Sign in with Facebook
4 Stars - 21 Opinions
Zona 1, Guatemala City
Santa Semana
Cathedral San Jose
Aurora Park Zoo
Hello,
I am going to work in Guatemala city for one year, and i would like some information about the city and country?
What are the prices for appartments or houses for rent? Is living there expensive in issues like food and clothes?
Is there gyms in the city?
Thanks for any information!
Pedro Resende
pedro_resende@msn.com
Well from what I experienced, the food prices shouldn't be a problem there unless you buy from the expensive stores.
There are gyms around the city, one I can think of is located at Ciudad San Cristobal but I dunno the name nor address of it. But has superstores and a Pollo Campero nearby. That's all I can help you with.
Hi there, since I assume you speak spanish I suggest you check out the clasi web on www.prensalibre.com. There are plenty of high rise apartment buildings in guatemala that've beeen built recently because of an apartmanet construction boom going on. Take at look at www.losproceres.com or www.inversionesdeguatemala.com to get an idea of what you can expect. Also take a look at Eve Anderson photos (www.eveanderson.com)of some apartment in zone 14 by the aiport which is an excellent area to live. If you use the search tool on the lonely planet forum you'll get a great deal of information regarding cell phones and what to expect in terms of buying a car or importing your own vehicle. Food prices are relatively cheaper than here in the US. the same goes for clothes. There are some good gyms and several malls to go on your spare time to kill some time. You can find just about any US fast food franchise there too and excellent restaurants. To get a better idea of what guatemalan people are like take a look the photos on the city's official web page www.muniguate.com and click on pasos y pedales. They close off several street for families to go out and excercise. I could spend hours giving you information but since most people never come back to acknowledge receiving the information some times you feel you're just wasting your time when I have better things to do. Good luck.
I suggest you also post your question on the trip advisor and the thorntree.lonelyplanet forums.
Oooooh yeah, screwy trip advisor has skanky pop ups and TTers usually hate Guate. It's worth extra if you can stay in Zone 10 and can thereby go out for safe walks at night. La Torre supermercados take credit cards and the prices are okay.
GC looks like a mini mexico city, but not as nice..but one thing i know..antigua is abour 45 minutes away..and it is awesome there..so try to spend as much time there..and go to the volcano and the lake ...enjoy, lucky you
Although most Guatemalans use this holiday as an excuse to visit the beach, there are still some major Santa Semana festivals in the city. Pretty much the whole city shuts down for 5 days and for those who do not leave, this is the only entertainment.
I think just walking the streets is the best way to enjoy Guatemala City. Street markets are very lively and more established inside ones, too. Also, there are some parks and monuments that you don't want to miss. Especially, the museum, cathedral, and the city hall, clustered together are must.
Built in 1813 this Neo classical style church and convent houses most of the Baroque altars brought from the original church in Antigua Guatemala. During the governement of Justo Rufino Barrios some church properties (like this one) were nationalized, and the convent became the headquarters of the National Police. In 1999 the property was returned to the church and restored. It´s now home to the Museum de la Merced, a four room museum with paintings and sculptures dated from the 17th to the 19th century. The organ has been called the most beautiful in the whole country (was played in the 1813 church inaguration). A must see in the city.
"Why visit this city?" many people ask. Most visitors to Guatemala simply leave the city for Antigua, the fascinating old colonial capital of Guatemala, a few hours away. But I decided to stay for a while in my desire to get to know more about the reasons why so many Guatemalans prefer to live here. I walked around the various "zonas" or zones in the city, rich and poor areas, and realised that Guatemala City does have some attraction for the locals, and even for outsiders. Yes, Guatemala City appears functional or utilitarian, devoid of ornate baroque buildings or fantastic sceneries that tourists crave for, but I like the idea that Guatemala City is the place to see modern-day Guatemalans, indigenous or Hispanic. Tourists go to Tikal to see pre-Columbian Guatemala, Antigua to see colonial Guatemala, but show no interest in seeing where Guatemala is now. Despite the lack of tourist sites, I still enjoyed what the city has to offer.
Guatemala City's street names use a very practical numerical system, which was decreed back in the 1870's. In numerical order, avenidas go north to south and the Calles go east to west, subdivided by 8 Calle and 6 Avenida with their respective parts north, south, west and east. The names of the suburbs, called zonas, also use the numerical system. Guatemalans know what your social standing is just by telling them the zone number of your address. And the differences can be staggering. The most prestigious ones are zona 9 and zona 10, where one can observe the pleasant lifestyle of their affluent residents. It's just to the south of wide Avenida de la Reforma, Guatemala City's pale imitation of Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma, and its main drag.
The city does have its share of old structures. Founded in 1775 as a result of having to reluctantly move the capital of Guatemala colony (then covering the entire Central America) from quake-prone Antigua, the city was centred at the Plaza de Armas which is bounded by the town hall (north), the green Palacio Real (west), the market (south), and the Cathedral (east). A few blocks from the grand plaza are houses built in a uniform "mudejar"style around smaller plazas. Zona 1 and zona 2 are the places to see the historical centre of the city. As the capital city, many civic buildings were built around zona 1.
By the turn of the century, Guatemala City became so Eurocentric that European immigration was encouraged and the city expanded westward by building the Avenida de la Reforma, taking an example from Champs Elysee. A cheap imitation of the Eiffel Tower was even built and it still stands today. Many of the affluent residents moved to the new fashionable suburbs and the Centro lost its glory days. Many modern buidlings were built around the Reforma and this is now the city's fashionable district for Guatemalans of Spanish descent.
The city has now grown to become Central America's largest city. Guatemala had its fair share of a history of political violence during the 20th century, and refugees from the countryside, mainly indigenous people, have flooded the city creating terrible socio-economic problems. In the outskirts of the city, lie some of the worst slums, worlds away from the trendy bars and restaurants in zona 9. And this is very much a reality for many Third World cities. Yet for some reason, Guatemala City has given these people a palce to stay albeit in squalor.
View all Guatemala City hotels
View all Guatemala City hotels
Latest Guatemala City hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
We've found that other people looking for this hotel also know it by these names:
Address: Km. 29.5 en la Carretera a Santa Elena Barillas, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Comments