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The Top Cheap Hotels to Book in Cancún

Cancúns spectacular stretch of fine-sand beach is easily accessible from the resorts more affordable hotels
Cancún's spectacular stretch of fine-sand beach is easily accessible from the resort's more affordable hotels | © Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Mexico’s world-famous holiday resort has some great check-ins that won’t bankrupt you – far from it. They’re excellent value, particularly when you book yours via Culture Trip.

What’s so great about staying in Cancún? The beach. Plain and simple. It stretches for 14mi (22km), as white as talcum powder, fine and cool even in the hottest sunshine, and washed by gently rolling, Caribbean-turquoise waves. The expensive hotels sit right behind it. But you can stay in the city – just a few miles away, for the cost of a cab ride back home. Here are our top value-for-money places to stay in Cancún – all bookable with Culture Trip.

Hotel Casa Mallorca

Hotel

Courtesy of Casa Mallorca_Expedia
Courtesy of Casa Mallorca / Expedia

This family house is tucked away in a quiet residential backstreet in the southern suburbs of Cancún city. It feels like a B&B: rooms are very simple but bright, with light spilling in from full-length French windows that open to small balconies and an internal courtyard. They are pleasant to behold, too, decorated with stencil art and painted in whitewash and Mexican egg-yolk-yellows. Staff, who keep them meticulously clean, are warm and helpful and serve a great Mexican breakfast. The beach is 3mi (5km) away.

Selina Cancún Downtown

Hotel

Courtesy of Selina Camden_Expedia
Courtesy of Selina Cancún Downtown / Expedia

This branch of the international flashpacker hostel-meets-digital-nomad-den sits in the heart of downtown Cancún, a 20-minute bus ride from the beach. It’s as spacious, well kitted-out and brand-conscious as its sister hostels worldwide – with an outdoor patio bar separated by wattle stick partitions and raw wood, reminiscent of a beach palapa. Dorms and rooms with en-suites keep things cool with whitewash and muted tones or distressed concrete hung with poster art. There’s a pool and yoga deck and dance-party bar.

Los Encantos

Hotel, Guesthouse

Courtesy of Residencia Los Encantos_Expedia
Courtesy of Residencia Los Encantos / Expedia

The best thing about this plush family home – set in a townhouse on a residential street a few blocks from the landward side of Cancún’s lagoon – is the garden swimming pool. It’s large enough to contain a small island (occupied entirely by two shady palms). Rooms are super-pared down and plain – we’re talking tiled floors and cream walls – but they have fitted wooden wardrobes and plenty of shelf space. Beaches are a 10-minute cab ride away, and there are cake shops, restaurants, cafes and a supermarket within 15 minutes’ walk.

Hotel Batab

Budget Hotel

Courtesy of Hotel Batab_Expedia
Courtesy of Hotel Batab / Expedia

This simple hotel has been receiving guests for more than 30 years, and the local owners have honed their formula for good-value Cancún stays down to a fine art. Rooms in tile and creams offset by anodyne wall art are simple – with little more than beds and a chest of drawers, but they are well-kept. The restaurant serves big breakfasts, huevos rancheros and Yucatecan dishes. There are shops and other services nearby. Buses and cabs leave for the beach just outside the door, and there’s even a beach club.

One Cancún Centro

Hotel

Courtesy of One Cancun Centro_Expedia
Courtesy of One Cancún Centro / Expedia

This hotel has the spick-and-span, smart anonymity of an airport property, albeit one with an appealing pool. Simple rooms are decked out in modern, clean whites and warm woods, with bright blocks of primary color from bedspreads. Those facing east have over-the-lagoon-views to the serrated skyline of the Zona Hotelera and the tantalizing turquoises and blues of the Caribbean Sea. This is easy to reach. The property stands beside the fast and convenient Carretera – and cabs can whisk you to the beach in minutes.

Antillano

Hotel

Courtesy of Hotel Antillano_Expedia
Courtesy of Hotel Antillano / Expedia

The best things about the Antillano? The pool and sun lounge/patio, as well as the location: staying here you’re only minutes away from Boulevard Kukulcan, the road running behind Cancún’s 14mi (22km) beach. The hotel is on a quiet side street close to restaurants and shops and a pretty little public park with street-food stalls. Rooms are very straightforward – in whitewash and terracotta, with en-suites, bed and cable TV. Stays include a modest buffet breakfast.

Ambiance Suites

Hotel

Courtesy of The Ambiance_Expedia
Courtesy of Ambiance Suites / Expedia

In a great location – less than 1mi (1.5km) from Boulevard Kukulcan – the main road to Cancún’s long stretch of beach, Ambiance Suites rolls out guest house amenities with a few contemporary touches. Rooms are very simple, in contemporary soft creams and light yellows, with quality floor tiles, wall-high windows and modern granite-lined en-suites with walk-in showers. Suites come with separate living areas with a glass dining table and linen sofas. There’s a decent restaurant and a tiny pool set in a palm-tree shaded garden patio.

Santa Fe Studios

Hotel

It’s a 20-minute drive to the best beach from Santa Fe, but the hotel is a bargain. There are malls and restaurants five minutes’ walk away, and a rooftop pool, sheltered behind tall walls on a townhouse patio. Rooms are business-inn subtle – all greys and whites, with colorful scatter cushions and comfy wood-frame beds. The best have tall windows opening onto balcony-terraces with a table and chairs. Some have kitchenettes (there are supermarkets in the mall across the road). All have en-suites.

This is a rewrite of an article originally by Mónica Ramírez López.

Looking for more budget-friendly places to stay? Check out our guide to the best hostels in Cancún, Mexico, for budget travelers, bookable on Culture Trip.

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