Hotel Guatemala Inn — Hotel in Guatemala City

Man oh man, I have pretty mixed reviews about this place. I stayed here twice.||||First impressions: I had to call them on the phone to let them know my flight arrived, since they never responded to my email about confirmation of pick up at the airport. The front desk guy didn't even greet me. He basically just asked what I wanted. So I checked in and was given a remote control for the TV with my key. Plus he didn't tell me anything about the hotel or breakfast hours or give me my breakfast vouchers. I had to ask for all that later on. Oh, and they charge six dollars to use their crappy computer for Internet!||||The first room was minimally okay. It was in the ¨quiet¨section so it faced a wall of another building with about one foot distance between the two. Very dark inside. There was a hair in the sink when I went to the bathroom. The toilet was kinda nasty. The lamps had holes in them and the A/C unit was all busted up and you couldn't adjust it but down in temperature. The mattress was sloped from everyone sleeping only on one side of the bed, since the other side was basically pushed up against the wall. I could hear voices from the room next door and also people walking around upstairs, since I later found out that the 4th floor has tiles on them. ||||The neighborhood was kind of sketchy and they warned me not to walk around after dark. Okay then. Breakfast was just okay. Three pieces of fruit and a half full glass of OJ. Yummy!||||The second night I stayed here I had much better service. The front desk guy, who eventually warmed up to me a bit, obliged my request for an upper room 413 I believe. It was a much nicer room. Had a fresh coat of paint. No busted up A/C unit. It was still dark but at least had a bit more light in the day. Shower was really good and they give you soap and shampoo. Even the towels were much plusher than my other room now that I think of it. I don't know why such different experiences.||||I would probably try the Hilton Garden Inn next time I'm in Guatemala City. I had stayed at a Ho-Jo in Quito and loved it there. This place was just so old and the service was not super friendly. Oh, and the waiter service at both my dinners I ate at the restaurant pretty much sucked. They never check on you. One messed up my order. Just no charm with the guys that work that shift. The breakfast staff...

GUATEMALA CITY HOWARD JOHNSON HOTEL – Feb. 2017 4-stars||We stayed at this hotel for one night because it was near Hedman Alas’ bus terminal, which we had to be at early in the morning. Knowing we could easily arrange taxi service from the hotel to the bus station was a plus for us. This is a typical American hotel. The room was spacious, the bathroom nice, and the beds comfortable. There is an elevator for taking luggage to the upper floors and seemed to be 24-hour front desk service. My only complaint relates to an email we sent asking that no cleaning products be used the day of our arrival due to my wife’s chemical sensitivity. We did not get a response and the request was not attended to. Fortunately, the room “fragrance” was manageable...

I picked The Howard Johnson Inn Guatemala City for the fact of its being within walking distance of the Museo Popol Vuh and Museo Ixchel de Traje Indigena. (They're about a 20 minute walk.) It wasn't a bad place to be for exploring the Zona 1 as the TransMetro takes you there in about 20 minutes. Really I have no serious complaints; it's a pleasant enough business hotel. My only reason for not ranking higher: The fitness area is pretty small and the restaurant staff seemed sometimes overwhelmed by the number of customers, resulting in slow service on occasion. By & large, I was happy with my choice...