[cheychey]

We are trying to price out our visit trip to Guatemala. Can anyone please tell us the cost of an average meal in the hotels? Is it comparable to meal costs in the US, less/more?

Thank you in advance for any information,

[TyAva]

We stayed at the Westin. The breakfast buffet was included. And it seemed that every other meal was about $20-30 ish. The biggest expense was that soft drinks didn't come with free refills...so it was like $2.50 per glass of pop! I think that next time we will order in from outside of the hotel. We saw a McDonalds, Dominos, and Chili's...not sure of their prices though.

[bbeard72]

Same as here if you eat in the nice hotel restaurants. We ordered domino's etc and that was like $15 for a large pizza. Breakfast was included in our rate . We didn't usually have lunch since breakfast was so fullfilling.

[dspakowsky]

I found the prices to be the same. The dinner buffet at the Westin was about $16, but it's huge. A hambuger and fries at the Westin was $8. The prices at the Marriott are very simular. You can also order pizza, and that costs about $12 for a large pizza. McDonalds is the same price as here too.

Just keep in mind the food is different. For instance, I ordered nachos at the Marriott and could hardly eat them. They had tough, hard corn totilla chips and gross cheese. At the Westin I once ordered a light salad and it was bamboo shoots and dipping sauce.

If you post your hotel, I bet you'll get more recommendations based on the hotel/location.

[MicheleB]

I just wanted to second the comment that the food is different - even if you are ordering from a restaurant we have here in the states.

We ordered Domino's Pizza on our second trip to Guat. and thought it was great. The cheese and toppings tasted different - can't explain it - but it was very, very good. We don't like Domino's here. We ended up ordering Domino's on every visit after (6 other trips). I also wanted to say that Camparo's Chicken is excellent and they deliver also.

[Lori Elena]

I've heard Camparo's Chicken is AWESOME! Unfortunately, I didn't get this info until right before we were leaving. When we go back, I will surely try it out.

As for the food in Guat.....we stayed in the Marriott. The breakfast buffet was included and very extensive. As another poster said, lunch wasn't necessary after a breakfast like that (plus....I use to take a banana, or a few cookies for later in the day as a snack). We ate dinner in Champions (one of the restaurants in the hotel) and that was sports bar food. I liked it, though I've heard others say they didn't. We ate mostly at the dinner buffet and the cost usually ran about $16-$17 per person + tip. One night we ate at the Italian restaurant in the Marriott. We invited the foster family, and a few other people. The food was very good and honestly, not that pricy. I would say it was about $30 per person. AND....as others mentioned, we ate McDonald's a couple of times too. It was right down the street from the Marriott. My only complaint about McDonalds is they don't have half the stuff on the menu that we have here. They don't even have chocolate shakes!! Also, Dunkin Donuts only has regular coffee and it only comes in one size......crazy huh!!!

Have a great trip!
Lori

[DPline]

Originally Posted by dspakowsky

I
Just keep in mind the food is different. For instance, I ordered nachos at the Marriott and could hardly eat them. They had tough, hard corn totilla chips and gross cheese.

I always wondered if I just got a bad plate of them with stale chips! Horrible chips with melted processed cheese product. The quesadillas were awesome though. Everything I every had in the main restaurant or the italian place was very good, and the breakfast buffet is wonderful!

[jules17]

I agree with everyone else's pricing...DH and I didn't even look at the prices, but at the end of our weekend, it wasn't too bad.

I had the most delicious margarita in La Vista restaurant...actually, I had a couple! If you order it "normal," it comes straight up like a martini. It was wonderful - tasted like they used freshly squeezed lime juice. I highly recommend.

[MNStarr]

We stayed at the Clarion and breakfast was included. Their breakfast buffet was huge with a chef there ready to make you eggs any way you want them. We would go to breakfast around 10ish after giving her her bath and would skip lunch. We did bring some granola bars to snack on, trail mix, chips, and other munchies. For supper we noticed that ordering out of the hotel was much cheaper and better food than staying in. I highly recommend Frida's and Mexico Linda. We called and placed the order and someone from our agency picked them up. Frida's is also right next door to the Clarion so you can walk there. I think we averaged under $40 a day for food for 2.

[Maria'sMom]

Originally Posted by MicheleB

We ordered Domino's Pizza on our second trip to Guat. and thought it was great. The cheese and toppings tasted different - can't explain it - but it was very, very good. We don't like Domino's here.

We agree! You can't get my husband to even touch a Domino's pizza around here, but we both loved their pizza in Guatemala! A large pizza and some drinks came to about $18. We also had some Chili's (both take out and dine-in) and I thought my quesadillas were better than here as well. My husband had burritos, and those bills came to about $33-$36. Also, the going rate for tips in Guat is 10%. We are used to tipping 20% (and felt like we were cheating them) so I asked a couple of the hotel empolyees and was told that 10% is looked upon as a good tip. If the service was especially good, we gave a few U.S. dollars on top. We found that the 10% tips were usually added directly on to the bill by the restaurant. If you are staying at the Westin, you have to try the Italian restaurant by the main entrance (not operated by Westin, but located just inside) -- Guiseppe's I think is the name of it. It was awesome!!

Have a wonderful trip!!