We'd chosen this hotel (based solely on the price in Lonely Planet) before getting to Oaxaca, since our overnight bus arrived at about 6:30AM. Our taxi driver stayed with us while we knocked on the door, and eventually a sleepy man appeared, rubbing his eyes.

Hotel Posada el Chapulin was run by a sweet elderly man—with whom we had very little contact—and his two sons. There were women, but we were never sure whether they were sisters or wives. For three people the hotel was a bargain—at 280 pesos, we were paying less than $9 each. Internet was available on the lobby computer for 10 pesos; cheaper elsewhere in town but not this convenient! The hotel is well-located on Aldama near 20 de Noviembre mercado.

The room occupied the second floor of the cheerfully-colored hotel, with 2 comfortable beds and a clean private bath. There was a large TV but only 3 channels, Spanish only. (We did manage to catch a mesmerizingly bizarre dating game). We had plenty of natural light, towels, toilet paper and soap, which compared to some of the places I've stayed meant rolling in style.

Eventually all our transactions were handled by the other brother, Adrian. Adrian took a special liking to Jasmine, but when she was unreceptive, he moved on to Rubina. It was sweet when he offered us mangoes and flagged down multiple taxi drivers to ask directions for a particular café, but a bit uncomfortable when he talked about taking us dancing, kissed our cheeks repeatedly, and inquired after our boyfriends.

We did eventually run into a few problems at the hotel. Occasionally the water turned off. There were a couple times when nothing came out of the sink or the toilet wouldn't flush, but it usually came back quickly. Once it shut off right as Jasmine was taking a shower and did not come on for the rest of the night.

Hotel mascot Mario! Mario loved to talk back.

On our last day, we asked to store our precious souvenirs at the hotel while we hit the coast for a couple days. It was $1/day to store it in the lobby, but Adrian promised he would move everything upstairs where it would "safer" for a bit more money. We paid in advance and headed out to the coast.

When we returned, Adrian was cold. Perhaps he'd finally figured out Rubina wasn't going to settle in Oaxaca and run the hotel with him? As we left, he ran out and accused us of underpaying, even though he'd never moved the bags from the crib in the lobby where we'd left them, and we had paid in advance! I ended up feeling I couldn't whole-heartedly recommend this hotel because of Adrian's actions, when his relatives were so sweet; after he'd turned nasty on us, the flirting that previously seemed harmless now seemed disgusting.

Potential guests can easily view graffiti'd praise covering the inside walls of the lobby; it was basically a good place to stay with a few minor issues.

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