As I mentioned earlier, we wanted to have a soft landing to give us a good start on this trip, so the first hotel in Pana was $50/night. In Antigua, we went down to a small, family-run place with a shared bath for $35/night, including a full breakfast - now we're talking. Luis, the father, was really helpful, walking us out to the corner with his cell phone at 6AM to make sure we got on the correct shuttle van, etc. It had a nice rooftop terrace, with clothesline and sink if you wanted to do your own laundry, a great location just 2 blocks from the Parque Central, and we had great conversations out on the patio with other travelers over breakfast - my kind of place.
The others in my family weren't so enthused. Lori was allergic to something, probably dust, that had her sneezing a lot early on. Later in the stay, after a room cleaning, it went away. The kids grumbled about a few things, but I thought this photo of what it feels like to play cards in a room lit by 1 bare lightbulb kind of sums it up.
