I booked this hotel for my family of four based Tripadvisor reviews. We had two rooms that were large , clean and comfortable. The location is also excellent. Our problems however started at the front desk !! I do have to state that I speak no Spanish but after travelling three weeks in rural Mexico and Guatemala this had not caused us any problems until we got to the Mecure. Firstly we were travelling with our two young children but they had put us in rooms on two different floors - wheres the common sense in that. No amount of discussion was able to change this situation. Secondly our package included buffet breakfast but as we had to check out the next morning at 5:45am to get to the airport we would be too early for the restaurant which opened at 6am. We asked the Front Desk Mgr if we have a credit for the breakfast which we could use for dinner. 30 mins later I was told no not possible. I asked them to reconsider as I didn't believe this was reasonable why could they not substitute the value of one meal towards another ? 30 mins later the answer was again no. Having spotted their Tripadvisor sign proudly displayed on the front desk I informed them that I would be reviewing the hotel and including my poor experience. Again no change. Finally I asked them if they could provide us with a box breakfast that we could take with us to the airport. 30 mins later I got the call to say that they were giving us a US$13 credit each towards dinner. Obviously they worked out that it was going to be too much hassle to provide the box breakfast and therefore better off to give us a credit for dinner and shut us up. I have to say that the room service meal we received was excellent. Another problem we encountered though was that whilst on enquiry we were told not to drink the water from the taps the Mecure did not provide any complimentary water bottles in the rooms, not even for cleaning your teeth !!! Even in the most remote towns we stayed in during our travels in Guatemala bottled water was always made available with 1-2 bottles being complimentary. After a good night sleep we checked out the next morning at 5:45am and guess what their was no note on the system regarding the credit towards dinner, on top of this they wanted to charge us for using two small bottles of water. Then as if to add insult to injury then also told me that their was a US$10 charge for the in room coffee service that we had used even though there was no notice of this in the room.
Folks this is a very comfortable hotel, well located, with huge rooms and the food is great but this has to be the most frustrating, penny pinching and incompetent management that I have ever experienced from a large international chain hotel. You can't excuse this experience because it's located in a poor central american city, we experienced some of the best hospitality we have received anywhere in the world in Guatemala. Here's a tip for you Mercure Casa Veranda take your management team to the Hotel Cirilo in Antigua Guatemala, Ricardo and his team of local ladies will give you a masterclass in real hotel management and hospitality !!!