InterContinental Real Guatemala by IHG — Hotel in Guatemala City

My stay at the Intercontinental hotel must have been the best experience by far out of any hotel I have stayed at. Traveling with a family of 4 that have 2 little ones can be a nightmare especially traveling outside the US. But our stay at this hotel made our trip so much more enjoyable and comfortable/easy by far. The service from the front desk to the bellhop to restaurant waiters and hostess made our stay worth while as well. Especially from the Market restaurant. We had a waiter from the previous day who wasn’t out waiter that morning go out of her way to stop my table to see how we were and how we had been doing. Unfortunately my wife had gotten sick from something she had eaten out in the city. I had told this to that waiter and she showed her honest concern. A few minutes later she had come to me with a tea she had made for my wife. It’s that kind of service that set this hotel high apart from the rest. This kind of service translated over to the bellhops who I was able to have a wonderful conversation with to the front desk who I was also able to with. They always went out of there was to greet us always with a smile and making us feel so comfortable and welcome every single Day and every time we saw them. We ate at the Market restaurant very often and found the food delicious every time! Waiters were always friendly and amazing to myself and my family! My only complaint but it’s nothing big, we had to wait a little longer for our food here in comparison to other restaurants we have eaten at. It can seem like a longer time due to having to entertain a 2 year old and a 7 month old lol. But other than that the Market restaurant is a must! Also my wife and I were able to have the pleasure of receiving massages on multiple occasions at the spa with were memorable every time. Also the pool was very nice and clean and a plus for bearing heated. Our room was also very comfortable! It made our 6 nights in Guatemala the best! I recommend to anyone visiting Guatemala City to stay at the Intercontinental hotel. By far best overall hotel stay/experience! 5/5 stars for myself and my family. We will only be staying at this hotel for any of our...

4-hour front desk, ATM/banking, Accessible bathroom, Airport transportation - pickup (surcharge), Area shuttle (surcharge), Art gallery on site, Banquet hall, Braille or raised signage, Breakfast available (surcharge), Business center, Carpeted, Children's pool, Computer station, Concierge services, Conference center, Conference space, Conference space size (feet) - 28299, Conference space size (meters) - 2629, Couples/private dining, Dry cleaning/laundry service, Elevator, Express check-out, Fitness facilities, Free newspapers in lobby, Free reception, Garden, Gift shops or newsstand, Handrails in stairways, In-room accessibility, Laundry facilities, Library, Luggage storage, Multilingual staff, Number of bars/lounges - 1, Number of coffee shops/cafes - 1, Number of meeting rooms - 16, Number of outdoor pools - 2, Number of restaurants - 1, Number of spa tubs - 1, Pool sun loungers, Porter/bellhop, Proposal/romance packages available, Reception hall, Roll-in shower, Safe-deposit box at front desk, Sauna, Self parking (surcharge), Smoke-free property, Snack bar/deli, Stair-free path to entrance, Terrace, Tours/ticket assistance, Turkish bath/Hammam, Visual alarms in hallways, Wedding services, Well-lit path to entrance, Wheelchair accessible, Wheelchair accessible (may have limitations), Wheelchair accessible parking, Wheelchair-accessible concierge desk, Wheelchair-accessible fitness center, Wheelchair-accessible lounge, Wheelchair-accessible meeting spaces/business center, Wheelchair-accessible on-site restaurant, Wheelchair-accessible path to elevator, Wheelchair-accessible pool, Wheelchair-accessible public washroom, Wheelchair-accessible registration desk, Wheelchair-accessible spa, Wheelchairs...

The hotel was checking everyone in without warning guests that the hot water system was broken (I checked in around 7:00 pm); no hot water was available throughout the hotel.

Only after checking in was a note slipped in under the door stating that the "boiler system" was broken and it was not known when things would be fixed (it turned out that they had to import a boiler-part that was unavailable in Guatemala). So, in effect, the hotel staff was checking guests in even though they knew that they had no hot water for guests.

A note was slipped under the door at 11:00 pm. and guests were given two options: (a) walk across the street to another hotel to take a shower and then walk back, or (b) have plastic buckets of hot water delivered to the room for the morning shower. I chose option (b). The water was delivered late and there was nothing to scoop the water with - after much running around, they came back with a tupper-ware lunch-box. Talk about a memorable experience.

The management did not offer any apologies and charged the full rate. I guess management thinks that it is OK to provide the level of service it did.

The story gets better -- I decided to check out and asked to check back in after two days once they had fixed the problem. Everything was "squared away" and a new reservation made at an agreed upon room-rate. The next morning, I was informed via telephone (I was staying at another hotel for the weekend) that the rate would be DOUBLE what I had been quoted!! Needless to say, I did not re-book. This is very dodgy behavior.

And, I am supposedly getting superior service as an IHG platinum...