Dolores Alba

The Dolores Alba is the hotel that I stayed at when I made my first trip down in May, 2010. It is right in the heart of Centro and has alot of positives attributes:

• Very affordable at around $50 USD per night for a couple, cheaper for one person.
• Very Clean
• Very Quiet
• Within walking distance of alot of cathedrals, parks, shops....pretty much everything. 
• Breakfast is included and decent. 
• Architecture is beautiful. 
• Staff is friendly. 
• They can call you a cab if you need one. 
• Rooms have individual lock safes which you set the combos on when you arrive. 
• The Pool is clean and well kept. 
• The outdoor dining area is very inviting. 
• Wifi or you can pay to use their internet hookups on their computers. 
• The A/C's in the bedrooms work really well.

It has alot of upside to it. Honestly, I think they could charge a little more if they wanted to. The place only has one drawback....They have the hardest beds you have ever slept on. And I love hard beds. If you can handle that then it is a place I would recommend.

Saludos
Jay

P.S. Here is the Link to the hotel's website. (Click Here). They have one in Chichen Itza as well so make sure you click on the correct hotel.

Exchange Rate Moving Up Agressively

The Peso to US Dollar exchange rate has continued to move in favor of the Greenback in recent weeks. Last week we sat at about $13.80 MXP to $1 USD.

The reason I am posting on this again so soon is that the upswing has been substantial in percentage terms. Just three months ago in June the rate of exchange was about $2 MXP lower per US Dollar at $11.65 MXP to $1 USD.


To put all of this in practical terms:

• If you were on a $2,000 budget in the early part of the summer at an $11.65 MXP/ $1 USD exchange rate....your cost of living has now gone down to $1,690 per month with the exchange rate swinging to $13.80 to $1 USD. If you are taking money out of US Banks to pay for your daily/monthly expenses then your cost of living is now cheaper than 90 days ago.  
• A person making a rent payment of $7,250 MXP per month just had their rent drop about $100 per month over 90 days. That means the rent payment just went from $622 per month to $525. Would you take that?  
• If you wire transferred $100,000 USD 90 days ago to buy a house, you now only have to transfer roughly $85,000 to buy that same house at this time. Home prices have not really appreciated that much if at all in that time.  

This is why you need to watch the exchange rate. That extra $15k will furnish your home, pay for a swimming pool, equip your home with solar or pay for the cost of digging a well. There is alot you can do with 15k in this market. Just things to consider.

Saludos
JEB

Changes with Mexican Visa Laws

The new Visa laws for non-Mexican residents are not going to go into effect until next calendar year. Typically visas fall into one of three categories: FMT (Tourist Visa), FM2 or FM3.

My family and I are currently on FM3's at this time. I went to the immigration office in Progresso today and spoke with one of the English speaking employees there today. She informed me that the laws for doing away with all current visa categories are in place but have not been implemented. The Federal government has yet to release their changes to their immigration offices throughout the country and will not do so until November.

The lady continued to inform me that all immigration offices will need a few months to go through training on all aspects of the changes in law. This means that there won't be any changes implemented in this calendar year and if you already have an FM2 or FM3 visa you will simply renew it this year, 2011, and stay on that visa until you are scheduled to renew next year. Once that occurs you will apply for one of the newly developed categories of visas. And as far as that is concerned, it is my understanding that there will be several to choose from based on the nature and purpose of you being here: i.e. business, living only, religious purposes, etc, etc, etc......

I will pass on more info as I get it. Everyone, including the immigration offices, are still in a holding pattern of sorts.

Saludos
Jota

Peso/Dollar Exhange Rate

The Mexican Peso to U.S. dollar exhange rate is formally sitting at $12.86 pesos to $1.00 dollar at this time. I went to Santander Bank today to do a withdrawal and I actually got $12.85 to 1. That is incredible. I have never seen it that high. In the early part of the year it was around $11.65 to one.

As to why? I would say when U.S. retailers buy goods to be exported into the U.S. they need their dollars to go farther so they can keep prices lower in the stores of U.S. retailers. This offsets the devaluation of the U.S. dollar as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank continues to devalue the worlds global reserve currency through money printing.

Saludos,
JEB