Hotel Quinta Real

On your next trip to Zacatecas, plan your wardrobe carefully. If you’re planning to stay at the Hotel Quinta Real, it would probably be advisable to avoid wearing red clothes. Although there aren’t bulls there anymore, the Hotel captures the spirit of a Mexican bullring so well, you just may have to worry about overzealous guests charging out of their rooms at the sight of your Cincinnati jersey.

Although there hasn’t been a fight in the Hotel Quinta Real since 1975, visitors can get a great sense of what its like to be both spectator and bull. Built around an actual bullring in 1989, the hotel converted spectator’s seats into luxury hotel rooms, featuring the original bullring as a plaza in the center. Besides the novelty of staying in the grandstand of an arena, the detail that was preserved in the ring is awe-inspiring.

While the spectators may have been swapped for colonial luxury and the bulls for roaming guests, the Hotel Quinta Real is a good first step into taking in the rich history of old Zacatecas.