In this on‑site interview, REALTOR® Tony Ray Baker and host Jenn Hopkins visit Barrio Books, a boutique bookstore located in the former room 302 of Hotel McCoy in Tucson. Owner Syrena Arevalo Trujillo explains how a partnership with the hotel enabled the conversion of a hotel room into a vibrant retail space focused on Latin American literature, local artisans, and culturally resonant products. The conversation highlights the store’s bright red entrance, its curated selection of books by authors such as Carlos Valenzuela, Lydia Otero, and Alba Torres, and a variety of vendor‑made items including jewelry, candles infused with CBD, handcrafted keychains from Oaxaca, mango‑flavored chile‑lime candies, and locally roasted coffee sourced from Ecuadorian farms. Syrena discusses the importance of Latino representation in media and literature, describing how the shop serves as an inclusive community hub. Practical details are provided: the store is open Tuesday‑Sunday, 10 am‑5 pm, and closed on Mondays. The interview ends with gratitude for the inclusive space and an invitation for viewers to visit.
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Hi, I'm Tony Ray Baker with RE/MAX Select, and today I'm really excited to introduce you to Serena. Can you tell us your last name, Serena?
It's Arevalo Trujillo.
Ah, she says it so beautifully. I'm not going to butcher that name, so I'm not going to say it. You are the owner of Barrio Books.
I am, yes.
And where are we? We're in the hotel?
Yes, we're located in Hotel McCoy, former room 302. Next to room—
wait, this was room 302?
This was room 302.
That's awesome.
And you're next to room 303?
Yes.
So when you pull into the Hotel McCoy, which is right off of I-10 and Silver Lake, right? Yes. Yeah, and then when you pull in, you'll come through the main entrance, and she's immediately on the right. So very easy to find.
A bright red door.
Yeah, bright red door. And how long have you been here?
A little over a year. So about a year and a month.
A year?
Yeah.
Oh, it's an anniversary already.
It is.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, and how did this come about? I mean, we're in a hotel room. Which is now a store, your store.
My store, yeah.
Tell us some stories.
There's a story here I want to know.
Yes, so we were lucky enough to partnership, to have a partnership between us and the hotel. So they were looking for someone to run a bookstore in their— And here you are.
Yeah, that's awesome. So I see lots of books, but I also see lots of fun stuff as well. Go ahead, Jen, let's talk about what it is you're dying to buy over here.
This is a—
So are these little blankets?
Bestseller. They are. —in the U of A Bear Down colors. Yeah.
Check that out. It says, "Bitch, please, I'm from Tucson," which I bet is just hysterical. Those diehard Tucsonans. You've got jewelry and stickers.
Yes, we got jewelry. Give us a tour. Absolutely. So we have a few local vendors as well. So here is Miss Chingadera. She has earrings. I'm sporting some of her jewelry too. Nice. We also have Raíces 420. She has these beautiful candles. Smell amazing. And they're infused with CBD. So those are gorgeous. We have bookmarks, we have t-shirts, we have just a whole bunch of just little cositas. You can call them little things. Little things.
Yeah, I like that word, cositas. Speaking of little things, can you explain this to me?
Yes. So, to know, yes, Jen is like over the moon. Everyone loves them when they come in, but they're hard candies with chile and lime inside of them, so People are really familiar with the chile and lime outside, but these are inside.
Okay, so we go down to Rocky Point about 4 times a year, and there's a guy down there who takes a mango and he carves it beautifully. It's just beautiful, like it's art, and he covers it with chile and lime. And so this is mango, and you're telling me the chile and lime's inside? Yes. So I could have a taste of it? They are delicious. Okay, I'm taking one of these home. I'm being— I'll buy it.
I'm just taking things.
That looks delicious. So there's different flavors of those.
Where does this come from? We have a distributor, I believe, in San Antonio, but they're nationwide.
I've seen these before. Super excited about the mango. And then we have a unicorn. You can walk closer.
This is coming home with me. Oh my God, I love it. That is so cute. It's a keychain? It's a keychain.
No, it's adorable.
Like a hand keychain. So is that made by someone here?
Actually, those were imported from Oaxaca. Oaxaca? Yeah, the beautiful artisans there that that create these incredibly intricate little, uh, like animalitos, and just— they're gorgeous. They have some at the Tucson Museum of Art. They do?
Yeah, animals that are painted in beautiful colors, and they're made out of maybe wood or something. Those are stunning. Yeah, they're gorgeous. Comes from the same place?
Yes.
Ah, it's so cute. The only— so you have other, uh— so some of the stuff you have in here is local? Yes, local. So the mugs behind you is a local artist?
Um, also, um, they were— they came in the The coffee is actually local here too. Oh nice! Yeah, so this incredible coffee, cinnamon and chocolate infused. What, what? Smells amazing. Just put that on the chair.
Right? It is really nice.
Yeah, and the makers of this coffee are in partnership with a lot of coffee distributors in Ecuador. So it's all like farmer to distributor to your coffee cup.
That is so awesome. Yeah. Well, I don't want to tell you everything that's in this store because then that would ruin some of the cute surprises, but it's a small space with a lot of punch. Yes. That's what I've noticed because I keep staring around and finding new things, so I'm really excited to turn off the video and to get to the shop. So what are your hours? What are you open— what date, times, and days are you open?
We are open 10 to 5 Tuesday through Sunday, closed on Mondays. Closed on Mondays.
Okay. Anything else we should know before we close this down? I have a question. Okay.
So you focus on local Latin American authors, artists, stuff like that. Yes. How did you cultivate those relationships? How did you meet these people that you are vending for?
The way this concept came about is the incredible importance of representation in the media. So there's a lot of growth in Latino representation, especially with the movie Encanto, the movies like that. But like in literature, there's— it's very very slow. And so I wanted to do my part and actually create a space for these books, especially with authors like Carlos and authors like Lydia Otero and Alba Torres here from Tucson.
We were very fortunate we got to interview Carlos Valenzuela. So his book, you have his book in Spanish and English? Yes. That's awesome.
I think this is Spanish.
Yeah, he just came out with the new version. Yes, I'm very excited. That's a very cool story.
I love that story.
Well, thank you so much. We appreciate you letting us come in here, and we'll be shopping any minute. Oh yeah, I'm— bye paycheck!
Thank you so much for providing a beautiful, inclusive, and safe space in Tucson.
Yeah, it's really awesome. Absolutely.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. If you need anything, I'm Tony Ray Baker, I'm REMAX Select. My number is 520-631-8669. Please come visit Serena down at Barrio Books at the Hotel McCoy, and we're gonna do a thing on Hotel Makoi. We are. That's going to be very fun. Awesome, have a great day. Bye!
