My wife and I traveled to Guatemala last week to pick up our child who we were adopting. We stayed several nights at the Westin Camino Real. It was not our first trip to Guatemala and we have stayed in many hotels. We highly recommend the Westin Camino Real for either business travel or adoption travel.
It is located in Zone 10 (Zona 10 aka Zona Viva) which is one of the,
relatively, safer zones. It is several blocks away from the US Embassy and is surrounded by several major banks and businesses.
The staff could not be warmer or more helpful – from the business center to the front desk to the bellmen to the restaurant staff. All
speak English and many are quite fluent.
The beds are truly heavenly. The deluxe rooms are the standard hotel room size and are not huge. That said, they are roomy enough. There is an Executive level where children aren’t permitted that is more luxurious with many more perks.
The food at El Cafetal (the main hotel restaurant) was excellent. There is also a Viennese style café (Café Viennes) and an Italian restaurant on premises as well (Restaurant Giuseppi Verdi). Since we had a baby with us, we stuck to El Cafetal. They were very accommodating for the couples with small children and infants. The Biltmore Bar there is also a great place to relax (for grownups) as is the piano bar.
A few tips for those staying there (and Guatemala in general):
1.The breakfast buffet at El Cafetal will satisfy any longing for a big American breakfast. It also has Guatemalan items too so you can sample the local flavor (like refried black beans and fried plantains
– both yummy for breakfast).
2.The lunch buffet is excellent but very pricey for what you get.
3.The dinner buffets are great and better priced.
4.The menu items are also great, especially the pasta, the traditional Guatemalan lunch/dinner and the tenderloin.
5.DO use the pool or sit at the cabana area. They serve a reduced menu there so you can get a decent lunch in the outdoors. (One day we were out at the cabana area around 5pm-5:30pm local time and heard a cacophony of car horns – some angry some not – just shows there are some universal emotions when stuck in traffic).
6.DON’T walk the neighborhood with your baby if you are adopting.
7.DO choose any routes you plan to take outside the hotel very carefully. It’s better to get a cab if you have to do more than cross the street to El Portal (a shop across from the entrance to the hotel).
8.DO use great care when crossing any street. Pedestrians do not have
the right of way.
9.DON’T try to drive yourself. Get a cab.
10.DO shop at Zunil Shop and Village Books on the first level of the hotel. You can purchase nice gifts and bottled water as well as phone cards (ask for Ladatel cards).