BajaNomad

Cielito Lindo Hotel near Los Pinos Ranch

BoenBaja - 2-6-2026 at 12:11 PM

Has anybody stayed at the hotel lately? Do they still allow pets? Is there a better room to stay in for a single person with a medium size dog? (I’ve heard rumors in the past that one or more of the rooms have bedbugs.) Does the restaurant still serve breakfast burritos and what time does it open? TIA.

bajatrailrider - 2-7-2026 at 08:10 AM

Yes pets even put our dirt bikes in room at night. Never had bed bugs there before. Yes breakfast also you can pick any room in service. Not as nice as Baja Jardies but less $$$

David K - 2-7-2026 at 11:08 AM

Then there is the Hotel Misión Santa María whose paved driveway is just east of Cielito Lindo. It was originally the El Presidente hotel ,open in 1974. Then it became a Las Pintas hotel; then a Desert Inn hotel.

[Edited on 2-7-2026 by David K]

David K - 2-7-2026 at 11:12 AM

Quote: Originally posted by BoenBaja  
Has anybody stayed at the hotel lately? Do they still allow pets? Is there a better room to stay in for a single person with a medium size dog? (I’ve heard rumors in the past that one or more of the rooms have bedbugs.) Does the restaurant still serve breakfast burritos and what time does it open? TIA.


You could always put your sleeping bag on top of the bed.

BoenBaja - 2-7-2026 at 12:11 PM

Stayed at the Misión several times when the Mother Lode chapter of the Flying Sams held their clinics at the Los Pinos ranch. Really nice, but a little pricey. Lacking a non bug infested room at Cielito Lindo I may just get a camping spot there and sleep in the bed of my truck with my Baja rescue “Shayna Punim.”

surabi - 2-7-2026 at 12:35 PM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  


You could always put your sleeping bag on top of the bed.


I hope that was meant as a joke, as doing so would not protect you from a bed bug infested room.

David K - 2-7-2026 at 02:48 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
Quote: Originally posted by David K  


You could always put your sleeping bag on top of the bed.


I hope that was meant as a joke, as doing so would not protect you from a bed bug infested room.


It wasn't more than just an option idea for not laying on their unwashed sheets or pillow cases. What would you do IF conditions mandated sleeping in the room?
I am not a bed bug expert or have ever gotten bit by them in my 61 years of Baja travels.

surabi - 2-7-2026 at 04:07 PM

No conditions mandate sleeping in a bed bug infested room.

Bed bug infestations aren't just on the bedding and "unwashed" has nothing to do with having bed bugs. Just washing bedding doesn't get rid of them, they don't care if the sheets are clean or dirty. They hide out in every nook and cranny in a room- behind the baseboards, in the bed frame, everywhere. If you stayed somewhere with bed bugs they would get into your backpack, your clothing, your sleeping bag. If you didn't clean thoroughly clean everything you had in that room, you would just transfer them to the next place you stayed.

All parasites are similar in that "clean" or "dirty" has nothing to do with it, other than the fact that through cleaning may allow you to actually see what is there. When head lice make the rounds among children who play or go to school together, the lice don't care whether the kid's hair gets shampooed once a week or daily.

Getting rid of bed bugs requires expert fumigation and follow-up. Luckily I have never had any in my home or anywhere I have stayed, either.

Also, bed bugs can survive without a host for a really long time.

"Bed bugs can survive without a host for 20 to over 400 days, with adults often lasting up to a year or more in ideal, cool conditions. While they typically live 2–4 months without feeding, lower temperatures can extend their survival by slowing their metabolism, while higher temperatures shorten their lifespan. "



[Edited on 2-7-2026 by surabi]

bajatrailrider - 2-8-2026 at 09:12 AM

Im not a fan of Mision santa maria pricy for that money Baja Jardnes beats it. Also the breakfast at Mision 4 of us sent it back . Also the parking in front leaves your truck motos sxs easy to steal at night. Bed bugs at Lindo my first time there 1987 to this year never bed bugs. Baja Jardens is best. Two weeks ago we walked in on the old mill hotel . Sad to say looks like Jim and Nancy lost control . Only one truck there closed down many rooms . getting updated I will never go there as Jim should be the owner.

David K - 2-8-2026 at 10:21 AM

Quote: Originally posted by bajatrailrider  
Im not a fan of Mision santa maria pricy for that money Baja Jardnes beats it. Also the breakfast at Mision 4 of us sent it back . Also the parking in front leaves your truck motos sxs easy to steal at night. Bed bugs at Lindo my first time there 1987 to this year never bed bugs. Baja Jardens is best. Two weeks ago we walked in on the old mill hotel . Sad to say looks like Jim and Nancy lost control . Only one truck there closed down many rooms . getting updated I will never go there as Jim should be the owner.


