Just for a few hours…please…

Don’t have time for an extended get away but feel the need – the urgent, pressing need – to get some sleep during Carnaval week?! There is a convenient alternative. In the outlying areas of Mazatlán are any number of the infamous “no-tell motels.” These discreet establishments are walled compounds with 30-50 rooms that rent by the hour. Most are very clean and modern and all are extremely private; discretion is their business. There’s a nice selection of these motels on highway 15 at both ends of town, just a few minutes away from most of Mazatlán and a world away from “the same old place.”

When you drive into one of these walled compounds, you speak into a microphone and are directed to your room by a disembodied voice. Each unit has its own garage with an overhead door actuated from the inside. When the garage door closes, you realize the only people that know where you are, don’t know who you are, and the people that know who you are, don’t know where you are. There is a small revolving door, with a center divider, set in the exterior wall, that accommodates all transactions; there’s never face-to-face contact between the patrons and management. For all I know these places could be run by space aliens.

All varieties of liquor can be ordered at the push of a button along with a few other things I won’t elaborate on. The beds are king-size, the showers are big enough for two and the price is around $200 pesos. So if you and your partner don’t have time for an extended get-away, but still want some special time together, grab a chilled bottle of champagne and spend a few hours in absolute privacy. One last thing: if you turn on the TV, don’t expect the Disney Channel.