My husband and I had a one night stay at this hotel this past December and the overall experience left much to be desired for the price we paid.

From the beginning the lack of staff or proper signaling to get from the dark parking lot to the the reception was really annoying. We parked and we literally didn't know if there was an elevator since it was an underground parking lot. We were literally looking around and walking trying to find which way to go. finally we came to what seemed to be the entrance but it turned out to be the beginning of a long tunnel adorned with some paintings and a couple offices along the way with people who completely ignored us as we stopped to ask if that was the reception or not. the whole tunnel experience was so claustrophobic that i just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, no time to try to admire any of those paintings. They sell the hotel as a museum as well, which is why I think they charge so much, but the ambience is so dark that we couldn't even relax to admire any art work. it was very sombre.

Finally when we got to the reception area we were greeted by a nice staff member who offered us a warm towel to wipe our faces and hands, this was probably the best and only real service we got throughout our stay. Checking in was something else. We were there for a wedding and they allowed the groom, who was my brother, to check in instead of us, so to our shock, we walked into a room full of people getting dressed to attend the mass. I wish I had been informed by him that he was going to do that, but I would trust that if a reservation is made under my name, they would honor that and not allow anyone to walk in there. After all we had reserved a larger room with a King size bed and jacuzzi for US$180 and the whole "wow" effect that I was hoping to get when walking into the room was gone when meeting so many people and bags and clothes all over the floor. Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that as any family member got to the reception to request a key, it was given to them willy-nilly and my husband and I were almost caught naked in bed if I hadn't bolted the door!!!!!!!

We had time to examine the room before the reception and to our disbelief, we found out that what should have been a jacuzzi was actually just one big cold tub, no jets, no bubbles, just one hard tub that could sit two persons. Let me remind you, This room was advertised as having a jacuzzi and a wonderful king size bed which made the difference in price by a whole US$40. They had warned me that this room didn't have windows since it was a tower room, but I accepted hoping that I would be awed by the details of being in a tower room. It did have a little sofa and coffee table but still, not what I had imagined.

The signaling around the hotel was very poor, and trying to find staff to help me out was a headache. It really was a headache. OHHHHHH and you would think for this price, you could get free wifi, but NOT, I was told I needed to pay US$15 for internet access ALL DAY LONG! as if US$15 was really chum change for internet, or as if I was literally going to be on the computer all day long. I only wanted to check my mail since I was waiting for a mail.

The night was something else. It was cold in the room and we could not find how to turn the AC off, it seemed as if it had central AC units and we could not control it. WE had to sleep really tight and I still felt cold even turning on a chimney which turned out real quickly.

Oh the room had a mini bar, stacked with beers, some rum and some chocolates. Now I knew that whatever you take from the mini bar has a charge, but I never imagined that the bottled water that is placed in the restroom also had a separate price. Had I known we had to pay a whole US$4 per bottle for that water, I would have just bought water at an outside store.

It was a disappointment to pay so much money for this hotel, we pretty much payed to stay in a museum which we could really not enjoy because the lighting overall was very depressing and not welcoming at all. You would think that $180 US dollars could get you a really really nice room and service in Guatemala but it didn't. I understand that we were in Antigua and it has the UNESCO stamp on it, but this hotel is not worth that money. not the service, not the amenities and what else can I say. It was a greater disappointment to find out that almost next door to this hotel there was another one which had free wifi access and really nice room for less than half the price, and the guy at the front desk was so nice to let us use the internet for free.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this hotel unless, like I said before, you want to sleep in a colonial museum with very depressing lightning and a feel of being locked up in a cell.

I'm sure there are a lot more hotels in Antigua for way less than this one with many more amenities for "free" although it shouldn't be called free since it should and must be part of the service you are paying for.

J and J.W