Exterior shot of La Casona de Los Estrada.
When we were looking for a place to stay in Granada last year I started with the places mentioned in a couple of guide books -- Adventure Guide Nicaragua
and Moon Handbooks Nicaragua
. The Adventure Guide listed a couple as "exceptional" -- like Casa San Francisco and Patio del Malinche, which do get quite solid reviews over on TripAdvisor.
Street scene in front of La Casona de Los Estrada.
But it was La Casona de Los Estrada, a place given a mere 'highly recommended' by the Adventure Guide, that stood out to me. I liked the fact that it was quite small, with only a few rooms. And if I could snag "Room 1", which got some good reviews on TripAdvisor, then that would close the deal for me.
Entry way of La Casona de Los Estrada.
After trading a couple emails with Carlos (who justifiably gets numerous shout outs over in the TripAdvisor reviews), we locked down "Room 1" and our lodging in Granada was booked.
Room 1 @ La Casona de Los Estrada.
Room 1 @ La Casona de Los Estrada.
View from room 1 @ La Casona de Los Estrada.
This place was a great value. At something like $85/night, our room was huge, with great a/c (which was critical, since it was in the mid 90s every day) and a massive, cool bathroom that I somehow failed to take pictures of.
Video of the walk from hotel's front desk to our room. I cut off the video in the middle of what was meant to be a humorous exhalation of wonder and refreshment, so the effect is just kind of creepy. I apologize for that..
The hotel is also in a terrific location. Just couldn't have been more convenient for what we were looking to do.
The service was mostly strong. The aforementioned Carlos was money. When he was around, you were in good hands. Whether you needed a recommendation for where to get some food or you needed him to grab a cold beer out of the fridge for you at 1:30am, he took care of you. The two girls we saw working a couple of front desk shifts over the course of our stay, however, weren't quite up to the bar that Carlos set.
However, we were taken good care of at breakfast.
Plate of fresh breakfast @ La Casona de los Estrada.
I believe we had 3 breakfasts here. Maybe four. Each day we were helped by the same woman. And what was brilliant was that she tried to tailor our plates each morning based upon what she noticed we did / didn't eat. For example, on the first day, I left all my bananas on my plate (at least the pieces that Judy didn't snag). On day 2, no bananas for me, more pineapple. Our tag team / food swap approach to eating threw her a couple of curve balls, and she never quite picked up the fact that Judy hates papaya. But just the fact that she was paying attention and trying to cater to our tastes was amazing, in my opinion.
Walk from room 1 to the breakfast area @ La Casona de los Estrada.
Sitting in the breakfast area @ La Casona de los Estrada.
Bottom line: if you're looking for a place to stay in Granada, you could do far worse than La Casona de los Estrada. And if life ever swings us back down that way, I don't think I'll bother looking for any other option than Room 1.
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