During the kids' spring break, we took a trip to Guatemala. Arriving the first night around 9 p.m., our goal was to bunk into a clean, safe accommodations that wouldn't break the bank.

The first hotel we tried (Hotel Proceres) was dark, dingy and had incredibly cramped quarters. To be fair, it was only $30/night, but no one in my family was thrilled about the thought of staying there. Our taxi driver suggested Hotel Bresciani, so we took a look.

Much better. Much, much better. Clean rooms with 2 full-sized beds each, fresh looking linens, a minibar in the room that didn't break the bank, air conditioning that worked well and a TV that got numerous English channels in addition to the Spanish ones. Moreover, as it was Easter weekend and the city was fairly empty, we got a special rate of $50/night. (Typically, it's $70/night, taxes included. Still a good deal in my opinion.) The hotel manager, Gustavo Marroquin, was also very helpful and gave us some ideas for traveling to other parts of the country.

On balance, it was well worth the cost and I would recommend it. Just two notes of caution:
1) while the hotel says it has a gym, all it had was a half-finished room on the roof with some cheap equipment and no electricity for the treadmill; and
2) avoid the hotel's restaurant/bar. While they have a menu, they get their food delivered from somewhere else...we tried it one evening. Yuck. Also, if you decide to get a drink in the hotel bar (which I do not recommend doing), be sure to ask how much it will cost. They tried to charge me $13 for a margarita with one ounce of tequila and 2 ounces of mix (they called it 3 drinks -- guess they just do shots there). I told the front desk person that it was unacceptable to charge so much for a 3 oz. drink (given that a good restaurant we visited charged just $6 for a better margarita), so they took it off our bill.