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Are there any COVID-19 restrictions in Guadalajara now that would make it unfeasible for an American tourist to go there in early September?
Is September a good time to go? I'm worried about the rain.
Also, what is the best area in the city to stay for someone who is interested in museums, monuments, architecture, churches, and other such attractions?
Finally, looking for some specific hotel recommendations. Roughly $100 a night is the budget and would like a heated pool and, ideally, a hotel with both indoor and outdoor pools.
Restaurants/bars/hotels/malls/parks/churches/gyms are open, and buses are running. Plenty of Ubers. To enter somewhere must have mask and they check your temperature. Masks are supposedly required outdoors too but actual compliance is probably about 70%. We did notice that at large parks some areas are closed off like playgrounds. I honestly don't know whether museums are open, but some of the bigger attractions are cathedrals which I'd assume are open since other churches are and I know they have actual services in the cathedrals downtown.
September is fine, it's the last month of the rainy season so more rain earlier in the month than later. Either way it's not like a tropical rainy season where you get rain all day or night, instead usually it's in the late afternoon/evening dark clouds start forming and maybe 1/3 of the time it actually rains for an hour or so. Granted can be strong storms with hail and streets tend to flood, but it ends quickly and everything subsides as the sewer system catches up. It's a good time to pop into a cafe for a coffee.
I honestly don't know much about the hotels in GDL, but I'd recommend you stay in Americana somewhere near Chapultepec. You get the big Chapu entertainment zone, all the trendy/artsy crap in Americana, but can still easily walk to downtown for tourist things. Can also walk to Santa Tere.
You might consider airbnb if the pool isn't a must-have. You can get luxury condos in high-rise buildings for a lot less than $100/night.
Thank you for your detailed response. Do you have any specific activities/attractions that you recommend?
Also, has there been any discrimination against tourists--Americans in particular--over COVID-19? One Guadalajara resident on another website told me to stay home and that I am not welcome.
Most people who visit GDL tour the downtown area, daytrip/overnight to the town of Tequila, and it's a common jumpoff point to the beaches on west coast (Puerto Vallarta) or towards Guanajuato. Also the food, it's a big gastro destination since has stuff from other regions as well as local specialties like birria, carne en su jugo, and torta ahogadas.
I honestly can't speak for whether places like Tequila or the beaches are open completely or not.
We haven't encountered any discrimination here, and I don't even bother to try to look local I'm usually rolling in shorts and flip flops which in Mexico screams gringo. I've heard of issues in border towns where lots of Americans flood across overland but not in GDL. In these parts xenophobia is usually thrown towards Central Americans passing through town on the train, those cats are often assumed to be criminals and lowlifes so a Guatemalan/Salvadoran/Honduran accent can be the express ticket to discrimination.
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