The Place We're at Now: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Many folks say this colonial-era town in Central Mexico has become too "Disneyfied," so we were reluctant to come here. What did we think?

This is a regular feature about where we currently are in the world: how we ended up there, what it costs, and exactly what we think.

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Hola from the Mexican state of Guanajuato, the birthplace of Mexican independence.

Brent and I are currently in San Miguel de Allende, high on the Central Mexican Plateau — specifically, 1,910 metres (or 6,270 ft) up, almost 1,000 feet higher than Denver, Colorado.

No wonder we sometimes feel winded walking up hills.

San Miguel de Allende has a fascinating history involving, yes, Mexican independence, but also periods of boom-and-bust as a result of some nearby silver and gold mines.

Nowadays, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site that Travel + Leisure magazine has named “the best travel destination in the world” three times: in 2017, 2018, and 2024.

Which was part of the problem. Was it too popular? We’d heard so many negative things about San Miguel de Allende: “It’s been completely Disney-fied!” “There are too many tourists and expat retirees!” “It’s not ‘authentic’ Mexico anymore!”

As a result, we were reluctant to come here.

Is this the “real” Mexico?

So what do we think? Are the naysayers right?

We’ll answer that in a bit.

How did we end up here?

We first considered coming to San Miguel in 2022, but then some British friends offered us a housesitting gig at their place in London, and we couldn’t say no, so we canceled those plans for Mexico.

But then, earlier this year, we had two different visits scheduled back in our home country of the United States. We were looking for a place to hang out between them in nearby Mexico, and other online friends suggested we stay in their amazing home in San Miguel.

Once again, we couldn’t say no.

Where are we staying? What does it cost?

Our friends’ house wasn’t available right away, so we stayed for a week at Casa Frida B&B. We loved it, especially the amazing breakfasts. It was $384 for six days, or $64 a night — amazing breakfast included.

After that, we moved into our friends’ place: a three-story house in Colonia Guadalupe, directly north of the city center — Centro Histórico.

As Brent pointed out last month, the place is massive. And it’s not housesitting — our online friends rent it out at a reduced rate to friends and acquaintances while they’re traveling.

The living room, the kitchen, and the staircase up to the second floor.

And there are two bedrooms, plus both a casita and a den.

The master suite (left) is on the second floor, and the casita (right) is on the roof, and Brent and I fight over who gets to work there.

And then there’s the rooftop garden, where we can watch the sunset and spy on our neighbors. Rooftop decks are very popular here!

Did I mention the house comes with thrice-weekly housekeeping by a lovely local woman — and twice-weekly gardening?

And how much does all this cost?