Hotel Review: Hotel Casa Santo Domingo – SPA ROOM!

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We spent a long weekend in Antigua, Guatemala in July 2024 after spending most of the week at Lake Atitlan (very highly recommend Lake Atitlan!). We looked at numerous hotels in Antigua before deciding on the well-established and historic Hotel Casa Santo Domingo. We later upgraded to a “Spa Room”, which we really enjoyed and would absolutely book again. This post reviews our stay in a Spa Room at Hotel Santo Domingo in Antigua, Guatemala.

The artsy spa at Hotel Casa Santo Domingo.

HOTEL CASA SANTO DOMINGO

The Hotel Casa Santo Domingo is historic; it was originally the grand Convent of Santo Domingo in Antigua, Guatemala. This convent was one of the largest in the Americas, and it was almost totally destroyed in an earthquake in 1773 (the devastating Santa Maria earthquake). The ruined convent set empty and largely in rubble until 1989, when the Casa Santo Domingo project was developed and began restoring the convent and turned into into a fabulous hotel.

The main entrance to the Hotel Casa Santo Domingo.

Today, Hotel Casa Santo Domingo is one of the nicest hotels in Antigua, in addition to a home to six on-site museums, a busy conference center, and just a gorgeous place to walk around and feel like you have gone back in time to the late 1700s. Even if you do not stay at Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, tourists can visit the property and its museums for free. I certainly recommend a stop-in for those not staying here if you like history or photography.

One of Hotel Casa Santo Domingo’s pretty courtyards.

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Airport Lounge Review: The Lounge San Juan (Puerto Rico) at Terminal C

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San Juan Puerto Rico’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport is home to one of my least favorite airport lounges – The Lounge San Juan Terminal C. That being said, the staff is always nice and they drinks freely flow, so Dan and I usually stop in since we have complimentary access through our Priority Pass (along with everyone else, LOL). This post reviews The Lounge at San Juan’s airport, Terminal C (there is also a Lounge location in Terminal A, but I have never visited it).

Welcome to The Lounge.

THE LOUNGE LOCATION IN TERMINAL C

The Lounge is technically located in Terminal C of San Juan’s international airport, just past security, through the duty free shop to the left. While technically in Terminal C, Terminal B is a very short walk away (literally if you went right out of the duty free instead of left). As such, Terminal B passengers can easily access The Lounge without disrupting plans. The signage for The Lounge is truly right after duty free before you really get into Terminal C. Passengers access the lounge via the elevator behind the below sign. A checkin desk is right at the exit of the elevator. A line can form upstairs when busy.

Signage for The Lounge.

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An Afternoon Eating Real Guatemalan Street Food In Antigua.

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Of course we took a food tour when we visited Antigua, Guatemala earlier this year. The tour was exclusively street food focused, which Dan loved. You can easily recreate the tour yourself if you are a bit adventrous and speak a little Spanish. Otherwise, I will link the tour below.

Antigua, Guatemala.

Our first stop was at a real Antiguan bakery that has been around since 1940 (and opens daily at 5:00 AM). And, it was delicious. The name of the bakery is San Antonio Panaderia Lo de Cuchi Cuchi. It is famous for its homemade bread, and its take away only. Located right in the center of Antigua, San Antonio is super popular with both locals and tourists. If you are visiting, bring cash and know a little bit of Spanish.

The entrance to San Antonio.

San Antonio’s sweet counter.

We tried two dishes at San Antonio. The first “bite” of our tour was something that a tourist can pretty easily find all over Antigua, particularly in restaurants and shops offering traditional Guatemalan food (such as Rincon Tipico),Colochos de Guayaba.  Colochos for short are gummy-like circles made from guava fruit and topped with powdered sugar. These were midly sweet and very tasty. They were also super cheap. A definite must try in Antigua.

A Colochos de Guayaba from San Antonio.

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August 2024 Update – Airport Lounge Review: Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club, JFK Terminal 4

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**AUGUST 2024 UPDATE**  I recently returned to the Chase Sapphire Lounge at JFK Terminal 4 on August 28, 2024, before an evening flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. This post reviews my recent experience and updates my previous post from March 2024.

I arrived outside the Chase Sapphire Lounge around 5:00 PM on a Thursday in August (yes, just before Labor Day weekend). A small kiosk stood outside of the lounge entrance with an employee adding names to a waitlist. We waited behind two people. When it was our turn, the lounge employee asked for my Chase Sapphire card (not my Priority Pass – unclear if PP without Chase Sapphire was allowed) and took down my phone number, advising I would receive a text in about 40 minutes to enter the lounge with my guest. 55 minutes later, I received the text from Chase. Dan and I bypassed the waitlist line, which was even longer at this point (!), and checked into the lounge as normal.

The wait for the Chase lounge in August 2024… It was not pretty. The Centurion Lounge (next door) had no wait.

Totally different than my last experience, however, and which I totally appreciated, is that this time a staff member escorted Dan and me to available seats, and those were our seats for the duration of our visit. It honestly felt a bit like COVID times, ha. While this took away our ability to select an area in which to sit, it ensured that every guest had ample space and could actually enjoy the lounge without feeling totally crowded (a la the waitless Centurion lounge next door that I visited while waiting on Chase…). Food and drinks, again ordered via QR code on our phone, came out VERY quickly this visit, and all in it was a relaxing time (minus the wait). One other note for those waiting to access the lounge, Chase gave out complimentary soft serve ice cream to those waiting only (not once in the lounge), but didn’t tell anyone about this perk, LOL. I guest IYKYK. We will definitely ask for it next time – it looked good!

In any case, for those reading this for the first time, the Chase Sapphire Lounge in JFK’s Terminal 4 opened its doors in January 2024. We first visited in March 2024 en route to Nairobi Kenya for a safari! You can read the original post here. As I previously mentioned, the Chase lounge at JFK is very, very nice for a credit card lounge – tied with the Virgin Clubhouse for best lounge credit card access lounge in Terminal 4 IMO. Good food, fantastic drinks, and nice service. My only complaints are that its small (and I hear often has a wait to enter, as was the case on my recent visit in August 2024) and far from some of the “B” gates in Terminal 4.

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Spending New Year’s in Rome Rimessa Roscioli

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Dan, my mother and I spent New Years in Rome last year! This was Dan and my second time spending New Years in Rome, and was just a fabulous the second time around! To ring in the New Year, or Capodanno in Italian, Rome goes all out with fireworks, free concerts, etc. (truly the works), but many Italians spend the holiday with family eating a big meal (and wearing red undergarments for good luck!). We decided to forgo the street craziness and made New Years dinner reservations at Rimessa Roscioli in Rome, one of Roscioli’s great restaurants in Rome (this one specializing in wine).

Rome on New Year’s Eve. This is the Spanish Steps area – pure madness.

We have previously dined at Rimessa Roscioli, and it was delicious, so we were all in for Rimessa’s New Years tasting menu. I cannot recall the exact price of the tasting menu, but it was reasonable and included tons of food and wine. I do not think anyone left hungry or thirsty. We arrived at Rimessa Roscioli a few minutes before the dinner was scheduled to start and were seated at a communal table with one other family from Switzerland. They were very nice (and their two sons very well behaved)! The dinner progressed at a reasonable pace and finished just before midnight. Rimessa stayed open late and actually turned the dining room into a dance floor after midnight. We didn’t stay much longer than midnight, but it looked fun! This post reviews my New Years dinner at Rimessa Roscioli!

Rimessa’s New Years menu.

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