The short answer: choose a small hotel if you want to be looked after, and a rental if you want to keep house. Both put you in Centro, on the same cobblestones. The difference is what happens inside the door.
We're a small hotel, six suites around a courtyard at Jesús 17 in Zona Centro, so we'll be plain about where we're the right choice and where we're not. We can't speak for any one rental, because every listing is different. What we can do is tell you exactly what you get with us, and what to check before you book anywhere else.
What you get with us
Our staff are in the house 24/7, and the entrance door stays closed so only guests and staff come in. A continental breakfast is included every morning, served on the terrace. Our concierge books tables at a handpicked list of partner restaurants (we don't have a restaurant of our own), arranges SUV transfers from Querétaro (about 1h20), Bajío (about 1h40) or Mexico City (about 3h30), and sets up massages and facials in your suite. There's a pool and jacuzzi in the courtyard, under a double Chichimeca staircase, and Pedro Friedeberg's work runs through the house. If you want something arranged, ask once. Consider it done.
What we don't do
We don't have kitchens, and we ask guests not to bring cooking or heating appliances. We don't host children under 12. We have no elevators, for structural reasons. And our cancellation policy is strict: we're small, privately owned and referral driven, and we can't resell a suite at short notice the way a large hotel can. Changes to dates aren't possible once you've booked, and non-refundable rates are charged in full when you book.
What to check on a rental
If you're leaning toward a rental, ask the host four things before you pay: who answers the door if something breaks at 11pm, what the cleaning and service fees add up to per night, how many stairs there are, and how you'll get from the airport. Those are the questions that decide whether a rental feels like freedom or like work.
About our prices
Our rates are quoted in U.S. dollars and carry a 21% hospitality tax plus a USD $40 destination fee per night. Compare the total, not the nightly figure, with whatever a rental charges once its own fees are added.