Hi Larry, I thought some bigger Mexican organization bought the Old Mill 10 or ? years ago. They really fixed up the restaurant and dock outside. Unless that deal didn't include the motel... Thanks for the update on area motels.

[Edited on 2-8-2026 by David K]

K7BVT - 2-8-2026 at 12:55 PM

We have been staying at Celito Lindo for years including last November and haven't noticed any bed bugs, usually sleep in our own sleepings bags. Good food and breakfasts. Jardines and Old Mill are good but John Wayne never stayed at either. Celito Lindo has good vibes and is part of the Baja experience.

surfhat - 2-8-2026 at 04:22 PM

I stay at Jardines every year on my way down for some more Whale Magic.

I stay at the Mision de Santa Maria in the San Quintin area every year on my way back north.

Their million dollar view out the bedroom windows is priceless. The sliding glass doors and the small deck brings it all the closer.

So is the sandy beach out front filled with as many sand dollars and sea shells an anyone could care to collect.

Within reason. haha

I have always had a fine meal in their restaurant. Excellent service is the norm.

The Santa Maria in Catavina is worth a stop. If there is a location with more pure desert air to breathe in, it has to be rare where ever it is.

They have a mile or so, hike out the back to some rock paintings that I won't miss the next time.

Their curved red brick dining room is wonder all to itself.

What was the topic?

David K - 2-8-2026 at 08:26 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surfhat  
I stay at Jardines every year on my way down for some more Whale Magic.

I stay at the Mision de Santa Maria in the San Quintin area every year on my way back north.

Their million dollar view out the bedroom windows is priceless. The sliding glass doors and the small deck brings it all the closer.

So is the sandy beach out front filled with as many sand dollars and sea shells an anyone could care to collect.

Within reason. haha

I have always had a fine meal in their restaurant. Excellent service is the norm.

The Santa Maria in Catavina is worth a stop. If there is a location with more pure desert air to breathe in, it has to be rare where ever it is.

They have a mile or so, hike out the back to some rock paintings that I won't miss the next time.

Their curved red brick dining room is wonder all to itself.

What was the topic?


Funny, and nice comments, too.
The hotel is Km.179 and the painted cave/ boulder underside is a short hike east of Km 176. 3 kms = 1.86 miles on Mex 1.

wilderone - 2-10-2026 at 11:27 AM

Opt for a camping spot, and spend money saved on dinner, beer and breakfast at the restaurant. They have a toilet and shower for campers (I do hope it's been improved since the last time I was there, but available nevertheless).

Cappy - 2-10-2026 at 05:07 PM

Does jardines allow pets? Thank you

BornFisher - 2-10-2026 at 10:32 PM

Never had a bedbug at Celito Lindo. Can`t say the same for the Thunderbird Motel in Sho Low, Arizona!! A few times at Celito Lindo, the room was huge and beautiful but there always seemed to be a loud and hungry mosquito!!

bajatrailrider - 2-11-2026 at 07:29 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Cappy  
Does jardines allow pets? Thank you
Yes they have rooms for people with pets

mtgoat666 - 2-11-2026 at 08:07 AM

Quote: Originally posted by wilderone  
Opt for a camping spot, and spend money saved on dinner, beer and breakfast at the restaurant. They have a toilet and shower for campers (I do hope it's been improved since the last time I was there, but available nevertheless).


are you suggesting camping at/near the hotel? there is much better camping among the boulders a couple miles north of town...

wilderone - 2-14-2026 at 12:22 PM

"better camping among the boulders a couple miles north of town..."

San Quintin is usually to soon for me to set up camp going south, and has the appeal of the restaurant on the trip north. Though, in my notes for an upcoming trip (should that ever happen) I'm curious about; "... take the road west from the military base in Lazaro Card##as, just south of San Quintin that leads around the bay and out to La Chorera. There are many great camping locations out here." There has been an uptick in violence in San Quintin past couple years - weekly murders reported on Patrulla. A skull found in a dumpster on Friday (yesterday). I wouldn't boondock camp around there.
More:
2/10: a body wrapped in blankets located on Tuesday in front of a church New Era, San Quintin.
2/8 A man was killed this Sunday following an armed attack in the vicinity of Villa de Jesús Maria - body was located with multiple shocks on one side of a vehicle on fire
2/13: About eight bullets were received by a man after an armed attack at a well-known gas station in Camalú.
2/9: Monday night a body was reported thrown with gunshots on the body, on the street in the third section of the Tecate Corner / Niños Héroes St, his motorcycle thrown alongside.
2/7: Body located on the road is of missing man in Guerrero Negro;
Family confirmed that the 17-year-old was found dead, the car burned.