FEEDBACK ON CARACAS AIRPORT HOTELS
For addresses and phone numbers of these Caracas, Venezuela airport hotels -
visit our Caracas, Venezuela airport page.

September 27, 2001

Here’s my feedback on the hotels by the airport in Catia la Mar.
The Best Western in Catia la Mar is a rip off.
Right next to the hotel is a canal of raw sewage that runs into the dark brown ocean and smells so bad and was full of birds eating dead dogs.
The rooms are very nice, but not worth the price for an overnight stop.

I would say the Hotel La Parada is much better and the people are very protective and they have a restaurant and free coffee in the morning.
They also provided a ride to the airport for 8,000 Bs.

Michael, USA

December 27, 2001

Hi, We want to thank you for your helpfulness, special kudos to Gini.  
Hotel La Parada was nice, clean and the people were very helpful and careful of us as you said.  The cabbies ripped us off, but such is life as a tourist!  We enjoyed our stay!  

Deborah, NY, USA

February 14, 2002

Webmasters note: We received a detailed e-mail from one of our clients, Woody - USA,  about problems they received at La Parada on a Sunday night. The problem related to being overcharged for a room. We called the owner who advised us that there was a non regular person on the desk that night and that he would take steps to correct the problem. Our experience with this hotel from other guests has been positive however if any one else has any other comments they would be appreciated.

March 28, 2002

How can  you publish on your site that the Best Western Puerto Viejo is a  "5 Star" Hotel.  That's about as far from the truth as can be possible. I would never stay at that hotel again.  Just getting to the hotel is scary enough and the hotel leaves a lot to be desired.

Patty, Venezuela

Aug.13, 2003

My son and I spent two nights at Hotel La Parada last week on our way to and from Los Roques, and were extremely pleased.  The hotel sent a taxi driver to the airport, and he was still there when our flight arrived 4 hrs late at 1 AM!  The hotel is clean comfortable, and very friendly.  It is also very close to the airport--our friends who had arrived from Milan, Italy spent an hour and a half in traffic getting to their hotel in the middle of Caracas for an overnight, while it took us about ten minutes each way.   Definitely recommended.

Ken, Atlanta

Aug. 14, 2003

We got to CCS at 9:00 pm. There was somebody waiting for us and they drove us to the hotel. La Parada is a nice hotel and although none of the people there spoke English we felt safe. The rooms are air conditioned and there is a restaurant, however it opens at noon. So we really missed the breakfast you gave us. But there is a panaderia (bakery) close by and it was excellent. Since they cooked there, we also had lunch there. We enjoyed it. And now the interesting things that happened.  The receptionist asked us when to call a taxi when we checked in, so we said three o'clock. The people there were so reliable that they called a taxi for us at three in the morning!

David & Sylvie, Czech Rep.

Sept. 17, 2003

FYI, I stayed at the Hotel La Parada while traveling through the Caracas Airport and thought it was a great place for the price (45,000 Bs for two of us). They had someone with a sign for us at the airport to take us to the hotel for 10,000 Bs. They have a nice restaurant in the hotel and there is a bakery/cafe just down the street that does breakfast. I spoke to the manager and they no longer have the Hotmail email account listed in your web site. They just have the phone and fax. I had to phone to make reservations. It was helpful that I speak Spanish, since they didn't speak English at the hotel.

Jim P.

Oct. 20, 2004

I also spent a night at the Hotel La Parada. It is secure/safe. The proprietor is from Spain. The food is very good in the restaurant. It is very close to the airport and they will transport you to and from the airport. Its also quite affordable at twenty five dollars per night I think for one person. I would not recommend going out into the neighborhood at night unless you knew where you were going and went by cab. Also the Hotel is spotless and clean with great hot water, showers and air conditioning.  Ken, Illinois

Nov., 2004

Merry Christmas Dan:

John and I had the pleasure of visiting your island in November, 2004 and had a wonderful time.
On our return to Caracas, we stayed at the IL Prezzano Hotel and had two wonderful dinners at the Posada Restaurant. Sabatino Gismondi, proprietor, had a driver pick us up from the domestic airport and a return trip to the International upon our departure. Our room was, very clean, and we were very safe. We spent the following day at a local beach, walking to and from our hotel.

Susan & John
Alberta
Canada

March 2005

A couple of months ago I asked for your help in booking a stop over room in Caracas. You helpfully suggested I tried Hotel Catimar, and asked for my feed back of the experience.
They have a website, www.hotelcatimar.com and everything is exactly as the photos show. Floors are gleaming, bathrooms squeaky clean (a few understandable rust stains in the sink from water drips) and there is hot water for a good shower. The beds are comfortable and the sheets are clean. There is air conditioning that works and TV.
There is a rather noisy bar located up the hill behind the hotel, and a busy street on the front. On our first night we stayed downstairs, and we heard the noise of the cars and their burglar alarms until the early hours. On our return trip we stayed upstairs (room #11) and it seemed quieter.
The management picked us up from the airport and drove us the 5 minute trip to the hotel - it was very smooth and well organised in spite of the fact that we speak virtually no Spanish. They drove us back again the next morning.
On the website there is a list of prices, which is accurate. There is also an on-line booking form, which works.
The hotel is a clean, safe place for an overnight stop-over. It isn't in the same league as a Holiday Inn or Best western, but we consider it a bargain at its' price (BV90,000 including transfers on March 6th).
Best,
Jo, Canada

May 2005

The purpose of this note is to give you an update on the Hostal La Parada,
the details of which I originally obtained from your excellent website.

