Awful - just plain awful. We were accommodated in this hotel as our flight was cancelled. Dated decor, an unventilated bathroom, and substantial noise from adjacent bathrooms are all bothersome, but what really kills this place is that it’s just outright dirty.
I chose Hotel Arenal because it was centrally located. The hotel was poor, bordering on terrible.
(1) the front steps of the hotel begin behind the narrow sidewalk of its one-way street. No place for a taxi to pull over so either the taxi stops traffic or it pulls to the right and you have to cross the street; no taxis available at the hotel.
(2) the windows didn't close correctly in my room; the wind whistled and rustled the drapes all night.
(3) the hotel has an elevator, but you have to take stairs to get to the elevator, both from the street and then from the lobby; some of the floors have steps between the elevator and the rooms
(4) front desk service is indifferent
(5) breakfast is fair, but the dining room is very crowded with tables and it's hard to get to the buffet even when most of the tables are empty; quota is one cup of coffee per person
(6) my hotel room was laid out such that I had to duck my head when moving from the entry area to the bed area; it had an arch that stopped 5.5 feet above the ground;
(7) the hotel is not a 4-star hotel (as booking.com describes it); 2- or 3-star at best, and a disappointment.
I would NOT stay there again.
The beds were comfy but our bathroom flooded due to what can only be poor construction. Our breakfasts were mostly stale considering we had to pay around 40 Bolivianos to have it, only cos we had arrived a few too many hours before check in after an overnight bus. Not impressed.
We are very sorry to hear you didn't have a pleasant stay. We will continue to work on the items your mention.
We understand your tiredness after a long bus travel, but our check in time is 2 pm and breakfast is only included if you slept the night before.
Nice comfy & fairly spacious room. Took awhile for water to heat up but once it did - good hot shower, however water goes all over bathroom floor. Easy walk to main square. Cheese & ham omelets made to order at breakfast.
After an 8 hour overnight bus we had to wait over 5 hours for our room to be ready. No drinks were offered..... and we were exhausted.
We took the breakfast at a cost of 45 Bolivian.
I asked if I could borrow a pen from reception whilst I waited this was not possible..... then after a long wait for the room I was told to remove my foot from a stool by the receptionist. I apologised but found the whole place gave off a vibe that customers were a huge inconvenience. We were a group of 10 people so it would have at least made sense to try and get one room ready so people could freshen up....
The area around the hotel feels quite shady. I would not stay here on my own.
