호텔 라 카테드랄

Loved the staff. Mónica at reception will answer all questions prior to your arrival via WhatsApp. Their response time is impressive. Kevin is the night & Sunday back up; very King & helpful too. If the review just scored staff, location, security & interior courtyard, it would be 5 stars. However, there are other factors that reduced the rating to 4: pillows (!!!), breakfast & hot water. First, areas for improvement: Need better pillows! Others have mentioned it & on my first night, I felt it. The pillows must either be very old or of very poor quality; come on guys, get better & new pillow and change them often. The hotel is not cheap. The mattress is firm; I prefer firm. If you prefer soft mattresses, go elsewhere but ask first. The hot water is an issue: you need to run the water for nearly 10 minutes before you get close to having hot water (and it never really gets hot). Not sure if this can be fixed but get ready to feel guilty for letting the water flow for 10 minutes before you can get in. The water pressure is excellent. The breakfast is OK at most. I seriously considered going elsewhere and paying for breakfast, but didn’t. You order from a short limited menu, no substitutions. You get two plain l rolls, one pad of butter (not jam or marmalade), a small glass of boxed orange juice (that doesn’t taste like orange juice) and a Very thin omelet with some cheese and what appears like pre-fab ham or baco, but not both. There was an option for mushrooms but after the first day, I saw they were canned mushrooms so I skipped them. The redeeming feature was the coffee that was good (albeit not hot as it seems to be made earlier & stored in an electric coffee container). Now the good: the staff is exceptionally kind and helpful. Had the rating been of just the staff, I’d give it a 5+! The location is exceptional. You are less than a block from the Parque Central which is the hub of Antigua. The central courtyard garden of Hotel La Catedral is breathtakingly beautiful and well kept. There is abundant comfortable seating surrounding the garden making it a wonderful place to relax. The roof terrace is accessed by a spiral metal staircase. It beautiful views of the volcanos and tiled rooftops. There are tables & steel chairs on the roof terrace (but need to add seat cushions). Security is excellent. Although the front door is welcoming & open most of the day (leading to a beautiful entry hall with a massive crystal chandelier & greenery everywhere), the front iron gate remains locked & is opened each time you arrive. At night, the wooden front door is also locked; you must ring to be allowed in. There is always a front desk clerk to control access & provide any information needed.