General Reports

[QUOTE=ItsMeBeyatch;1657063]I stayed at the hotel Leyva this past Saturday. It has been recommended many times by fellow mongers. I stayed in room #3. It was a older room and not one of the new ones. I cannot recommend this hotel at least the older rooms it has. It reminded me of a lesser version of the alley side Adelitas hotel rooms that you take a street girl to. It had HBO witch was the few thing I enjoyed from this place. The checkin was easy as hell and the people here where nice as can be. As I was leaving I took a shower and I see it giant cocrach scatter as soon as the light came on. Not good. I check out and head to the border where on a Sunday at 8:10 am the line is ridiculously long. At least a 3 HR wait minimum. I see this as the taxi is dropping me off and I tell him to take me to otay. The Otay wait is 35 to 40 min. I catch the bus and onto to the trolley and back on the bus to the airport. I'm off to the airport for my 11:30 southwest flight that was surprisingly on time. I might need to see a newer room from the leyva to even think about staying there again. If you need a room to chill for a couple of hours and leave your stuff then this is it IMHO I might give this place another shot if the newer rooms are to my liking.[/QUOTE]The place is gross and not secure IMO. The Hacienda De Santiago is much nicer and only two blocks away.

I have the card; is it any quicker to get back to the US with it? I really don't want to hit Tijuana if I got to wait in a line for three hours.

[QUOTE=Nixonbd;1657768]I have the card; is it any quicker to get back to the US with it? I really don't want to hit Tijuana if I got to wait in a line for three hours.[/QUOTE]Yes, just use the Sentri line.

[QUOTE=Tomjackin;1657769]Yes, just use the Sentri line.[/QUOTE]This assumes that the holder of the Global Entry Card activated their card online within 30 days of receiving it. Failure to do this means that the border entry card will not work at car / pedestrian border crossing (even though one's passport still works for Global Entry Kiosks at airport border entry points).

Just something to check to avoid any surprises.

I'm heading down this Saturday night. Anybody want to meet up? PM me.

[QUOTE=Nixonbd;1657768]I have the card; is it any quicker to get back to the US with it? I really don't want to hit Tijuana if I got to wait in a line for three hours.[/QUOTE]Just curious, why did you get it in the first place?

[QUOTE=Artisttyp;1657114]The place is gross and not secure IMO. The Hacienda De Santiago is much nicer and only two blocks away.[/QUOTE]Can anyone recommend a decent hotel by the Playa (beach)?

Doesn't have to be top notch. Just clean, safe and reasonably priced.

[QUOTE=Jackie888;1658139]Can anyone recommend a decent hotel by the Playa (beach)?

Doesn't have to be top notch. Just clean, safe and reasonably priced.[/QUOTE]I cannot give you a name off hand but I do believe there are one or two right along the Malecon. Be aware though that you probably won't have Heat or AC if that matters to you. I recommend going on foot and seeing the places before you commit.

You can take the Playas Bus Route #1 I believe from Calle 3 and * roughly Ninos Heroes. If you get confused look for guys with a clip board and tell them? Playas / Malecon and they will direct you to the right bus. Get off when you see the big bull ring. Walk left along the Malecon from the bull ring.

Staying in Playas would be a good long term place but for short mongering trips may be too tedious to return to at night. I also believe there are check points there on the weekends so if you get loaded and drive back be very careful. Taxis would run you roughly $8-10 each way.

There is nothing to do in Playas!

Maybe this doesn't belong here but I wanted to mention that I am moving to San Diego in FEB! Good Bye NYC Hello SD and definitely Tijuana once I settle in. Having a residence on each side of the border is my ultimate goal which should be well within reach.

I look forward to being a local and sharing what knowledge I know and will learn.

Happy Holidays to all!

I will be in San Diego on Friday, December 26 and Saturday, December 27. Who wants to meet up and go to Zona Norte?

[QUOTE=Jackie888;1658139]Can anyone recommend a decent hotel by the Playa (beach)?

Doesn't have to be top notch. Just clean, safe and reasonably priced.[/QUOTE]Hacienda del Mar fits these criteria. It's a family-type location. Rooms are clean, a bit on the small side, they do have heat and a / see although I recall it being rather noisy. It's within walking distance of Plaza Monumental (the bull ring).

Downside is that it's roughly 100 p each way (to / from Centro) for a cab. We were able to negotiate 90 during the day, but at night 100 was the best we could do.

There's not a lot to do in playas, but there are some really good seafood places and the prices are reasonable.

[QUOTE=ScatManDoo;1654501]The exchange rate in HK changed from 12:1 to their current 12.5:1 during the first half of this year (2014).

Expect another adjustment soon.[/QUOTE]I wrote this on December 9th and as I recall, the peso was still under, but heading towards an actual 14:1 ratio. If I'm wrong someone please correct me.

I was in La Zona from Saturday through Wednesday and for all those days Hong Kong was using a well displayed rate of 13:1 nowadays (when the fix rate during those days was mostly above 14.5).

It's been my experience that HK does eventually catch up with major changes in the exchange rates, but they tend to favor pesos more than foreign exchange markets do.

[QUOTE=ScatManDoo;1658393]I wrote this on December 9th and as I recall, the peso was still under, but heading towards an actual 14:1 ratio. If I'm wrong someone please correct me.

I was in La Zona from Saturday through Wednesday and for all those days Hong Kong was using a well displayed rate of 13:1 nowadays (when the fix rate during those days was mostly above 14.5).

It's been my experience that HK does eventually catch up with major changes in the exchange rates, but they tend to favor pesos more than foreign exchange markets do.[/QUOTE]I think you have that backwards, unless I misunderstood. Catering to gringos, they know they will receive most of their money in dollars. But, technically, everything is priced in pesos. Inferior exchange rates favor dollars (from their standpoint) and cost you more money. They also profit on the back end, if they choose, by playing the spread between their rate and the official rate.

[QUOTE=Phordphan;1653137]Not much to talk about, but I figure I'll post an actual TR just to show that I'm not all show and no go.

You got to love Mexico.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the report. Looking fwd to a short trip before the end of the year!

[QUOTE=Phordphan;1658485]I think you have that backwards, unless I misunderstood. Catering to gringos, they know they will receive most of their money in dollars. But, technically, everything is priced in pesos. [/QUOTE]I don't agree with your statement. When HK moved their tipo de cambio rate this week or last from 12.5 pesos to 13 for the dollar. The price of a Cervesa moved from 50 pesos to 52 pesos.

So their cervesa's in that particular establishment is priced in US dollars, which stayed constant. It was the price in pesos that fluctuated when the exchange rate changed.

I didn't think that my original post was either hard to understand or backwards. On December 9th I posted a prediction that there was exchange pressure for HK to raise it's tipo de cambio rate to a number higher than 12.5. My prediction was correct and about a week later the TdeC rate notched up to 13.

Furthermore I said that HK chooses a TdeC rate that favors pesos.

HK does this by requiring less pesos for the dollar than current market exchange rates, like the Fix, require.

I believe that is a correct assertion.

If I had that backwards, and HK didn't favor pesos in their Tipo de Cambio exchange rates for customers paying in pesos. Their posted rate right now would be something like 15:1.