The breakfast and lunch buffets at the Crowne Plaza were the highlights of my recent stay in Monterrey. Mainly because I was too afraid to leave the hotel in this ugly, ugly, ugly (and very dangerous) city. I was in Monterrey since my partner was speaking at a conference (why any organization would choose this awful city for a conference is beyond me), and I tagged along. The hotel was nice enough, and brought back fond memories of the 1990s, when the hotel was last renovated, apparently. Everything was fine, if a bit dated. The lobby was large and there was always something going on. The staff, unlike most people I had to deal with in Monterrey, were at least polite, if not friendly. The room was adequate, the wifi fast, the TV had lots of channels. We were on the 15th floor, with a view over the "river" and presumably slums that climbed up the hillside. There is a very small gym with three weight benches, a few weights, some tread mills and elliptical machines. The locker room was shabby, but there was a sauna, which got hot if you turned in on 1/2 hour ahead of usage. The pool seemed nice enough. Back to the buffet: loads of fresh fruits of all kinds, cheeses, dried meats, muesli, yoghurt, breads, hot chocolate and soups. There was a smoothie station, an omelette station, a Mexican food station, a dessert station. My only complaint would be that the price was different every day. I would shoot myself before going back to Monterrey, but if I did, I suppose I might stay at this hotel again. read more