The 4Play Motel. Enough said…

Just an overnight stay

When I booked a flight from Merida to San Miguel de Allende, the only flights available arrived in Querétaro Intercontinental Airport at 10:00pm. It is then a 90 minute drive to San Miguel de Allende, I decided that it would be a good idea to book a hotel near the airport, stay there overnight and get a ride to SMA the next morning. Besides, I was staying with friends for the first week, and didn’t want to arrive at 12:30pm. All good, right?

Choosing a hotel

It should have been easy, but I quickly realized that there were not very many hotels close to the airport. And, the nicer hotels were located in downtown Queretaro which as a 60-90 minute drive from the airport. By that time….I could have been in SMA.

I typically use Booking.com to locate a place, but only one place popped up, and it did not look very nice. So, I went to Expedia, and there were a couple more places. One was called 4Play. Yes, I did think that was odd, BUT the room looked almost brand new, and very clean, which was a plus, particularly since I just left an apartment that was no where near new. There were no reviews, but I was only there for one night and it was close to the airport. How bad could it be? The nude painting over the bed should have been clued me. But, even with all of that, I figured it was a hotel that operated like any other.

My arrival at 4Play

I had to wait 20 minutes for a taxi driver, and honestly, wasn’t even sure I would make it to the hotel as he was driving like a maniac, and I’ve been in the car with some crazy drivers. We pulled up the the hotel, in an industrial area, and all I saw was the entrance to what looked like a parking garage. There were no doors, but to the side as a tall gate, but it was locked.

Keep in mind these photos were taken during the day. It was MUCH scarier in the dark.

Thank goodness the taxi driver took pity on me and got out to help. I could tell he was not happy about just leaving me there, which also made me even more nervous. We heard a voice coming from the speaker next to the garage opening. A woman who spoke NO English. With the help of the taxi driver, I managed to tell them I had a reservation, a young girl finally came out of the gated fence and took me inside.

What waited for me was nothing I could EVER have imagined. It looked like I was entering a storage unit, with roll down metal doors. She took me to one of the doors that was open and indicated I was to follow her into it. Needless to say, I was not sure what to do. But, she seemed harmless enough. (I figured I could take her in a fight, if necessary, or at least I hoped I could.)

So, up a flight of stairs, steep with no handrails and not well lit, to a door that opened into a single room. The girl took pity on me and lugged my suitcase and backpack up the stairs. The room looked exactly like the photos, and it was really, really nice. So, being happy about that, I was still nervous about what I might have gotten myself into, especially when I saw the mirror over the bed.

Before she left, the girl took me over to the wall where there were two cabinet doors. She opened the doors to a cubby about 3’x3′ with another set of doors on the side of the cube. I had no idea what she was telling me about this cube, but I got ready for bed, hoping it wasn’t a huge mistake. I did make use of a door security strap that I carry with me just in case I had unwanted visitors during the night.

As I was getting ready for bed, I heard what sounded like someone trying to get my attention and realized it was coming from the cubby. I opened the doors, and saw a woman’s hands holding a card reader. I tapped my credit card, she gave me a receipt and that was it. I never saw her face. I’m guessing this is set up so that no one sees the faces of the guests. I’m also guessing that this place has regular clients who pay a fee, get an entrance card and come and go at will. I heard other unit doors roll up and down all night.

The next morning

So, I woke up and all was fine. No unwanted guests or anything else weird through the night. BUT, I wasn’t sure how to get out of the compound, and I had a driver meeting me at 8:00am to take me to San Miguel de Allende. I driver actually messaged me that he could not find a location for the hotel. I appeared to be a storage unit. I sent him the link and hoped for the best.

I packed my bags, opened the door and headed down the stairs. The garage door as closed, but I found a switch on the side that opened it up. I breathed a sigh of relief. One more obstacle, the gate. It opened. I was out. Not sure when I’ve ever been so relieved to be out of a place.

Conclusion

I did go onto Expedia and give this place a one star rating, explicitly stating what had happened, and what I believed the place was used for. I realized that having no ratings, is just as bad as having bad ratings. And, although the use of this hotel is questionable, the room as very nice and very clean.

I am somewhat of risk taker, but I try to not take risks that are unnecessary. Not sure why this felt like it wasn’t such a risk, nor why I didn’t grab my bags and leave as soon as I saw the open storage unit door. But, it was 12:30pm by this time, and I was exhausted. Not my best move, but thank goodness, it turned out OK.

My sister has insisted that we have a code word, in case I get kidnapped, and I call her telling her that I’m OK. Good plan, and we have one!

I do have a good story to tell about my adventures. Although, this one is definitely a tale of caution.