After people have watched my film they often write emails. They want to talk about how they related to the film. Or they want help in making a life-changing decision. Or they want to ask a question. Or they simply want information about Mexico or San Miguel, in particular. Often they simply want information about where to stay when they first visit San Miguel.

      The last one is the easiest. I figure it is easier to write an article about houses in San Miguel or hotels in San Miguel than to answer each person individually.
There is an incredible range of hotels in San Miguel de Allende. Luxury to “isn’t this amazingly cheap for what you get?”

      The best places to check out listings of hotels in San Miguel is to go to one of these sites: www.experience-san-miguel-de-allende.com and/or www.portalsanmiguel.com
In the luxury end, Oasis Hotel is beautiful. www.oasissanmiguel.com, great location.
In the first class range, be sure to check out www.casadelacuesta.com, the owners are charming and very helpful.

      In the budget range I suggest Casa Crayola  www.gomexart.com (In the interest of full disclosure let me say that this one is owned by our daughter!) It is charming, convenient, and you get a lot for your money.

      Now, should you be interested in house rentals in San Miguel de Allende, I’d suggest you wander around the websites below:

     www.vacationrentals.com
     www.sanmiguelrentals.com
     www.sanmiguel-management.com

      Why come to San Miguel de Allende? Why do people love it here? Why do people love Mexico?

     Actually, that was the focus of my film, Lost and Found in Mexico. I wanted to find out why all these foreigners had picked up and left their homes back in Canada or in the U.S. to live in this small community in the mountains of central Mexico. We are far from the beaches and far from any metropolitan city.

      Linda Ellerbee, the famous journalist and former NBC correspondent, describes her experience of living in Mexico. She’s upset about the slanted way that the press has represented Mexico in the past few months:

      “Generalization is risky, but- in general - Mexicans are warm, friendly, generous and welcoming. If you smile at them, they smile back. If you greet a passing stranger on the street, they greet you back. If you try to speak even a little Spanish, they tend to treat you as though you were fluent or at least not an idiot. I have had taxi drivers track me down after leaving my wallet or cell phone in their cab. I have had someone run out of a store to catch me because I have overpaid by twenty cents. I have been introduced to and come to love a people who celebrate a day dedicated to the dead as recognition of the cycles of birth and death and birth - and the 15th birthday of a girl, an important rite in becoming a woman - with the same joy. Too much of the noise you’re hearing about how dangerous it is to come to Mexico is just that - noise. But the media love noise, and too many journalists currently making it don’t live here.”

     I couldn’t have said it better!


      Caren Cross is the director of the award-winning documentary film, Lost and Found in Mexico. She and her husband, at midlife, impulsively abandoned their professional careers and moved to Mexico.