Casa San Lázaro Hotel Boutique — Hotel in Sacatepéquez

We booked two guests into Casa San Lazaro based on previous Trip Advisor reviews, which appear to have not been accurate. Here is the review from one of our guests: ||||GOOD STUFF: ||+ Everyone there was nice and friendly||+ One night I asked if we could buy a soft drink of any kind. 'No' but the guy was willing to go to a store and get us something. ||+ Substantial breakfast every day with either scrambled eggs or pancakes ||+ Casa Lazaro's private airport shuttle (additional charge) between Guatemala City airport and Antigua was great. Same guy both ways. Good driver, efficient, clean car, courteous, on time.||+ Hotel staff was prompt to reply to email inquiries before our arrival ||||NOT SO GOOD STUFF:||- The hotel seemed to be partially closed and under construction and was not user friendly. At times we were the only guests. ||- We had requested a room at the back but we were assigned a room upstairs right above the noisy cobblestone highway. We had to have the windows open for some air to cool our room which meant tolerating the noise and fumes of nonstop traffic. ||- On two evenings I had to call for someone to work on the toilet to get it to flush. Yes, we followed the rules and did not put tissue in the toilet. ||- The basin water was barely a trickle. ||- Whenever we left, we surrendered our key and the door was locked behind us. We had to use the knocker on returning for someone to let us in. One night no one came - we knocked and knocked. Eventually a guy arrived from the street - he apologized, saying that he had to get tortillas. ||- We had to ask for drinking water. ||- One evening we arrived at our room and there was a very strong smell of varnish - the floor of the room next to ours was wet with varnish. The odor...

Avoid this hotel. In addition to the extreme street noise, the lack of ventilation, and the poor mattresses that other guests have pointed out, the cancellation policy was unclear and they processed an unauthorized charge on my credit card. We reserved, but did not prepay, a 6-night stay, on Booking. On the first day, we were charged for 2 nights. After the first night, we asked for a different room and were told there weren't any available, despite the fact we didn't see or hear any other guests. After the second night, we wanted to cancel the rest of our reservation and we were told that we could do so, but would have to go into Booking to update it. But the payment was to be made to the property, not Booking, so I couldn't change the dates on the platform. When I informed the owner, he then claimed our contract was with Booking, which was not true. Per the email I received from Booking after I made the reservation, the hotel's cancellation policy is one night's room rate if cancelled within five days of the reservation, and a no show is the full cost of the reservation. There was no policy about changing the reservation, and yet I was charged for the remainder of our stay. This charge prompted a flag from my credit card company because the owner ran my number without my card, which he was not authorized to do. Perhaps not surprisingly, this hotel does not maintain a "libro de quejas" (complaints book) which the Guatemalan government requires. While the staff (Victor and Emerson) were very polite, clearly the management is not concerned with guests' experience and is not...

This hotel was very nice. We had breakfast (included) every morning by the pool. Each day we ordered something different, so it was really great. The portions were big and lots of variety. ||||The service was great, and the main manager was really accommodating. At first we were put in a room that had a cute little balcony. But we’d read reviews that the barking dogs and traffic sounds were pretty loud, so we asked for something not facing the street. We ended up in an interior facing room. It faced the inside ‘courtyard’, so it was REALLY quiet. And because it didn’t have a balcony, it had a ceiling fan and air conditioner. SCORE!! No view, but that’s fine. We had good sleeps. ||||The water pressure was...well, not great in the bathroom sink, but the shower was fine. And they happily supplied filtered water whenever we asked. ||||It is very clean and well-taken care of. It is also very secure (locked door that they open and close each time you come and go). It is a bit of a walk from the town centre, but not bad. Only about 10 minutes or so. ||||This was recommended by friends of ours, and we'd definitely...