How to Rent a Cheap Apartment in Mexico City

Introduction to renting a cheap apartment in Mexico City?

So, about renting places in Mexico City…. it’s obviously more expensive than the rest of the country, but still can be cheap. I pay quite a lot for my room – 4000 pesos a month or about 360 dollars.

So, there are obviously rooms in apartments that would be 3000 pesos or less… it would be cheaper the more you are willing to be outside the “trendy” areas. There are probably even apartments here for 3500 pesos or less, but these would not be near the center. That can be ok, because Mexico City can be interesting wherever you are and there’s good public transportation.

I know there’s this place where my friend used to stay called Hostal Virreyes, you can look it up. I think it tends to house a lot of Mexican students, so it might be like a university residence which could be both interesting and/or annoying. I know the rooms start at 2900 pesos for a small, i think 3500 pesos for a medium. I’ve been there and even the small rooms are pretty big, and they have their own bathrooms. It’s literally a step away from Salta de Agua subway station downtown. It’s not the nicest area in town, but would be ok as long as you don’t go wandering at night. (A bit to the south is Doctores, which is a bad neighborhood, but a bit to the north is the historic center.)

How to rent an apartment in Mexico City

The only problem is that people here would definitely not rent to someone without meeting them. Again, you wouldn’t be able to find something without coming here.

Places near Mexico City with cheaper rents

Anyways, there are other towns near Mexico City which might suit your fancy as well. Queretaro is a really nice town of just about a million people… it’s got a lovely center, the people are really nice and it’s about 3 hours away from Mexico City. When I was there I didn’t see a single other foreigner. Morelia is about 4 hours to the west of here… it’s one of my favourite places in Mexico, again about a million people, really beautiful, not touristy at all.

If I was in your position I would stop in San Cristobal for a couple of days and then head north to the center of the city. Don’t get me wrong, I love San Cristobal, but as for a place to “get to know” Mexico it would be a bit lacking for a couple reasons. 1 – Chiapas is actually a lot more similar to Guatemala. 2 – San Cristobal is a lot like Antigua Guatemala, so it’s sort of a “Disneyland” version of Mexico.

So what I would do is come north to Mexico City, take a peek around, decide if you want to stay (I’m sure I can put you guys up for a couple days.) If not, there are tons of beautiful cities really nearby that would be cheaper.