Casa 1800 Cerro Verde Boutique Hotel

The view was the only positive. We arrived excited, but the good feeling didn’t last long. My parents’ room smelled bad, and it turned out to be mold, so the front desk moved them. In my room there was no hot water. A guy said he’d come fix it but never returned. On the second day, after my mountain hike, I wanted to relax and shower. We asked again, but no one showed up. A couple of hours later someone finally came, removed something, and left without coming back. I tried showering in my parents’ room instead, but after about 2 minutes the water went cold. The nights in the mountain are very cold, and I wasn’t going to take an ice bath. They then offered us a shower in a third room, but we couldn’t stay there because it was already reserved for someone else. There was also a tarantula in our room, bugs all over inside, and the TV didn’t work. Sad and disappointed.

The setting and view are to die for, and this place is almost one of a kind. Check out the view from room 101. The modern, clean, well-appointed room is good too, but it’s the surroundings that make it worth it: the whole property sits in a nature park facing a perfectly triangular extinct volcano that’s 6600 ft tall. If you’re visiting El Salvador, I highly recommend spending one or two nights here as a base for cloud forest nature walks, volcano hikes, or trips to nearby Lake Coatepeque, a large caldera lake, and the towns on the Flower Route like Juayua. It should be 5+ stars, but they miss a few details. The shower water isn’t hot enough when you’re up in the clouds. Restaurant staff are friendly and well intentioned, but the service isn’t yet to international standards, though I’m guessing they’ll get there. Breakfast and lunch are nice and reasonably priced. I wouldn’t recommend the steaks, though, they’re expensive and only mediocre by US standards.

The views were amazing and the food was great, but the service wasn’t. It took a long time for anyone to attend to us, and we weren’t seated, just told to pick a table. We were dressed regularly, and when better-dressed guests arrived, servers had menus ready, walked them to tables, and attended to them right away. The treatment felt completely different. I hope the staff can address this.

The rooms are huge and well equipped, and the view of the volcano and valley below is spectacular. Staff were friendly and helpful, the food was great, and the prices were very reasonable. My breakfast was perfect. I also hosted 15 of my colleagues from Santa Ana here for a wonderful dinner. The homemade puppusas were delicious, and so was the traditional chicken soup. The whole experience, from start to finish, was incredible. I can’t wait to return for a longer stay.