Aloha from Hawaii fellow Mongers,
I'm definately not a veteran in this venue, but I just got back from my 5th visit to the Zona Norte. Was on the TJ side when the border station overpass fell, so luckily I had already booked a room at the Cascadas. I was told that the rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors on the Alley side have been renovated. Their plan is to renovate the Alley side first then the Calle Coahuila side. This is because the Alley side is usually used for overnight reservations and the Calle Coahuila side is for HK short term users. I was in room 222 and definately heard construction work being performed above. Not sure about the jacuzzi rooms, but the renovated standard room was plenty good for me.
If anyone has advise for a TJ newbie like me, I'm definately interested. I'm already booked to be back there in December. Also, I can offer any advise and/or lessons learned from my limited 3-years of experiences if anyone is interested. If you want to know anything about Hawaii or the Far East, I've got 25-years of mongering there.
This is my advise on the Cascadas. Don't buy the $50 HK VIP Card. Reasons:
- 20% Cascadas room discount does not apply to the internet rate. You pay $32 when the standard internet rate is already $35.
- $25 HK coupon can only be used if the beer price is raised to $7, so you only get 3 beers for the coupon.
- Free border shuttle is the bouncer giving a cab driver $5, but the process takes 20-minutes to get approved. It's easier to just pay the $5.
- Late check-out not available as advertized with the VIP card.
- First drink free can already be had with the internet coupon, so no advaneforum.xxxe of using the VIP card.
Aside from that, I love the Cascadas. The Alley side entrance is very convenient for entertaining SG's. They are all happy to use the Cascadas since it's much cleaner than the $5 dumps they will take you to. Also, you don't have to worry about the 20-minute door knock.
Happy Hunting,
dirtemail