Holiday Inn Express Nuevo Laredo

Perched along a major highway overlooking the Rio Grande, the HIE at first appears stark - stone and steel on the outside, with military bunkers around the perimeter of the parking lot. Inside, the HIE is quite attractive, stone and tile, large open spaces with comfy furniture, a business center, a small but adequate gym and pool. The room was spacious with a very generous bathroom. The breakfast buffet always included fresh fruit, cereal, yogurt, breads, eggs, bacon, ham, frijoles (refried beans), and one or two regional dishes. Very good coffee, tea, and a selection of fruit juices. Excellent, but be early! There is a shuttle in the early morning and late afternoon/evening, but be sure to make your arrangements in advance. We've stayed in a number of lesser hotels that got better ratings than HIE, but the overall experience was actually well above the average two and three star ratings. If we only needed to stay one or two nights, we would certainly stay here again. Unfortunately, the location makes a longer stay more expensive due to transportation costs, so this would not be our choice for another extended stay.

Pros: The room itself was great, spacious and clean. Breakfast was a satisfying buffet of Mexican & American favorites. Staff was very friendly and helpful, made referrals for salons, restaurants, and other services, which all turned out to be excellent.

Cons: Distance from everything meant having to drive everywhere, no walking, no bus, etc. Mexican military is now stationed there, perhaps to comfort the fearful, but we found it less than romantic. We saw very few other hotel guests during our stay.