These cities go all out for Day of the Dead. Here’s where to stay.

23.10.2023 - 16:05 / nationalgeographic.com

Marigold-strewn altars to deceased loved ones, revelers dressed as skeletons, and colorful parades make Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) a big spectacle in Mexico and U.S. border states. The somber-meets-celebratory holiday November 1 and 2 honors the dead with a fusion of Catholic and pre-Columbian traditions. It sees locals decorating family graves at cemeteries and travelers joining public celebrations from Mexico City to California.

“The elements of Day of the Dead are uniquely Mexican, but the idea of honoring your ancestors is universal,” says Jimmy Mendiola, director of the Muertos Festival in San Antonio, Texas, which features nearly one hundred ofrendas (memorial altars decked with flowers, food, and photos)built by locals.

The Day of the Dead is big business, too: In 2022, Mexico’s secretary of tourism estimated the holiday generated $1.8 billion and 2.1 million hotel room bookings. Hotels get in on the festivities, erecting ofrendas and serving traditional dishes such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead) at their restaurants. 

Here are 11 of the best places to stay in five cities that know how to celebrate the holiday.

In late October and early November, multiple Día de los Muertos parades fill Mexico’s buzzing capital. They star women dressed as catrinas (fanciful skeletons) and floats decked with oversized models of alebrijes (mythical animals). November 4th, The Grand Día de Muertos Parade dazzles with thousands of costumed marchers between the trendy Condesa neighborhood and the Zócalo, the outsized central plaza, which is filled with memorial altars. “The best place to watch the parade is from a terrace on the Paseo de Reforma, where you can see the dancers and colors from above,” says Karla Gonzalez, director of the Mexico City tourism board.

Stay near the action at the Condesa neighborhood’s hip new Hotel San Fernando, where a rooftop lounge and 19 rooms decorated with local textiles in a converted Art Deco apartment building. For killer vistas of the parading skellies, the St. Regis Mexico City has some guest rooms overlooking the Paseo de Reforma. Its Diana restaurant serves a Mexican brunch menu—duck flautas, eggs with machacado (a dried beef)—with similar views.

(These are the top 10 things to know about Day of the Dead.)

This south Texas city was once a part of Mexico, a heritage that surfaces both in the south-of-the-border-inspired River Walk and in its vibrant Day of the Dead celebrations. In downtown’s Hemisphere Park, the Muertos Festival features memorial altars, art vendors, plus cumbia, conjuncto, and mariachi bands. The Day of the Dead San Antonio festival brings a parade of illuminated boat floats to the River Walk the evening of October 27th and a display of