Casona Bellas Artes

This quaint hotel is handy for Barrio Bellavista, with a supermarket across the road and a little terrace at the back to relax on. The room and breakfast were okay for the price, but several things let the stay down. The toilet wouldn’t flush unless you lifted the lid, the safe didn’t work, and the air conditioning was very weak. At breakfast, the woman in charge was stern and put the food away before breakfast was over, without checking whether we were finished. One other issue: as tourists, we shouldn’t have to pay the 19% IVA Tax if we provide our PDI entry slip. The man who checked us in insisted we had to pay. I’d just arrived in the country and wanted to relax, so after going back and forth I paid. Fortunately, when we raised it with the manager at checkout, she refunded us.

They got our reservation wrong, then put us in a closet-sized room with a broken shower. The service and room both left us very dissatisfied. Luckily, we were only there one night. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

The beds and bedding were comfortable, and the service was friendly and attentive. It’s in a very good city location, within walking distance of the Market and beside the river that runs through the city.

The internet was only 1Mb down with almost no upload, so getting emails was difficult. The breakfast was bread, cheese, and ham. The toilet was broken, as was the electrical socket next to the bed.