Rancho Cumbre Monarca

Quiet and tranquil location with a nice backyard area with some trails, areas to eat outside, and tree houses. Great restaurant. I still consider 3/5 a good rating but it was really difficult to understand how to get to the monarch butterfly sanctuary. If there's one thing this hotel should do well, it's knowing how tourists can get to see the monarchs. I inquired about how we do this with the staff at breakfast in Spanish. They told another group to take the combi (shuttle that I still don't understand how it works), and told me not to use the combi but that we could could walk or get a taxi, but none of this was easy to determine. If they printed information and put it in the rooms, with a basic map of the area that shows where the butterfly sanctuary is, even if only written in Spanish, that would be wonderful. The restaurant internet they had didn't work for me or anyone in my group, so we relied on them for this information. Also, no big deal, but we did confirm & pay for a fire in the evening (they bring the wood and set it up for you) and they never came. They gave us a refund in the morning for the firewood cost but definitely bring warm clothes. Getting there was also a little difficult to figure out. If you're coming from Mexico City, go to the CDMX Poniente Bus Station and get a direct bus to Zitacuaro (we used Zina Plus, which was excellent, about $15 one way pp). SOME taxis will drive you all the way from Zitacuaro to Rancho Cumbre Monarca but some will only want to drive you to Ocampo. We were able to find someone willing to drive us the whole way. If you are dropped off in Ocampo, ask where you can find taxis or if nothing else ask them to drop you off at the tourism info center. It's an outdoor booth just before the town clearly labeled with monarch butterfly signage and I'm sure they can get another taxi for you to get from there to Rancho Cumbre. We met another group that just rented a car from CDMX and drove- if you have a GPS and someone to help navigate, that seems much easier.