The two previous reviews are, I think, very accurate and observant. Arriving at night and waking at dawn and seeing the incredible charm and beauty of this little place, plus the staggering volcanoes, was quite unforgettable. La Casona is really beautiful, with eleven similar rooms. Ours was No.10 on the upper floor and I really would recommend an upper floor room - and indeed No.7, as a previous reviewer suggested, seemed to be the nicest of all. The rooms have masses of period and ethnic character but there is a trade-off in terms of practicality. There was hardly anywhere to stow your stuff, the bathroom was fairly cramped and, yes, the water was barely tepid.

Breakfast on the terrace was really nice, served and possibly cooked by the man who checked us in and did the gardening. There is a woman, too, who cleans everything. And there was a younger woman who may or may not have been in charge but was seen only briefly. On one night we had the place entirely to ourselves and watched the Oscars in the lovely downstairs lounge. They do not serve food, despite the brochure and website claiming a bar and restaurant.

I wondered why the little packets of sugar carried the Crowne Plaza logo. I asked and it seems the man who owns La Casona also owns the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in Guatemala City. My guess is that he uses this as an occasional venue for parties and festivals but otherwise lets it run as a sort of hotel. It is utterly charming and the two staff members, who do not speak English, work incredibly hard . . . but as a hotel it is a sort of failure, a bit like a place we stayed at in Cacchi, Argentina, a year before.

We did not like the location - you do seem remote from the centre of fabulous Antigua and I would not want to walk it at night. Antigua is packed with boutique hotels, so we checked out a few. We had a wonderful lunch at Hotel Panza Verde and discovered a hotel called Mansion di Pensativo which had the prettiest garden, a lovely pool and restaurant area. We never stayed there and never saw a room but this would be our No.1 choice if we ever went back.