Colonial Mexicali, a four-star property, sits in Mexicali. Guests have access to a pool, a restaurant and breakfast. It scores 4.2/5 across 1930 guest reviews — a very good rating. In our 2026 scans, rooms ranged from US$94 to US$125 per night depending on dates and occupancy. It sits about 3 km from the centre of Mexicali. Most rooms can be booked with free cancellation, and every booking removes a tonne of CO₂.
About Mexicali: Almost nobody comes to Mexicali on holiday, and the hotel supply is honest about that. All hotels in Mexicali →
Rooms and rates
Across our 2026 scans we logged 11 priced stays for Colonial Mexicali: rates ran from US$94 to US$125 a night depending on the date, how far ahead you book, and occupancy. Rates in Mexicali move with demand: midweek stays booked a couple of weeks out are where our scans found the widest choice of free-cancellation rooms. The price you see after tapping “Check availability” is the live app.impt.io rate for your exact dates, not an estimate.
Location
Colonial Mexicali is at Blvd Lopez Mateos 1048, Mexicali, Mexico. That puts it about 3 km from the centre of Mexicali's hotel district, based on the coordinates in our scans. The nearest city with a bigger hotel scene is Tecate, about 112 km away — compare Tecate hotels too if your plans are flexible. This page's “View on map” link opens the exact spot in Google Maps, so you can measure the journeys that matter to you.
The facilities, in detail
For food and drink, the hotel lists breakfast and restaurant(s). On the wellness side there's kids pool, outdoor pool and swimming pool. Practical services include 24 hour front desk, 24h. security, business center, free car parking, laundry service and luggage storage. In the room itself: air conditioning, bath, bathroom, free wifi, hairdryer and iron and board. The full list of 44 facilities is below; double-check the ones that are deal-breakers when you book, as hotels adjust what they offer by season.
Good to know before you book
Booking is straightforward: pick dates and guests in the widget, check the live rate on app.impt.io, and complete the reservation there. Most rooms are offered with free cancellation until a few days before arrival — the exact deadline is shown next to each rate before you pay. Every confirmed booking also removes a tonne of CO₂ through IMPT's carbon-removal projects, at no extra cost to you. When comparing, note that the four-star rating reflects the hotel's declared standard; the guest reviews on this page tell you how it actually feels to stay.
Mexicali for hotel guests
This is the capital of Baja California: state government, factory work, valley agriculture and a border gate facing Calexico that never closes. Hotels cluster in the Centro Cívico and along the wide boulevards, with older, cheaper rooms down by the line in the old quarter around La Chinesca. Our 2026 scans logged 19 hotels with a real price: from US$43 a night and a typical rate of the order of US$83 — business-city numbers, not resort ones. Then there is summer, when 45°C is routine, so working air conditioning is the first thing to confirm. All hotels in Mexicali →
Facilities
Guest reviews
4.21930 reviewsDirty room. No blankets just two thin sheets. Strong smell from bathroom. Toilet barely works. Good price though.
Horrible customer Service needs more attention in cleaning. Overall overpriced for what you get. Beds only have sheets NO bedspreads and if you ask for them you get attitude from the staff. If you have 4 people staying in the room you only get 2 sets of towels if you want more you have to ask and then deal with the attitude. :(
Don’t stay at this hotel get an airbnb instead for the same price. AC absolutely sucks room doesn’t get below 84 degrees and the unit turns off everyone 45 mins. Shower does not drain properly and leaks water all over the floor. Room wasn’t met to clean standards, swirl marks were left in the mirrors and no replacement of bathroom paper. Will not stay here again.
Planning your trip to Mexicali
When to go
Heat runs this city. From June to September Mexicali sits between 42 and 46°C, touching 50 on the worst days, with asphalt still radiating at midnight. It is dry heat, not the sticky Gulf kind, but relentless. Daily life splits into two shifts: early morning and after eight at night, with air conditioning in between.
November to March is the kind season: 20-24°C by day, nights near 5°C, occasional frost out in the valley. It is the best time to walk the Centro and La Chinesca, and also the busiest for business travel, so Monday to Thursday rooms tighten up. Bring a jacket — the desert cools fast after sunset.
The rounded months are March, April, October and November. Spring brings wind and dust, with days of milky sky; August and September add monsoon humidity and short storms. Total annual rainfall is tiny, so rain is never a reason to move your dates. Heat is.
Two warnings. In October the Fiestas del Sol fill the city and push room rates up. And in winter the highway to Tijuana over La Rumorosa can close for fog, ice or snow — check road conditions between December and February, and do not drive that stretch at night.
