Aside from trips to Juárez with my grandparents as a child, my experience with Mexico began in 2015 with a trip to Mexico City (which we loved), and me deriding people who visit Cancún and Cabo. But then, due to a sale, we went to Cabo and fell in love with it. A couple summers ago we did Mérida, Chichén Itzá, and a return visit to Mexico City--all fantastic! I've come to the conclusion that we just really like Mexico.
With regard to Mexico City, we had heard and read some unsettling stuff about Mexico in general. But when you look at the Department of State warning, it is specific to certain states in Mexico, and the Distrito Federal is not one of them. I'm sure there are issues with crime, but we never felt unsafe at any point. Mexico City has amazing museums, beautiful architecture, and great restaurants! There are not many tourists from the U.S., and you'll need to speak at least some elementary Spanish--but that's what made it even more fun. We feel like Mexico City is the real Mexico.
With Los Cabos, I was a little reluctant to go there, even though it was my idea. I was worried I would be frustrated by hypocritical tourists who vacation in Mexico while espousing nativism back home and all that. In the face of this, we chose to make this trip our own. This meant speaking Spanish at every possible opportunity--and in a place where locals default to English because most tourists just don't bother. This meant seeking out the food and drink of the region, which we always do, including wines from Baja. And this meant knowing we were there to see Mexico, not just to lounge poolside in warm weather--and we had a great time.
When we were in Mérida, it was mid-to-upper 90s, sunny, and humid. I've never had such a great time in such conditions (we're really not fans of extreme heat). Mérida is the capital of the Yucatán, and the Yucatán is the food capital of Mexico. We were right at home. Great restaurants, laid-back cantinas with excellent snacks and beers, beautiful architecture, and calm quiet streets that invite you to take a stroll day or night. We took a day trip to Chichén Itzá from there, with a private driver. Having him with us really enhanced our experience, as he was able to explain what everything meant. He was a real trooper, too--97 degrees and full sun that day. (By the way, I could not get enough of the iguanas! So cool!) What we loved most about Mérida was that it represented a different cultural region (i.e. Mayan) than the other parts of Mexico we've visited.
Although I have major issues with United Airlines now (or any U.S. carrier for that matter), they do have a direct flight from Chicago--for both Mexico City and Los Cabos (seasonally). On our prior trip, however, were introduced to Interjet, a mid-range Mexican carrier, and we were impressed. We flew both our Havana-Mérida and Mérida-Mexico City legs of the trip on Interjet. The legroom on the A320 was 34", compared to only 30" on United's A320 (which is the aircraft used to and from Chicago and Mexico City). They also serve free drinks and a decent snack--and that was on short flights. Now, in full disclosure, we did randomly get upgraded to first class on our United flight home from Mexico City. But we still think that was karma working in our favor due to us getting trapped in an elevator earlier that morning. That's another story.