Sometimes it's not just about the amenities, location and aesthetics. Sometimes it's about the people. My family of four (my wife and two young children) showed up on New Year's Eve in Oaxaca, wrung-out and emotionally fragile from a gruelling trip down from El Paso with an ailing VW Westfalia, on our way to spend a sabbatical year in Puerto Escondido. Our van had been getting progressively worse as we had been driving, to the point that we barely made it, and probably should have stopped at a repair shop sooner.

After explaining our situation to the kindly owners, they called in a favour with one of their friends who owned a mechanic shop and he showed up at 7 PM on New Year's Eve to start working on it, because, as he explained, nobody would be working until at least the 3rd of January. He fixed it that evening and charged me $60 US (I had some of the key parts needed).

This hotel is a lovely place, full of cheerfully squawking parrots amidst the beautiful trees of the interior courtyard, with a great lending library. Everything is as good or better as you might expect, including the price.

Sometimes everything goes well and according to plan. But sometimes not, and for those times, well, there's Casa Arnel.

We stayed here during the Day of the Dead celebrations and found it a great base for exploring the city, easy walking distance to the Zocalo and other major sights.

The reception staff are friendly and helpful, rooms are basic but clean and comfortable with fans. The real highlight was the gardens in the central courtyard and the roof terrace which we were able to watch some of the Day of the Dead processions pass by from.

We didn't eat at the hotel but there are several small cafes nearby which are very reasonable and have great local food.