Description: The El Paso Camino Real is the only US hotel from the well-known Mexican hotel chain (well known in Mexico). It's sadly not a great introduction on Camino Real hotels.
The location in downtown El Paso is great if you have downtown business and the convention center (and decent access to the highway and the University of Texas at El Paso). The area is a wee bit desolate at night and very near the busy bus area on the plaza - it's a safe area but it may not seem that way at first glance.
The public spaces of the hotel are lovely. Large ballrooms (good catering services) and the beautiful lobby bar which has a spectacular Tiffany glass ceiling. Drinks are strong, and bar food is decent Tex-Mex. There is a fancy restaurant (never eaten there but is supposed to be good) and a casual restaurant which is good but not great with standard Tex-Mex (and a robust breakfast with interesting local dishes). There is a cute little gift shop, and they sell expensive art.
So why wouldn't you want to stay in this full-service hotel?! Sadly, the lovely lobby is not matched once you take the elevators upstairs. The rooms are really large but aching for a make over. Slow plumbing in dated bathrooms, dark hallways, lumpy beds, ratty carpets. It's certainly not up to the $90+ per night rates, especially compared to the fancy Doubletree and the Holiday Inn Express with its free breakfast.
If you do end up here, prepare to hang out in the lobby for wifi. Consider dinner at the nearby Cafe Central then drinks in the hotel lobby. For breakfast, you can skip the buffet and get (good and cheap) breakfast tacos across the plaza at Tejas Cafe. There is a good local coffee shop just across the street from Tejas as well.
There is a big push in El Paso to upgrade the Camino, and it has the potential to be a really spectacular hotel. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a make-over - until then, I stay at the Doubletree down the street.
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