.

I agree with Lippincotfarm has to say - we loved Merida - we went in May and it was hot but not any worse than a humid day in summer on the east coast of the US. We rented a car and did the ruta Maya circuit and saw lots of ruin sites (Uxmal is awesome) we also did the convent and churches route and stopped in many small towns and villages to see the churches and convents. Had some great seafood meals in Progresso, saw the flamingos - so much to do in the area. In fact, this is one of the areas that we are thinking would be a good place to live when it is closer to retirement - really good bang for the buck - even in the beach areas!

I guess I should give my email if anyone wants to email: [email protected]. I agree Uxmal is a great ruin to visit; the last time I was there, you could still climb and walk into the ruins. You can't do this anymore with Chitzen.