Guatemala City by night

- Zona Viva, Holiday Inn and it's views, Paseo Cayala, Hard Rock Café

Central Guatemala City, where you find the beautiful historical downtown, can be dangerous after dark, so we stuck to the safe areas of the city after the sun disappeared;

Zona Viva, that is the modern business district in the south part of the city, where you find skyscrapers, fancy stores, malls, luxury hotels, good roads and restaurants. Many of the highrise hotels and office buildlings are illuminated in neon lights after dark (Condominio Geminis, Edificio Atlantis, Dubai Center, Euro Plaza, Pacific Plaza, Westin Camino Real are som examples). Zona Viva is also where also our hotel, Holiday Inn Guatemala, was, and we visited the new 2-storey Hard Rock Café opposite the hotel twice, significant for its large neon guitar sign. The hotel was 4-star white highrise hotel with 18 floors, built in 1997, it's exterior is illuminated in green light after dark. The double room was great with amazing views of Zona Viva, the airport, other parts of the city and the mountains. The only downpart for some people was that it is close to the airport and commercial flights passed very often close to the hotel, personally I think it added to the international feeling. The lobby was typical modern with dark wood panels, a restaurant and a café (you can read more about the hotel in the Zona Viva section).

Paseo Cayala, an outdoor shopping center and residential area that is built like a Spanish town, complete with stores, restaurants, cafés, roads, upper floor apartments and a church, all in heritage style! Paseo Cayala is situated a bit away from the city centre, it is very classy, safe and all buildings are white there. It is open 24 hours a day. We took a taxi there the first day and it turned dark duringt our visit, the place is really beautiful afte dark.