It has been some time since I’ve been inside the Hotel Peñasco Del Sol (formerly known as Plaza Las Glorias) but one hot and humid afternoon on my last visit I stopped by for a ‘cold-one’ and was appalled to have paid (with tax and tip) about $5.00 (USD) for a Tecate and I didn’t even so much as get the traditional (complimentary) small bowl of chips and salsa!
I found out many years ago it is often wise to pay and tip for each drink as I order them but as thirsty as I was that day, and after paying for the first bevy, I decided then and there that I was damn sure not going to sit there and consume mass quantities of cervezas and run up a humongous tab so I left the deserted lobby bar and made my way down the Camino…
Now don’t get me wrong as I truly like the Hotel and have also dined there on many occasions, but that five bucks that day for one beer really irked me and as I sat there pondering basic labor costs in Mexico I began to fume because I could have been sitting in a fine hotel in (e.g.) Hawaii, where labor costs are through the ceiling, having an ‘imported’ beer for the same $5 (or less).
Of course there are plenty of places in Peñasco where we can get a ‘cold-one’ at half (or less) the price but that isn’t the point because, and someone correct me if I’m wrong, bigger companies (like hotels) usually get a better price break from their vendors. So if the Cantina down the street can sell cervezas for much less, at a profit, then why can’t the Hotel Peñasco Del Sol?
Maybe it is because they are an S.A. de C.V. (“Inc.”) and like their fellow ‘Inc.s’ in the USA they have some bloodless ‘bean-counter’ hunched over somewhere crunching numbers, someone who has no clue whatsoever about building up a ‘steady’ flow of ‘locals’ who may pop in once or twice a week, have some cold-ones, order some food and continue that habit year in and year out.
All I know for sure is that it has been a couple years since I stopped by the Hotel (for anything) but I can assure everyone, including the accountant for the Hotel, that I have not given up my extracurricular activities, which often include muchos like-minded Amigos.
¡Viva México y Puerto Peñasco!
Email me: El Gitano Penasco
