Hotel Ciudad Bonita

We chose this place so the kids could swim during our layover, but the pool is closed for maintenance on Mondays. They only mentioned that after we had paid. The hotel itself is old and basic, and the price didn’t feel cheap. The central location puts some things nearby, though nights were noisy. Our room had no lamps, and the main light never fully switched off, so it was hard to sleep. Breakfast was pretty poor, though maybe that’s typical of continental breakfasts here.

The one good thing was the food, especially the club sandwich and hamburgers. Otherwise, the stay was full of problems. We paid almost 70 US dollars because the location seemed ideal, but our first room had no curtains. They moved us, and the replacement was worse: no internet, a broken phone, and old, grimy-looking bathroom door and windows. The receptionist kept giving us misleading explanations about the connection, even though the internet apparently worked on their computers. Restaurant service was painfully slow, the staff didn’t know the wine prices, and there wasn’t much hospitality. A ten-dollar hotel shouldn’t have this many inconveniences. As guests, we just wanted things to be comfortable in one place, and that wasn’t the case here. I wouldn’t recommend it.

We only needed a place for one night, and it was adequate, without anything particularly fancy. The service was great, though. Since we had an early flight, the staff made sure a driver was ready on time.

The clean pool and excellent breakfast were a real plus, and there’s a nice coffee shop in the lobby. Staff were top notch, from the doorman to housekeeping and the front desk. Great value for the price. I’ll come back.