Nina Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Sacatepéquez

We have a habit of booking a hotel for a single night, and then determining whether we want to stay there longer. A lot of hotels don't make the grade, and we usually check out the very next day. We were pleasantly surprised by Nina Boutique Hotel, and ended up rebooking for several more days.||||First of all, Suzanna at the front desk was especially warm and friendly. She was quick to point out various things that we could do in the area, and share a few of her favorite restaurants with us.||||Later that night, she knocked on our door and suggested that we move our car up to in front of the door, so that she could see it on the surveillance cameras. A spot that close to the front door had not been available when we first arrived. That seemingly little thing, really meant a lot to us! And she continued to be super helpful throughout the rest of our stay, suggesting little things, like it might rain later, take an umbrella with you (there are several provided by the front door).||||We stayed in two different rooms, one in front of the hotel, which we thought might be a bit noisy, since it is right up next to the sidewalk and the street. However that wasn't the case at all, we slept like babies all night.||||But the next day, we decided to move to a room with a garden view, because the garden is to die for! There are all these beautiful orchids dangling down from everything. I'm so happy for digital cameras, because otherwise I would have burned a lot of film! Gorgeous, simply gorgeous!||||Take your breakfast upstairs on the balcony. There are a couple of tables, which offer wonderful views of the Volcan de Aqua (water Volcano). But our favorite spot is to sit at the bar, which is kind of hidden around the corner, which offers an unobstructed view of the Volcano! Note that it seems like it really starts to steam-up around 10 a.m. and thus if you're looking for an unobstructed shot, you'll want to get up there around 9 a.m., and then you can photograph the volcano at several different stages.||||Breakfast was great. It's the standard Guatemalan fair, very tasty, and once again, the staff who waited on us every morning was exceptional. We'll definitely be back!||||Oh, a few extra tips and insight. The town square is a short, four block walk from the hotel. We walked it during the day and the night, and felt completely safe the entire time. In fact, we felt perfectly safe walking all around Antigua! The vast majority of the people we've met while traveling Guatemala have been warm and wonderful.||||There is a wonderful Guatemalan woman named Soela, who comes in to the hotel on most days, to weave Telar all by hand! The work is incredible and it was really cool to be able to watch her create the art which she weaves. By talking with her, we discovered that the clothing and other items which she sells are truly hand made, this includes the material, which is made from yarn that has been hand-spun and dyed. ||||This is not the commercial stuff that you'll find in a lot of the shops downtown! My girlfriend knows the difference, we travel all over Mexico buying handmade goods from artisans for her store! It was really interesting to watch her get lost in the myriad of beautiful things made by Soela. Her presence is definitely a benefit to the guests...

We were staying over a couple of extra days in Antigua after being with our group for 7 days. We wanted to explore more of the area and have a quiet and inexpensive place centrally located. This facility met all of our needs. The personalized service from the time we arrived to the morning we left was excellent. The walls are little thin and we could hear late comers and early risers come and go - this is natural for all places but perhaps the front desk folks could encourage the guests to be considerate of others. We enjoyed the personal attention and varied choices for our 'home cooked' morning meal. The weather was not conducive to using the swimming pool but it was nice to sit around it and relax. The rooftop patio was a nice...

Splurged with a friend on our last night together in Guatemala. We hoped this hotel would be a treat, but it was not. We were disappointed with the lack of wifi in our room (#4). We needed to go to the lobby/main desk area to connect and even then, it was intermittent. This was an inconvenience and made checking in for flights difficult. ||Also, they offered to assist with transportation arrangements in the morning and this was challenging as well. The taxi they scheduled came and left without knocking or calling an need to be called back. This put us behind schedule and created extra stress on our last day. ||Otherwise, the courtyard was pretty and so was the pool. And, it was nice to be a few blocks off...