THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS - Guatemala - page 243

You can pick up good-quality handicrafts at Artesanías Ixquil (6a Avenida, Cerrito del
Maíz, Zona 4, tel. [phone], ixquilhuehue@ hotmail.com), which has a wide assortment
of products representing the department's excellent weavings and singular traditional cos-
tumes. From the plaza, walk north up 6a Avenida to the top of a hill and then right on 1a
Calle, where it's number 1-115. It's about a 15-minute walk.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Under $10
Hotel Gobernador (4a Avenida 1-45 Zona 1, tel. [phone], $7-12 d) is a solid family-
run budget choice with good-size rooms, some with private bath. Some rooms are better
ventilated than others. Hotel Central (5a Avenida 1-33 Zona 1, tel. [phone], $6 d) is a
reasonable budget option with large, if aging, rooms, all with shared bath.
$10-25
Friendly Todos Santos Inn (2a Calle 7-64 Zona 1, tel. [phone], $10-16 d) has 16 rooms
with shared or private bath cheerfully painted in hues of red and orange with passable
mattresses and reading lamps, some with cable TV. There's an upstairs sitting area as
well as a third-floor patio. Downstairs rooms are not as well ventilated and tend to feel
moldy, a common issue throughout the highlands. Indifferent Hotel La Sexta (6a Avenida
4-29 Zona 1, tel. [phone], $17 d) has stiff beds and smallish rooms with cable TV and
medieval-looking hot-water heaters. On the south side of the bus terminal, Hotel Guate-
mex (tel. [phone], $10-20 d) is your best bet for late bus arrivals into town, with rooms
in a variety of price categories, all with cable TV and good beds.
$25-50
Half a block north of the plaza, Hotel Zaculeu (5a Avenida 1-14 Zona 1, tel. [phone],
$37 d) has attractive ground-floor rooms with tile floors beside a garden courtyard. The
top-floor rooms in a newer section have been upgraded with carpeting, accent lighting on
the walls, and other pleasant decorative touches. All rooms have cable TV, great beds, and
private hot-water bathroom. There's a dining room serving breakfast and dinner. Conveni-
ently situated across from the Los Halcones bus depot, Hotel Casa Blanca (7a Aven-
ida 3-41 Zona 1, tel. [phone], $37 d) has personal sentimental value, as it was once my
grandfather's home and office. All mushiness aside, there's plenty here to recommend it,
including attractive rooms in the original house (with plenty of character) or beside the
back patio (more modern and spacious). All 15 rooms have hot-water private bathroom,
phone,andcableTV.Therearetworestaurants,eachfrontingoneofthehouse'stwopatios.