Stayed during busy period of Day of the Dead. Donna, the Canadian-born owner, invited the guests to go shopping with her at the local market to buy supplies for the hotel's Day of the Dead altar. Guests were invited in advance to bring photos of their departed loved ones to add to the altar.

The hotel has comfortable rooms with excellent beds. The staff is attentive and helpful. Location is within easy walking distance of the zocalo. Excellent breakfasts and good value.

I want to start off by saying that I did a great deal of research on Oaxaca and where to stay. And after reading all the great reviews about Hotel Azucenas, I was looking forward to a great stay. Unfortunately, the hotel left a lot to be desired.

CONS:

The acoustics in this place are AWFUL!! And given that it is an older property, there is obviosly no noise insulation. My friend and I stayed in room 6, directly below the breafkfast area and had a very hard time with all the noise at night and early morning.

Every night (around 11pm) the staff goes upstairs to tidy up and close up the terrace and the footsteps sound extremely loud on the tiles. There is also a great deal of banging and clanking that goes on. Then in the morning, around 5 or 6 am, the staff go upstairs to set up the breakfast and there are not only loud footsteps, but also the faucet being turned on and off as well as clanking and banging. It was so bad the first morning that we had to let the staff know. The next few days were a lttle better but still noisy. This was the only thing we brought to their attention.

Also, the hotel is located on a pretty busy street and across from a school which plays loud music in the morning as the students are arriving.

The staff also water the courtyard plants late at night (around11pm), so you can hear the clamoring of the buckets. The utility closet/washroom where they fill the buckets was, with our luck, directly across from our room, and so it sounded like they were filling the buckets IN our room.

The hotel is so small that when people are talking in the courtyard, it sounds like they are in your room. Also, you can hear coversations and music from other rooms, especially in the stillness of the night.

My friend and i found the front desk staff to be somewhat passive-aggressive and aloof. It was hard to put our finger on what the issue was with them...they were pleasant (not friendly) towards us, but its like they didnt really want to deal with us. We prefered to deal with the cleaning staff, who were very sweet and friendly.

We also felt that the breakfast policy of notifying them the night before is much too strict. One morning, we thought we would have time to go eat a full breakfast in town before heading out on a tour, however the tour company called at the last minute and said that we needed to meet up with them earlier then we had planned, leaving us with very little time to have breakfast. So we explained the situation to the staff and asked them if the 2 of us could partake in the hotel's continental breakfast eventhough we had not signed up the night before. They said no because there is only a limited amount of bread ordered, however they did say we could have coffee. Again, we explained our situation and asked if they could make an exception given the circumstances, but they would not budge. Thank goodness i had brought some granola bars from home with me...so my friend and I ended up having just a granola bar and some coffee. But we did notice that there was plenty of food for us to have had some as well.

PROS:

Very charming property and very well taken care of; clean rooms; great water pressure; good price; very sweet cleaning staff.

Anyhow, needless to say, we won't be staying here again, nor would I ever recommend it to anyone. Very unfortunate since I really wanted to like this place.

I spent a wonderful week in October at the charming Hotel Azucenas. I had stayed at the hotel on two previous occasions, with a friend, but this time I was traveling alone. Oaxaca and the hotel did not disappoint!

Oaxaca is an historical city with much to interest the traveller: beautifully restored churches, museums, galleries, ancient Zapotec ruins and interesting villages outside the city, great restaurants, the Zocalo, and much more.

Oaxaca is SAFE, the people are friendly and I wandered the streets to discover the many delights of this lovely city. A visit during the Day of the Dead festivities is special, but a visit anytime is worthwhile. Sadly tourist numbers have decreased most probably because of adverse comments in the press about security in Mexico, but in reality I saw absolutely no risk at all, and felt very safe and secure during the entire time I was in Oaxaca.

If you are thinking about a visit....don't hesitate...just go! You will not regret it.

The hotel is a great place to stay. Just 10 rooms and very personal service. It is located within walking distance of everything, has a lovely roof top terrace, perfect for breakfast and for a drink or two in the evenings. Donna and her staff are wonderful. They are always ready with a friendly smile, helpful information and advice and will gladly arrange tours, restaurant bookings, a massage or temascal, or whatever takes a your fancy.

I had a superb massage which Donna organized. The masseuse arrived complete with folding massage table, and her magic fingers. Without a doubt one of the best massages I've had, and I've had many!

I celebrated my birthday in Oaxaca, and had a fabulous surprise. My daughter, who lives in Australia, contacted Donna by email, without my knowledge, to ask her for suggestions for my birthday. It was decided that a Mexican Mariachi serenade was the go. Donna arranged for a Mariachi Band to come to the hotel at 8 pm that evening to sing Happy Birthday. Seven very accomplished musicians who were all characters, entertained us for an hour. A very memorable birthday, and all due to efforts of Donna.

Thank you to Donna, Ali, Gordon and all the wonderful staff at the Azucenas.

We stayed in the Azucenas for four nights in Sept and we were very happy with our choice of hotel. As others have noted there are many options for the traveller in Oaxaca and we think it would be hard to find a better combination of value, location, cleanliness, decor, convenience and comfort than we enjoyed here. We did ask for room 10 and we would recommend this to others- the extra price is justified by the windows and access to the restful shady balcony. The breakfasts are fine but we generally preferred the street vendors. The staff were pleasant and helpful. The honesty bar on the balcony is an excellent idea and should be used more often by other small hotels. The only issue we had was of no fault of the hotel and that was the occassional barking dogs in the neighborhood- easily solved by a combination of mescal and ear plugs! We would recommend this hotel.