Holiday Inn Guatemala by IHG — Hotel in Guatemala City

Stayed for one week with my wife on vacation from NYC. We loved the lobby and dining area as well as they very clean rooms and bed. Balcony view was beautiful and the room service food delicious as well as when we ate breakfast at the restaurant on site. Lots of security to so we felt safe all the time and the cleaning ladies were ways very helpful and courteous. That was the great now for the not so great.

Staff had difficulties speaking English which is surprising because most guests spoke english or another language besides Spanish and if you're an international hotel you would believe you would only hire workers at these important positions with a strong command of English. Front desk was a little cold and unfriendly, when we needed to extend our stay the clerk was not helpful and seemed more interested in squeezing some more dollars out of us then actually helping us (remember we already stayed 7 days here). Only after saying we would leave and go to a hotel across the street as their are many comparable hotels in area did he "miraculously " lower our room cost to that of previous nights. Also wait staff in restaurant are extremely slow in their "service" and speak little English and again quite poorly. Lucky for me my wife speaks fluent espanol and I've taken college courses just last semester so we could get by,however they seemed uncaring and not very helpful or attentive. It was a struggle to get more sugar or milk for our coffee, or to ask for maple syrup for pancakes. Small issues really but it was the undertone of the general staffs unwillingness or uncaring to serve us. We are great tippers but the hotel tacks on and automatic tip (propina) and like I said earlier it seems everyone is out to grab a ketzal from you instead of providing you service. Ridiculous policy cause it actually hurts the workers as a average tip was 7 to 14 ketzals which in American is one or two dollars. Since they try to take it (the tip) from us instead of allowing us to decide BASED ON SERVICE the tip, we let their meager tip stay on the bill and did not add to it. I would easily have tipped double or triple what they listed but again its seems everyone is out to hustle you not provide proper customer service and then be rewarded properly. I will not give a bad rating cause overall we had a decent stay but I will say we switched to another hotel the Barcelo for our last two days and got a better price by far ,excellent customer service and check this out they let us decide the tip and at dinner our wait staff was thrilled with the 100 ketzals we decided to give them, and said they would never be so bold as to assume a tip for them as it takes away a reason to give good service if u have a built in tip, no motivation to do better. Lastly a dog barked most nights at 4 to 5 a.m at holiday inn and the balcony window was closed yet we could still here it, they did construction on our floor and in our room while we were in it, really a big inconveniance and annoyance. And the bathroom shower door opens into tub so you have to soak the entire bathroom floor to get into shower as the toilet bowl blocks the door from opening out. Small matters overall but since so many of them and the seeming lack of caring we would probably not return. The Barcelo a few blocks away took it to the next level and we finally received what we had hoped to get from holiday inn and its staff except they never delivered the most important aspect of a hotel and that is...

Visited Guatemala City during the February 2014 for 9 days. Originally planned a vacation to relax at the hotel and stay in-town. After arriving at the airport, you walk out to the pickup area. A gentleman with a sign for three of the hotels that included Holiday Inn. He took my luggage and put it into the van with 6 other people. Plenty of space an comfortable. The hotel is located in an area of Zone 10 that is very safe. Checked in by the front desk attendant named Evelyn. She was courteous and had a nice smile. She checked me in quickly and offered me a complimentary snack. Sweet or salty. I choose the sweet cookies. I received 9 coupons for the breakfast buffet on the second floor. Lovely lobby, but only 2 elevators. Usually you had to wait 45 - 55 seconds for the elevator to reach the bottom. I was located on the 12th floor. Room 1208 was at the end of the hall on the right. Generously sized room with a big bath and a balcony that looked down on the Hard Rock hotel. The televisions are HD, but the channels are not. There are HDMI ports on the back and not easily accessible. There is a desk with two electrical sockets (110V) on the front. A definite plus. Bed was King size and very soft. Four pillows, 2 soft and 2 firm. Bathroom had all the usual amenities and coffeemaker.

A few of the other reviewers noted that there is music late at night and concerned me when making my decision to stay here. To set the record straight, it is only on Friday and Saturday night. You cannot here it when the television or the air conditioning is on, and they stop playing at 12am. I also brought ear plugs, but did not need them.

The breakfast buffet was standard. I love meat and only one day they had bacon. The rest of the days they had local food that mostly everybody will love. 5 different types of juices and 4 different food stations. Milk and Cereal, Fruit, Hot Food, and Breads and other baked goods. Be sure to bring your ticket.

The hotel is located with four other hotels. There is a McDonald's literally 45 seconds by foot from the hotel. A Burger King is one block to the north. Two malls are in 15 minutes walking distance. A third smaller shopping plaza where the Burger King is at is only 2 minutes away. There is a small convenience two buildings down. Most restaurants will send a vehicle to pick up and drop you back off for free if you make a reservation. I looked for the best restaurant that had steak and flan.

I started this vacation just to relax and not to do day trips. After the third day, I was bored and booked two days trips. One to Tikal, a famous Mayan ruins, and Pacaya, a local active volcano. Well worth the money and had a lot of fun. Definitely set aside time if you can for these two places.

I would highly recommend this hotel. It my housekeeper, did a fantastic job of cleaning the room and setting it just the way I liked it. I forgot her name, but she is only 4 1/2 feet tall. A front desk attendant named Fernanda, went out of her way to help me get my cell phone minutes recharged so I can make calls and am tremendously grateful. I will definitely be staying here...

First of all, I have been in this hotel several times in the past, however, this stay was remarkably bad. here is my experience on my last stay:

The hotel is under remodel, so one of the elevators was being upgraded and it took so much time for the other two to pick you up, but that was not the big issue, it was understandable.

As I have mentioned before, I have stayed on this hotel several times, the rooms and amenities were okay, but this time they gave me a dated really old room that smelled funny. I wasn't that mad or bothered yet, I thought they were sold out.

My main complaint happened on Friday, they started tearing down the 10th floor, and I was staying on that floor, the worst was that they started jacking hammers, pulling the rugs from the hall and other rooms, removing the doors and furniture and it was so noisy that I was unable to sleep anymore, at that time I decided to take a bath and work from my hotel room, but guess what, they started shutting the electric breaker on and off, so the WiFi started flapping and I was unable to work from my room.

What bothers me the most is that they began when guests were present, I am supposed to have late checkout whenever possible, and the regular checkout time here was 1 PM, not 7 AM. Specially not by construction work from the rooms next door.

So next time, I will probable look for another option nearby, the hotel staff should have let me know before, or they should have asked me if I wanted to stay or move to another room or at least at what time I was leaving.

At last, the hotel should get rid of the IHG Regards Club line if they are not going to honor it.

This has been the worst experience that I ever had...