Guest User
October 1, 2022
We stayed 3 nights at the casa verde in Santa Ana, which we used as a base to visit the Ruta De Las Flores and Santa Ana Volcano/Lago De Coatepeque. Around 10 years and 25 countries ago my wife and I stayed in a Hostel in Mount Aso, Japan which we thought was the best hostel we have ever stayed in. That was until we visited this place. It’s hard to begin to explain why this hostel is so enjoyable - its certainly not covered in gold leaf. It is just a place where it is a clear that a lot of forethought has gone into creating a space that satisfies all of the needs of the guest. This is paired with superb hospitality by the owner Carlos, who clear knows his craft. In summary here are the pros * ROOMS - We stayed in room 12 which I think is actually the nicest of all the private rooms (appears to be a new construction). It had a very comfortable bed, good functional air conditioning, a rainfall shower with endless hot water. The toilet was separated from the shower and we had a atrium area with steel shelving to stack our stuff, as well as a couple of bag stands. The power sockets featured USB ports for charging our phones. There was a TV inside also. * WIFI - Quite high speed. We were able to update our iCloud for the first time in 2 weeks (couldn’t get good connectivity in Guatemala) and I was also able to redownload a bunch of content from Netflix/Stan that had expired. * SECURITY - Santa Ana is a gritty city and not one that I would want to wander around at night. This hostel felt very safe with a large steel door that locked the only entrance into the premises (only the staff allow people in). Our rooms all locked and the one window in our room was covered with large steel bars. * BAR/RESTAURANT ON SITE - Kind of fitting with the above the restaurants and bars in Santa Ana aren’t located close together and once night falls you don’t want to be on the streets wandering between them so to have a tasty and well priced bar/restaurant on the premises was a big bonus. We ate here on two of the nights and the food was great. * LAUNDRY SERVICE - They offer a laundry service where you pay based on number of items. I believe we paid 10USD for 77 items of clothing. It was also appreciated that they dry these on the clothes line in the terrace rather than through a dryer that damages the clothes. * SHARED FACILITIES - We had a swim in the pool which was clean. It has a shared and well stocked kitchen although I didn’t use this. There was a honesty fridge set up in which one can purchase beers, soft drinks and waters. You just place your name on the whiteboard and what you took and settle the bill at the end. There was a rooftop terrace which overlooked the city. There was a information board with information on local attractions and bus connections. I believe they can also organise tours here although I cannot comment on this. * LOCATION - Within walking distance to the main plaza which featured the Santa Ana cathedral and theatre. * BREAKFAST -