Getting there and around
Most people arrive overland. Two crossings link Calexico: the downtown gate, right beside the old centre and easy on foot, and Calexico East, used mainly by cars and freight. Northbound waits often top an hour on weekday mornings and on Sundays; southbound into Mexico is usually quick.
General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada airport (MXL) is about 20 km east, with domestic flights to Mexico City, Guadalajara and the northwest. A taxi into town runs around MX$300-400. Plenty of international visitors fly into California instead and walk across, which is cheaper if you do not mind the immigration queue.
The bus terminal near the Centro Cívico is genuinely useful: Tijuana in about three hours over La Rumorosa, San Felipe in two and a half, San Luis Río Colorado in two, plus long-haul departures into Sonora and Sinaloa. It beats driving the desert yourself.
Inside the city, forget long walks. Mexicali is flat, gridded and huge, and in summer three blocks in the sun feel like ten. City buses cost around MX$15 and are slow; taxis and ride apps handle short hops for roughly MX$80-150. Rent a car if the valley or San Felipe are on your list.
Where to stay, zone by zone
The Centro Cívico is the de facto hotel district: mid-range chains alongside government offices, hospitals, the bus terminal and the Plaza La Cachanilla mall. It is not pretty — wide boulevards, parking lots — but it is convenient, well connected and where nearly everyone on a work trip sleeps.
The big boulevards, Benito Juárez and Justo Sierra, hold a second cluster of hotels next to shopping centres and restaurants. They work with a car and usually have generous parking; without one you live on ride apps. This is the choice for a multi-night stay with a chain, a pool and breakfast included.
The old centre, between the border gate and La Chinesca, has the oldest and cheapest rooms. The upside is real: walk into Calexico, eat Chinese food two streets from your door. So is the downside — street noise, plain rooms, and the Río Nuevo surroundings, which are not for walking after dark.
East towards the airport and the industrial parks, hotels are built for factory business: functional, with nothing around them. Our 2026 scans logged 19 hotels with a real price, from US$43 a night and a median of about US$83. Anything under US$60 is usually an older downtown property.
Eating and going out
Chinese food is Mexicali's signature, and it is no tourist gimmick: Chinese labourers dug the valley's canals and worked its cotton a century ago. What remains is La Chinesca, with its basements and historic storefronts, and dozens of restaurants citywide serving a desert-adapted Cantonese cooking you will not find anywhere else in Mexico.
The rest is pure northern Mexico: charcoal-grilled carne asada, machaca burritos for breakfast, late tacos after the bars, and seafood trucked up from San Felipe — clams, shrimp, tostadas. Street stands and markets are cheap; eating well for MX$120-200 a head is normal.
The city has brewed beer since the 1920s and has a young craft scene downtown. Nightlife stacks up Thursday to Saturday; earlier in the week many kitchens close early and the centre empties out. In summer everything happens indoors. Only two nights? One Chinese dinner and one carne asada sum the place up.
Booking well
Think like a business traveller even if you are not one. Demand runs Monday to Thursday; Friday and Saturday soften, rates included. If your dates are flexible, a weekend costs less and the city, with far less traffic, is easier to cross end to end.
Supply is thin: 19 hotels with a real price in our 2026 scans, starting at US$43 and with a median of the order of US$83. When a convention or a big event lands, that inventory sells out fast and prices jump. Book early for October and for long weekends.
Check three things before paying: that the room has its own air conditioning and that it works (non-negotiable in summer), that there is enclosed parking if you drive, and how far you are from the border gate if you plan a six-a.m. crossing. Ask for an inside room in boulevard-facing hotels, and keep a flexible cancellation — border plans shift with queues and appointments.
Frequently asked about Colonial Mexicali
How much does Colonial Mexicali cost?
Prices we observed in 2026 started at US$94 per night. These are scan observations, not a live quote: the final rate depends on your dates. Use the check-availability widget on this page to see the current price.
Where is Colonial Mexicali?
The address is Blvd Lopez Mateos 1048, Mexicali, Mexico, Mexicali, about 3 km from the centre. This page's "View on map" link opens the exact spot.
What facilities does Colonial Mexicali have?
The hotel lists 24 Hour Front Desk, 24H. Security, Air conditioning, Alarm clock, Banquet and Bath. The full list (44 facilities) is in this page's facilities section.
How do I book Colonial Mexicali?
Pick dates and guests in this page's check-availability widget: it takes you to the live price on app.impt.io, where you complete the booking. Most rooms come with free cancellation, and every booking removes a tonne of CO₂.
