US$25–50

A excellent deal in this range is the Hotel Dolores Alba Mérida (Calle 63 between Calles 52 and 54, tel. 999/928-5650, www.doloresalba.com [1], US$42 s/d, US$46.50 t, US$51 q). Rooms are spotless, with tile floors, firm beds, and a small table and chairs; those on the middle and upper floors get more sunlight. All have air-conditioning, cable TV, and phone. In the courtyard, lounge chairs surround a genuinely inviting outdoor swimming pool. The hotel’s only drawback is its location—3.5 blocks east of the plaza through a busy market area. Free parking and very friendly service.

Kind of a mixed bag, Posada Toledo (Calle 58 at Calle 57, tel. 999/923-1690, hptoledo [at] prodigy [dot] net [dot] mx, US$46.50–50 s/d with a/c) offers clean but dark rooms in a rambling old mansion. The oldest of the lot have five-meter (16.4-foot) high ceilings and beautiful tile floors but aging furnishings; the newer ones look like they were remodeled in the early 1980s and are somewhat charmless but have better bathrooms. The common spaces—long, open-air corridors with comfy chairs, a formal dining room with soft lighting and old portraits, and a verdant courtyard in the middle—make the experience unique. All in all, the rate is a bit high for the rooms but still, the Toledo is a classic old-school Mexican hotel, the sort that you remember fondly.

Hotel Trinidad Galería (Calle 60 at Calle 51, tel. 999/923-2463, www.hotelestrinidad.com [2], US$28 s/d, US$37 s/d with a/c, US$42–51 suite with a/c) is a quirky meld of budget hotel and modern art gallery; paintings, sculptures, and carvings crowd the lobby and every bit of wall and floorspace. It also has an eclectic café and a pleasant swimming pool. Rooms, however, leave a lot to be desired: old mattresses, awful lighting, musty…There’s just so far hipster common areas will stretch. The only rooms worth your pesos are the suites, with fine art, mini-split air-conditioning, and cable TV. Rooms are somewhat better at the Galería’s sister hotel, Hotel Trinidad (Calle 62 at Calle 55, tel. 999/924-2033, www.hotelestrinidad.com [2], US$20.50 s/d with shared bathroom, US$30 s/d, US$37–42 s/d with a/c), which also has a common kitchen, wireless Internet, and large-screen TV.