Visit to no name motel, in San Vicente, Baja California

San Vicente isn't exactly the destination of choice for most tourists, as it really doesn't rank very high as a magnet for world-class travelers, or members who rack up frequent flier miles. The small town doesn't feature any five-star hotels, or attractions to draw gringo tourists, or for that matter any tourists. It's just one of the many small towns located along Mexico Highway 1, the Baja California transpenninsular highway that caters to the basic needs of the travelers which include automotive repairs, gas, food, and lodging. On the subject of lodging, there are exactly three motels in town, which isn't bad for a small town with a population of only a couple of thousand souls. Getting a room in San Vicente can be quite interesting, as phone reservations, priceline.com, even mail-in reservations aren't a part of the San Vicente motel scene. If you want a motel in San Vicente, you have to do it the old fashioned way by going inside the office of the motel and make your reservation in person.

Photo: "No-name" Motel and closed restaurante, on the south side of the small town of San Vicente.

Late Saturday afternoon, September 29, 2007, I pulled into San Vicente, with the intention of spending the night, since it was approaching 4:00 in the afternoon, and I'm one of those travelers who goes on the road very early in the morning and tries to be in a motel by around 4:00; you get the pick of the rooms that way, plus you have time to explore the town. I drove into San Vicente from the north, and stopped at the first motel on the north end of town, just past the bridge over the dry arroyo. The motel looked ok, as it was a two-story affair, it looked to be in good repair, and there were cars in the parking lot. So I stopped in the parking lot, and looked around for the office. Office, what office? The sign in front said "motel," and the building looked like a motel, but where was the office? I couldn't find an office, nor could I find any sign of life around the building. I decided to leave, as I guessed that there were more motels in town. Scratch motel number one.

Photo: My Camry is backed up to the nearest parking spot to my motel room, number 10. The defunct restaurant is the orange building to the left of the photo.

I got in the car and drove south on Highway 1, which happens to be the main street in San Vicente, and after a short drive of about 1/4 mile, I saw another motel on my right, just south of the municipal park. This was another two-story motel, which looked to be very well maintained, and it was tastefully landscaped with palm trees and other attractive desert plants. The sign in front advertised motel, and the sign said the office was just inside the front door. So far, so good... By the way, motels in small Baja California towns rarely post a VACANCY sign; you have to go into the office and ask. However, I've never encountered a motel in a small town that was full... Anyway, the front door was open, so I walked in, and I noticed a window labeled "oficina" and a door labeled the same. However, the window was dark, and the door was locked. The door and window appeared dusty, as if they hadn't been used for quite some time. Like the first motel, this place was a quiet as a tomb. In desperation, I knocked at the door, and the sound of my knocking echoed around the empty hall. Oh well... scratch motel number two.

At this time, I was getting a little worried, as how many motels can a small town like San Vicente possibly have? The next town of any "size" is Punta Colonet, which is an hour or so south, and since I'd never been there before, I didn't have a clue of what the motel scene would be like. If Punta Colonet didn't pan out, then I'd have to drive south to San Quintín which would force me to back track to the turnoff to Meling Ranch, which was my next day's destination. So I got in my car, drove south, past the only traffic light in town, and as I got near the south end of town, I noticed a motel on my left, with a simple yellow sign that read "Motel," and below it, "Restaurante." Cars were parked around the motel, the office door was open, and it appeared that the motel was actually in business. I let out a sign of relief, drove up to the motel, parked my car, and walked to the office.

Photo: Unnamed motel does offer some pretty landscaping, as seen from the doorway of my motel room, looking west past my Camry, to Mexico Federal Highway 1 in the background of the photo.

There was a real, breathing, alive lady at the desk who was happy to provide a room for me. I didn't even bother to check out the room, as I had little else to choose from in town, and the price of MEX $200.00 for the night, it seemed like a real bargain. I plunked down my 200 pesos, and received the key to room number 10, which was the far room on the left of the motel. I was able to back my car up to the parking space nearest to the room, which made the chore of carrying my luggage easy into the room, as it was a 20-foot trip.

This is truly a no-name motel, as there is no name printed anywhere, and when I asked the lady in the office what the name of the motel is, she simply replied "motel." OK, that's easy. As far as the restaurante, it's been closed for quite some time, as the inside was in a complete state of disarray, with dust, dirt, and junk strewn everywhere. No problem with me, as I had visions of other dining experiences, on this Saturday night in San Vicente.

Photo: This "gentleman" was sleeping it off in the parking lot of the motel, at 4:00 pm on a Saturday afternoon.

What is the "no name" motel like in San Vicente? Very basic, to say the least. Of course there is no internet access, duhh no telephone, duhh, and no TV, not even the 3-channel variety with lots of snow, as found in many other cosmopolitan Mexican motels. The place is adequately clean, but would probably make the majority of gringos cringe, as the electrical wiring is "creative," the toilet flushes very slowly, and only one tap on the sink works, and produces a very slow flow of tepid water. The shower produced hot, errrrrr... warm water for my evening shower, but in the morning, the best it could muster was a dribble of cold, brownish water. I guess Mexicans aren't accustomed to showers in the morning. The double bed was fairly comfortable, with a firm mattress, but the pillows were lumpy, which seems to be quite common in small town Mexican motels. This no-name motel would probably rate about 2 stars on the Mexican scale, but it wouldn't even be a blip on the star-rating radar north of the border. By contrast, if your joe-average Motel 6 was compared to this no-name motel, it would overwhelm the "no-name" motel by a landslide, and by comparison, Joe-Motel 6 would seem like the landmark hotel in San Francisco, the Mark Hopkins Hotel, which offers superior accommodations. But I'm a simple person, and a "no-name" motel, for the price of MEX $200.00 is OK with me.

Photo: The very basic room, showing the comfortable bed, with a peek into the bathroom and a glimpse of the wall-mounted sink. This motel room reeked of nostalgia, circa of about 1967.

You only sleep in a motel, so why pay huge prices for amenities and frills? As a plus, when I woke up Sunday morning, I discovered that the left, rear tire of my car was flat, which was probably a result of the trip that I took the previous day down a dirt road to visit pretty Bahia Colonet. I had lots of room to change the spare tire, and since I had a very relaxed schedule, I was able to take my Camry over to the local llanería, and get the tire repaired for the sum of MEX $30.00, which is an unbelievable bargain. Somewhere during my travels, I had run over a nail, and it had worked its way into my tire and made it flat.

If you're staying in San Vicente, the unnamed motel is your best choice, as it's the only real motel in town that is open, and it's staffed by real people, and offers basic accommodations at a very reasonable price.

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