Spring Break: March 2005
Well, it definitely isn't the hotel zone. There aren't any luxuries, like being able to drink the tap water. When they saw that we had beach towels, they took the towels the hotel supplied away. The complimentary bottle of water was nice and worked for brushing our teeth. The place was clean overall, and I liked the really firm mattress/super-thick pad. The showers were lacking and not extremely clean. It was hard to shower because the head was so clogged that you got sprayed in the face really hard; make sure to keep your mouth closed. The window doesn't lock and there is a sort of balcony that connects all the rooms. The bus stop is a few blocks away, but you need to be careful which bus you take. You can pretty much get a cab ride anywhere within downtown for 20 pesos or $2US. The people at the front desk were fairly nice and accomodating. We never ate at the restaraunt in the hotel, but the littel hot dog and hamburger stand outside is awesome. Mariano remembers what you like, and I have never had such a good burger or hotdog. It may sound like a heart attack or even just plain gross, but the flavor is awesome: ham, cheese, grilled onions, bacon, tomatoes, and avacadoes go on every burger. Be caeful if you don't like mayonase, because you definitely won't like Mariano's cooking. The hotdogs are 10 pesos and the hamburgers are 20 pesos. There are two little convenience stores right there to get whatever you'd like to drink and chips or whatever too. The many meals with Mariano were much better than our hotel zone lobster dinners we had, and the perfect food after a long night at the clubs. Don't miss this oportunity to see downtown. We had so much fun in downtown that we only went to the beach one time during our week-long visit, and I LOVE the beach (once upon a time I was a California Kid). Shopping at both of the major markets was fun, and the one just around the corner from the hotel made my fiance feel like James Bond, he said; I think it had something to do with being the only tourists in an open grocerie market with vendors bartering, etc. Everyone downtown was even accomodating when we lost my fiance's wallet that had both of our ID's, all of his credit cards, and our last bit of cash. The radio stations even broadcasted our loss over the radio. It was out last day there, though, so we never found it. Overall, this was a fun way to find out what downtown is really like. No one ever harassed us, and one night when we got lost and asked some locals for directions we made some friends. They invited us the their apartment, offered us drinks, then took us to their favorite Mexican karaoke bar until it was light in the morning. That was probably our funnest night in Cancun.

I, just got back from Mexico on March 26, myself and 3 of my friends went down for one week.
After we booked our trip we looked at the reviews and it scared us.
But when we got down there, it was another thing, the entertainment staff was very friendly they made sure we had a great time.
The hotel itself definitively isn't a five stars, but is clean, and the food is very delicious, but you gotta remember , you are not paying for a five star, the staff and the cleaning definitively makes it a five star.
the rooms is really clean and the staff were AMAZING!!!.
It is not compared, simply excellent.

Jhon

A buddy of mine and I needed a reasonably priced room in Cancun for one night prior to driving to Merida, Mexico, the next day. We stayed at the Hotel Batab in downtown Cancun and discovered that it was just what we needed for a short stay. The room was clean, comfortable, and very affordable. No hidden costs and no surprises on the bill when you check out. The hotel staff seemed genuinely appreciative of the business and was actually hoping we would stay longer. Obviously, you're not staying in the Hotel Zone, but there are plenty of decent restaurants and shops within walking distance of the Batab. Staying downtown also gives you the opportunity to mix with the locals. If you're looking for a lot of beach time you probably wouldn't want to spend an entire vacation at the Batab, but I wouldn't hesitate having my family stay there for a night or two.

My family of 4 stayed at this hotel for 2 nights (I will say nights only), as you probably won't want to spend any of your waking hours there, on 12/31/04 and 01/01/05.
My 1st impression was the rooms are very small and dingy, there were alot of small bugs on everything. Don't get me wrong, my wife and I have been going to Mexico for years (this was probably our 14th trip), we had rented a villa down the coast at Puerto Morelos and needed a place to stay for a couple of nights. Becuase it was New Years, everything in town was booked, the staff was friendly enough, but not overly helpful, they could have let us know in advance they kept all the tv remotes behind the front desk.
After the 1st night, we woke up with bug bites all over our bodies from the beds, it was worse the 2nd night. We couldn't get out of this place fast enough, I can see why it wasn't booked fully on New Years.
The bathrooms were dirty and we didn't want to chance taking a shower in them.
This hotel was rated 3 stars, I don't know where that rating came from, as there is no way this hotel is anywhere near 3 star.