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dagibbs
Mar 27, 2012, 1:55 AM
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I just got back from my second trip to El Potrero Chico, and like last time, I stayed at the Posada. I stayed there a 2nd time, because I'd found it a good place to stay the first time, 3 years ago. I am now recommending not staying there -- for 2 reasons. I am reasonably sure an employee stole from us, and they are no longer a welcoming place to meet up.
I travelled there with a friend, and we stayed in one of the rooms at the Posada. We generally left our wallets as well as electonic gear and stuff in our room, locked, while we were out climbing. On the evening of the last day of climbing (2 evening before leaving) I counted the money in my wallet to figure out if we had enough money for our lift (with potreroed) back to the airport. I had in my wallet $27 (US) and 220 Pesos. We went climbing, leaving the door locked (and wallets out of plain site, mine was in a pocket in my luggage), when we came back the room was still locked, my wallet was where I left it -- but I had only $7 and 20 pesos. After I noticed this, we did some back calculating. I had taken out 3000 pesos when we arrived for spending money, a few days later my travelling companion took out a further 4000. (I also thought I had enough in US cash for the ride back to the airport and them some -- but don't have a specific count on this.) We were generally spending about 300 pesos a day (a meal and a margarita each at the Posada restaurant -- some days a bit more, some a bit less if we ate in town), plus about 600 pesos in groceries. Over the 12 days, this would have been about 4200 pesos. We had, between us, that last day about 300 pesos. So, about 2500 pesos and at least $20 (and I think more like $80) went missing. It looks like someone with keys to our room was going into the room while we were gone and, carefully, taking small enough amounts that we wouldn't notice it -- cause we were on vacation not carefully tracking. If I hadn't counted specifically that night, I wouldn't have noticed. The people with keys are, of course, the staff there -- this wasn't stolen from a tent where anyone could go in.
When I was last down there, the Posada was a meet-up and hang-out place for climbers, whether staying at the Posada or not. But, this visit, the staff were harrassing anyone not staying there. They have a sign posted at the entrance saying that anyone who "uses the facilities" will have to pay an access fee. (Apparently 30 pesos.) Using the facilities appears to include sitting in a chair chatting with someone who is staying at the Posada, or sitting outside someone's room chatting. They harrassed a number of my climbing friends, and did other things, like turning off the wifi access point or the electicity to my room is a non-resident was at the Posada. (I think they have been hit be the reduction in climber traffic in Mexico because of all the cartel bad news, and are trying to treat everyone who wanders in as a revenue stream or something like that. But it made it feel very un-welcoming.)
(This post was edited by dagibbs on Mar 27, 2012, 9:01 PM)
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bill413
Mar 27, 2012, 12:45 PM
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This is a sad thing to hear.
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gblauer
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Mar 27, 2012, 1:46 PM
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Did you talk to Luis about all of this? He is very responsive and he understands customer service.
It's critical that you provide him feedback so that he can make the necessary changes.
I am sorry that money was stolen from you. In all the years that I have been going to EPC, I have never experienced that kind of situation.
Luis is a good guy and he runs a tight operation. I think he would be very distressed if he read this post.
(This post was edited by gblauer on Mar 27, 2012, 9:47 PM)
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dagibbs
Mar 27, 2012, 4:13 PM
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gblauer wrote: Did you talk to Louis about all of this? He is very responsive and he understands customer service. It's critical that you provide him feedback so that he can make the necessary changes. I am sorry that money was stolen from you. In all the years that I have been going to EPC, I have never experienced that kind of situation. Louis is a good guy and he runs a tight operation. I think he would be very distressed if he read this post.
I did not see Louis around at all. According to Luli (sp?) who is (I think) his mother, he is off at business (?) school in Monterrey. Luli seemed to be the person managing the Posada while we were there. Luli seemed to be involved with (and supportive of) the policy of harrassing people not staying at the Posada. We did talk to her about the theft, she said she'd talk to her employees (who all, of course, denied it), then she came back to us and suggested that another climber we'd been climbing with, and who we knew had been in the Potrero all day when the money was stolen, was actually to blame for the theft.
Whoever did the theft was subtle and careful enough that we almost didn't notice that it was happening, either.
I don't know if Luli will mention this to Louis, I would hope so, but I don't know. If you have a direct contact for Louis (personal email, not something that filters through someone else), I'd be happy to email him directly.
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dagibbs
Mar 27, 2012, 4:14 PM
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bill413 wrote: This is a sad thing to hear.
I know. It was a sad thing to end up in a situation where I felt I should post this. I had had such a good experience at the Posada on my previous visit.
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gblauer
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Mar 27, 2012, 4:25 PM
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I will send you Luis' contact information.
(This post was edited by gblauer on Mar 27, 2012, 9:48 PM)
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donwanadi
Mar 27, 2012, 7:15 PM
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That sucks man. I had something very similar happen from a hotel in Prague.
FYI - Robbery indicates the theft occurred at gunpoint (or by force), which would be much more serious.
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dagibbs
Mar 27, 2012, 9:01 PM
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donwanadi wrote: FYI - Robbery indicates the theft occurred at gunpoint (or by force), which would be much more serious.
Ah, yes -- missed that subtlety. Edited to change the word use from "robbed" to "stolen from".
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timstich
Mar 27, 2012, 9:59 PM
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I stayed at La Posada the last time I went in 2006. It's too bad they are hassling other climbers now. In any case, what sounds like a better deal is to rent a house with a group and just invite other climbers to hang out there. It's quieter at night, too, depending on your neighbors of course.
From what my friend said, you definitely do not want to be down there during the period that the public pool is open. It's a complete madhouse with tons of extra stray dogs everywhere, added armed security, and non-stop loud music until 3AM.
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markpaul
Jan 14, 2013, 9:54 PM
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I had a quick question as I'm renting a room at Posada this week. It looks like they give you blankets but somewhere I've seen mentioned that a sleeping bag id a good idea. Do you know if we'll need to bring sleeping bags or are the blankets warm enough?
(This post was edited by markpaul on Jan 14, 2013, 9:59 PM)
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dagibbs
Jan 14, 2013, 10:08 PM
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markpaul wrote: I had a quick question as I'm renting a room at Posada this week. It looks like they give you blankets but somewhere I've seen mentioned that a sleeping bag id a good idea. Do you know if we'll need to bring sleeping bags or are the blankets warm enough?
I was there in early March, and the blanket was barely enough. In January, a light sleeping bag might be a good idea.
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markpaul
Jan 14, 2013, 10:15 PM
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Thanks!
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yodadave
Jan 14, 2013, 10:59 PM
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I was there last Feb and there were extra blankets if you asked but it could still get cold at night.
My wife and i loved La Posada and had no problems. They were very friendly and helpful especially Luli and Luis. I hope we as a community can recognize that this can and has happened almost everywhere any one of us has ever stayed and trust that with feedback to management we give their business the best chance of stamping out these issues early. I'd hate to see their reputation dragged through the mud over what may be an isolated incident.
I was also wondering if Alex Honnold stayed there on his recent trip. anyone know?
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markpaul
Jan 15, 2013, 12:43 AM
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Thanks for the input. I may see if my sleeping bag fits otherwise bring some extra warm stuff to wear at night.
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potreroed
Jan 17, 2013, 4:53 AM
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Yeah, Alex and Stacey stayed in one of the rooms at La Posada.
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