To contact a homeowner, you must be an active member (with a house listing) and be logged into your account on MexicoHospitality.com.

Method 1 - Find a house and then contact the homeowner

To contact the owner of a house listing, scroll to the bottom of the listing and click the link CONTACT THE HOMEOWNER.

Method 2 - Use the House Directory

If you have the name of a member, you can find the person in the House Directory. Click on that person's house name and then scroll to the bottom of the house listing to find the link CONTACT THE HOMEOWNER.

Method 2 - After you have received email from another member

You can respond directly to a member who has contacted you by simply replying to their email.

If you are not yet a member

If you are not yet a member and wish to join MexiocoHospitality.com, follow these steps:

1. Create an account for yourself and log in.
2. Click Create My Listing and enter information about yourself and hour house.
3. Once you've done this, MexicoHospitality will personally review your listing and activate your account. You will then receive an email notice that your membership is then active.

If you are having problems with Paypal, we suggest you call Paypal customer service: 402-935-2050.

1. After logging in, locate your home:
   • Find your home in the listings
   • Or use Edit/Add Listing
2. Look for the EDIT button at the top of your listing. Using Edit, you can make changes to the text and photos.
3. To review your changes before saving, press the PREVIEW button (at the bottom).
4. To save your changes, press the SUBMIT button (at the bottom). Nothing is saved until you submit your changes.
5. Do not click the DELETE button unless you want to delete your entire listing. You may click Delete beside a photo to remove a photo.

Both exchanges and visits to hosting members are to be arranged by the 2 parties involved and whatever is acceptable and clearly agreed by both sides is fine. We urge you to put your agreement in writing. It may be just an email specifying dates and times of arrival and departure, names and all necessary contact information, and what you have agreed to , just so everyone is on the same page, has something to look back at, and misunderstandings are minimized. There are one or more sample agreements on the webpage.

These guidelines are primarily to remind members of simple courtesies which will make the visits and exchanges go better for both sides. Thanks to all our members for extending this courtesy to all other Network members.

1. Visits to other members are designed to be of 1-3 days, unless your host is perfectly happy with you staying longer at the agreed-upon rate. Like in any hotel, you pay for the NIGHT you sleep in their bed regardless of what time you arrive (even after midnight) and should arrange with your host the time you will actually be departing their home, so that they can plan their activities accordingly. Sometimes you can arrange a regular rental if you wish to stay a longer time.
2. Treat your host's home with the same care you would your own.
3. Let your host indicate which areas you may use and how much time he/she will spend with you.
4. Pay your gratuity the first evening so that you don't forget.
5. If you are staying in the host's main house, limit your hours in their spaces so that the host/family have some privacy. If you are staying in a separate apartment or casita, you will probably have much more latitude in spending time there and, may be able to bring in food, which you would not normally do in the host's home (you are not renting their kitchen, just getting bed and breakfast).
6. A single member may normally travel with one non-member traveling companion. But do not bring more than one non-member or arrive with a party of more than 2 travelers without clearing with the host.
7. Do not bring more luggage than you are able to handle yourself. You host is not a bellboy.
8. Always call the day before to confirm your visit and arrival times. (better than email for those who don't check email every hour). If you have arranged the visit long ahead, it is especially important to confirm. If you are traveling before arrival at their home, giving them an itinerary and contact info en route (cell phone if available) would be a good idea in case some emergency might affect their availability.
9. Please answer all network emails that come to you promptly as a simple courtesy. It is especially important to acknowledge your potential hosts' acceptance of your request, so that they know for sure that you are coming.

Exchange

In a house exchange, you make contact through the online network with someone in the area you wish to visit, and then arrange with them to "swap" your houses, either simultaneously, or non-simultaneously, usually for at least a week and up to a month.

Hospitality: Hosts & Guests

Hosting, or Hospitality, facilitates shorter trips of 1-3 days, or trips where you want to go SEVERAL places for 1-3 days each. In this case you make contact with members of the network in the places you want to visit and arrange to stay in the private homes of the hosts you choose. They will be there to greet you and to give you tips on their area; they will not be vacating for you to "use" their home.

When they, in turn, are ready to travel, they MIGHT come to stay with you some time. Or, just as likely, they will stay with another member in some other part of Mexico. So, this is a "hospitality" part of the network and not an "exchange."

Once you make contact with someone in the area you want to visit and find they are interested in YOUR area, you may make whatever arrangements serve you both. We suggest that you write a simple letter of agreement to insure both parties have clearly understood the arrangement (samples on the website) and give us some feedback about how it went.

Home exchanges and hospitality networks have been operating all over the world for many decades. The type of person who welcomes you and other travelers into his/her home tends to be a very open, hospitable, well-traveled, and reliable person.

Furthermore, when you are looking for a host or when someone contacts you about coming to your home, you will be able to go to the website and look up their profile to get to know them. You will then be able to communicate further by email or phone as you desire, about your plans. When you are comfortable with your mutually agreed upon arrangements, you will confirm with them.

The small annual fee goes to cover the administrative and operating costs of the website, advertising, promotion, answering questions, helping members, and vigilance in maintaining a quality network. You will quickly earn back the annual cost in value after using our private home accommodations one or two times during the year. EVEN BETTER: There is no fee to become a member during our initial launch year!

Not necessarily. As the owner, if you wish to arrange an exchange of one or more of your normally rented rooms for the home of a network member in another town, that would be an acceptable use of the network. Or you could agree to host a member at OUR going rate for 1-3 nights, and, in turn, use the exchange function yourself.

The primary security measure is that the email address, home address, and other contact information of a member is NEVER provided to the public. When you send an email inquiring about visiting or exchanging a home, the recipient will see your email address so they can reply, but you won't know their email address until you receive a reply. NO OTHER INFORMATION is ever provided to members. It is solely up to our members to exchange address and other contact information through their own private communications.

Certainly not. MHN is a people-to-people network to facilitate informal hospitality and not a commercial enterprise.

You only accept a guest if the timing and circumstances work for you and you are comfortable with the inquirer after reading their profile and/or communicating further with them.

You simply tell them you are unavailable. You are not obligated to host a constant stream of people or to accept a guest at a time that is not acceptable to you. The idea is that the network will grow to offer many options in each locale, and that most of us will find something available where we are needing it. AND, we can all help to build the network by spreading the word to friends and acquaintances, and through whatever means we have, so that the network grows to benefit us all.

No, many of us are perfectly happy with a breakfast of fruit, coffee or tea and cereal or toast---or with a nice selection of options available to serve ourselves in our own time frame. Simply make it clear in your profile and in your discussions with the visitor who is coming, what you will be providing.

The arrangements you make for giving your guests access to your home depend entirely on your particular set-up. Obviously, if they are using the entire property in an exchange, they will need access, though you can certainly make certain areas off limits. Many exchangers even arrange to exchange cars and care for one another's animals. Those are details for you to work out with your guests.

If you are hosting 1-3 nights, you may give access only to their guest room within the hours you are available, use the help of a maid or manager, or whatever works for you and your guests.

The recommended gratuity is 150 pesos/night for a single or 200 pesos/night for a double to help defray the host's costs. As a guest, we suggest you pay your host as soon as you arrive.

We encourage members to put into their profile on our website a photo of the house from the outside, another photo that shows the general feel of the house or property, and one of the guest accommodations. After you make contact with a potential host, you may ask for further description or photos. The general understanding for hosting is that there will be a guestroom or casita with adequate bed and bedding and bathroom facilities, and some type of breakfast or breakfast fixings.

If you are not satisfied with some accommodation, please give us feedback on the website and it will be posted.