The parts of Juarez I saw on the drive from the airport and the area I stayed look decent. But by…read moreno means did I translate that to safe. But compared to Mexico City, Juarez is so much cleaner and nicer looking. Locals I crossed all said that all the violence shown in the news is located in the center of town which is no where near this area. I saw no signs of problems. I didn't venture out a lot, but I did walk to the stores just across the street from our hotel a couple of times.
Hotel choices right by the embassy were plentiful. And I do mean right by it. Next door, across the street... within one or two blocks there had to be 20 hotels. Big chain hotels and little hotels. I looked carefully at most hotels in the area on sites like TripAdviser, Google Ratings, Yelp, Orbitz and others before I chose. I chose one a little further away, reasons listed below.
A ton of restaurants around including Denny's, Applebees, Wing Nuts, Little Caesars and other familiar restaurants, as well as a million local joints and the oh-so-tasty street vendors. Right across the street there are 10 restaurants.
The hotel I chose and why...
I stayed at the La Quinta Inn that was about 3/4 a mile away from the embassy. There were a lot of hotels closer but this had some of the better reviews and things I thought important.
I chose this hotel because it had a pool, a gym, a hot tub, guest laundry, free breakfast, in room fridge and microwave, free wifi, in room coffee and more. That has made the stay of "staying in my hotel a lot" much more pleasant.
Also, I opted to get the suite (a bedroom and living room), it was just $10 more a night and very worth it! I averaged about $80 a night that I was there. Also, the hotel was gated, security guard at the gate 24/7.
In addition to all this, the hotel offered a shuttle to the airport, to all of my appointments, the embassy, the border, to DHL/FedEx locations, local restaurants and shopping centers. Anywhere I needed to go, they took me. When I was ready to come back, I called and they picked me up within 15 minutes or so.
Having a microwave and fridge with a ride to the grocery store cut costs on eating out, though I ate out a lot anyway just because I love the local flavor. In addition, it cut the need to go out. Then of course, the free breakfast in the morning helped a lot to. The breakfast wasn't just a continental style breakfast, but rather eggs, potatoes, beans, fruits, cereals, juices, milk, yogurts, coffee, quesadillas and more. It also changed a bit each morning.
The hotel was clean and nice with daily room cleaning service. Beautiful and well kept with the staff more than willing to help any way they can. They bent over backward for me.
They also had room service for dinner with most meals running around 70 to 100 pesos (not a bad price at all considering it was room service and 100 pesos translates to about $6.50 American dollars.)
Almost everyone here was staying here for a consulate visit or business with the embassy.
A very large grocery store was about a 5 minute walk, 1 minute drive up the street. It was a chain store called S-Mart. Never seen one before but they are all over here.
Prices for everything., since it is a border town, were just slightly lower than what I'd pay in Utah but not really a significant difference.
The hotel has a small sundry shop with minimal necessities in it and a few drinks, including a limited choice of beer.
Rooms also have an iron, ironing board, hair dryer, work tables, plug in and wifi internet (free) and a closet with hangers.
A note, rooms with fridges: turn your fridge on as soon as you get there. They turn them off to save energy so don't just assume it's cold and put your goods in it.
I had to make some copies, which they kindly helped me out with.
Laundry tokens were just under 100 pesos but that included soap, dryer sheet and the washer and dryer.
The gym was well equipped, never crowded.
I'd stay here again in a second and never look elsewhere. My flight arrived in Juarez at 8AM, knowing that check in time usually is much later than that I called the hotel in advance and asked about the possibility of checking in early. The assured me they would do every thing they could but could not guarantee anything. I was here by 9 AM, checked in at the front desk where the clerk told me no rooms were available yet but I they could secure my luggage and I could help myself to the hotel facilities, including a very much needed breakfast and coffee. By 11 AM, they had a room ready for me. Just amazing service. Especially for a hotel that gets booked solid probably every day, they could turn away people and still be full.
Simply, the best service oriented hotel I've ever stayed at. I've stayed at well over a hundred hotels so that's saying a lot. It isn't the fanciest, doesn't have the biggest (or warmest pool), no plush bar or restaurant on the bottom floor; but it has everything you need and service, good service.