My nephew, myself and a friend of mine from Caracas stayed at the Hotel Avila for two nights. It is one of several lovely Caribbean area hotels built by Nelson Rockefeller. It is located in the shaded neighborhood of San Bernardino between downtown and the base of Paque Nacional El Avila. The manned and secure hotel grounds have lush vegetation, circular drive, fountain, pool and tennis courts which can be used by guests. The hotel has a tropical feel to it ... white stucco, wood slatted doors and open feeling. It has a spacious, light filled reception area with full length windows and a dining area and bar which is open to the pool. Some of the staff speaks English, and when I called from the US and made reservations, there was no problem communicating. I made my reservation for the dates needed and was told the price would be $90 US per night, breakfast included. Also, no credit card needed to hold the room. However, just to be sure I had the room, a few days before arrival in Venezuela I called again to reconfirm. Yes, I did have the reservation and I could pay when I arrived. Being slightly higher in elevation than central Caracas and at the base of El Avila mountain, the climate is mild. Air conditioning is not needed and breezes are pleasant. The room we stayed in was on the third floor on the east wing. The room had a solid door, but also a slatted door, so when we were in the room we used only the slatted door and opened the patio door for fresh air. We had a closet, drawers, side table and desk. The room had a bathroom, toilet, bidet and a bath/shower combination along with a few toiletries. There were two double beds and a ceiling fan and television. We had trouble setting the room safe and a staff member came and showed us how to use it. Later we had a problem with the toilet and two staff members came promptly and replaced a part. In the morning we ate a nice buffet breakfast which included several types of juices, potatoes, eggs, bacon, bread and other items. There are many beautiful original paintings of Caracas and Venezuela throughout the dining area. Off the lobby there is a travel agency and small gift shop. We arranged for a service to take us to the quaint town of Galipan for lunch on the top of the Caribbean side of El Avila mountain (appx $60 for the 4 hour trip including transportation and meal at Gran Natalia; great views, great meal, friendly people). We took cab service to the museum district and enjoyed the Spencer Tunik temporary exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum. Although the hotel is not in the middle of the business or shopping district, it is a friendly, lovely and slower paced place to stay.

Nelson Rockefeller built this hotel in the 1920s and it still has an old world feel to it. It's set in acres of quite gardens and has a pool.

Some rooms have aircon but mine just had an overhead fan, but this was perfectly fine. Unlike other reviewers, I found the service was fine although I made little demands on the staff since I didn't eat there. The lady at check in gave me my room early in the morning although check-in isn't until 3 PM. A bellboy whisked my bags to my room and showed me how to use the quirky TV system, get ice, etc. I had no trouble getting a bellboy quickly to help with my luggage upon check out and that was handled efficiently as well. The room was very clean. They have a very nice breakfast buffet.

The neighborhood is very safe and there are some nice little cafes and juice stands a few minutes walk away. It's an oasis of calm in Caracas.

The crickets can be heard at night if you have no aircon to muffle the sound. I found this charming and peaceful. They are not srceaming loud but if you are a light sleeper bring some ear plugs.

I have been coming to Caracas for a number of years and this has been my favorite hotel. If you are looking for an american tower cookie cutter hotel then this is not for you. It was built in the 40's has solid concrete walls so you don't hear anything from the room next door. It is set out of town in a nice quiet setting, away from the traffic/caralarms of Caracas. A lot of the rooms don't have airconditioning, instead ceiling fans, but it has that old world charm about it. It's as if it was built in 1940 and no one has changed anything since. I like the building and the setting.

The bad part is the staff. It's as if everyone is trying not to do their jobs, or do them so badly you leave and go to another hotel(this is what I did).

The checkin was very rude and disorganised. It was as if the lady behind the counter was trying to serve as many people as possible before me. I felt like asking "Am I invisible". When I finally got to checkin they gave me the lowest class of room even though I had booked the most expensive room a month before. The checkin lady was having none of it and even waved her finger at me saying the room I had booked was being repaired. I just let it slide and took my room.

The room was number 11, cost $65 a night and was nice as it had a garden outside the sliding doors which had been welded shut and security bars added to ensure you couldn't let any air in or walk out into the garden.

I tried ringing the room service but no one answered. Then I walked down to the restaurant to order - same again, it was like I was invisible. Finally got a steak after a lot of to and fro but at least I wasn't starving anymore.

I tried ringing the reception a couple of times to check to see if my bags had turned up but it was the same in that no one answered the phone.

After a bad nights sleep(there was a dog outside my window all night barking) I went to breakfast at 8.30 am. No orange juice, no coffee or tea. There was a buffet with melon juice, scramble eggs, arepas, beans, toast and some mango jam. No waiters to be seen anywhere but two chefs behind a counter who were too busy to talk to anyone. It was a bit like a south american faulty towers.

After my very ordinary breakfast I tried to get a taxi but he wouldn't accept US$ so I asked the hotel if they could change US$20 for me - no way was the front desk able to change money - by this stage I was losing my cool and let the poor girl behind the counter know I wasn't impressed then one of the security guards took me aside and changed the $20 at a good exchange rate - finally someone who was willing to help but it was really just self interest as I think he was making some gain on the exchange.

By this stage it all got too much for me and I decided to change hotels - I went to the Radisson Eurobuilding.

At the checkout it was a different person but she was just as bad. She told me my checkout wasn't for another week, I explained I wasn't happy, she didn't ask why, then proceeded to charge me an extra night. I was just glad to get out of the place. It is quite sad as it is such as nice hotel and location and it would just take some average management to make it a great hotel.