I arrived from Margarita May 5, 2005 at about 4:30 PM and once I picked up my bags as I came out the door a young man was holding up a sign with my name on it. He motioned to someone else who I believe was standing at the
other exit of baggage claim and together they carried my luggage out to their very clean and comfortable dual cab pick-up. We were in the rush hour traffic so the journey took maybe 20-25 minutes during which the
driver and his assistant and I had a jovial conversation (in Spanish).
Arriving at the Hostal, I was greeted by a very friendly receptionist and since I had prepaid I was taken up right to my room. The room was an interior room, no windows to the outside, but I was struck by how immaculately clean it was. The room was comfortable, the air-conditioning worked perfectly and the shower had good pressure and hot water. The sink however did not have hot water so I chose not to shave the following morning at three AM. A minor inconvenience. They place a thermos filled with ice and filtered water in the room.

Wanting something to eat before retiring for an early morning wake up, I wandered into their cozy little bar-restaurant. I had a whole fish dinner, with a salad containing exactly what I had asked for and couple of beers.
It was one of the best meals I had in Venezuela.

My wake up call came at exactly the time we had agreed. The young driver was there to take me to the airport so as to arrive at 3:30 AM for a 6:00 AM flight.

From beginning to end, my experience at the Hostal was first class. I would recommend it to anyone needing to overnight in Caracas/Maiquetia. I certainly will use it on future trips.

Stephen, USA

April, 2006

Hello,

I got some helpful tips for hotels near the airport from your website. I just wanted to suggest that you remove Hotel Tanausu from your list of hotels. This place is a very poor choice for anyone travelling through Caracas. It is in a scary neighborhood and doesn´t feel very secure, the people are unfriendly, the rooms are cramped, dark and dirty, there is no hot water and no showerhead even if there was hot water. They also ripped me off for the airport pickup and drop off. They charged almost 50000Bs. Hotel Tanausu is the worst hotel experience I´ve ever had and ever hope to have. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,
David, USA

May, 2006

My family and I recently went to Maragarita and spend one night at La Parada when going and one at Catimar on my return.

La Parada was ok. They were expecting for us at the airport with my name on a card. The rides to and from the hotel were quick and safe. Rooms were clean as was the bathroom.

Anyway, we decided to try Catimar for the return and it was a disaster. They weren't waiting for us at the airport as agreed. I had to call the hotel and they arrived 30 min after. When we arived at the hotel, four guys with guns were robbing the hotel at the reception desk. They locked the choffer in a closet, the receptionist was sitting on the floor with the arms in his head. They didn't hurt anyone but took our purse where we had all our passports. The hotel owner was helpful and took me to the police station. However, I missed my flight the next day and had to stay from Thursday to Tuesday at Caracas to get new passports and visas.

Leonardo, Montreal, Canada

June, 2006

Great hotel, La Parada, clean, safe, cheap, friendly people.....I stay there all the time..Frank , NYC, NY.

July, 2006

We arrived in Caracas on 7/16/2006 and spent the night at the Aeropuerto Hotel. Airport to Hotel taxi was 30,000 Bolivares. It was 50,000 Bolivares for the hotel room for the night. Small room, small bathroom. Relatively clean but rather worn looking. We woke up in the morning and there was no running water. It turns out someone had inadvertantly shut the water off to the entire hotel that morning. Not even an apology from the staff. Rather an unpleasant experience. Hotel to airport was 30,000 Bolivares.

We arrived back in Caracas from our stay in Margarita 7/22/2006. We spent the night this time at Hotel Tanausu (La Parada had no availability). Airport to Hotel taxi was 30,000 Bolivares. Hotel was a whopping 90,000 Bolivares for the night. We were too tired to argue or look elsewhere. We were in room 428. 3 flights of stairs (though small flights) with no elevator. Hotel room was small (like the room was built around the large bed!) but VERY clean (both room and bathroom). The people there, especially in the restaurant, are rather cold and unfriendly. The restaurant also ran out of coffee! Note that you cannot control the temperature in the room. According to the hotel, they have central air. Our room was FREEZING. The only way to control the temperature was to go down to the desk and ask that they turn the air off in your room for a couple hours and then turn it back on. Try that all night? We chose to bundle ourselves up and pretend we were camping in the anarctic. Also the strangest thing was that the bathrooms have a hole towards the top of the wall where anyone of any stature can look through if they were standing in the hallway. I would also not recommend walking around that part of town at night. Not that it was any more optimal during the day! Hotel to airport was 30,000 Bolivares.

Thank God for Margarita Island and its friendly people. Othewise, the surrounding neighborhood around Caracas airport would have had us writing off Venezuela for good!

Alex O., USA

July, 2006

I want everybody to be aware of what happened to me and my friend while
traveling to and from Margarita Island back to the States. I was naive
enough to make reservations at this hotel (La Parada) sight unseen, trusting
the comments on this site. First major mistake! Upon arrival we had to wait
two hours until they collected all the people that were going to stay at
this "hotel". At check in we realized that this place is located in the
slums of La Guaira and that it is not a safe place to walk around or to
spend the night for that matter. The people at the desk were the rudest that
we have found in all our travels. There is a young fellow who is the only
one who speaks English and he is the most unwelcoming and unsavory character
to say the least but he is only topped by the owner who is there almost all
the time. The Restaurant is full of flies and trust me you do not want to
even have water there. Well we decided to return there on the way back only
because we had paid in advance (We had to wait again 1:45 minutes). Upon
arrival we were told that we had to pay for the night and after some arguing
back and forth they finally found proof of payment. When I told the owner
that I was right all along and he was wrong and not to mention disorganized
he blew a fuse and screaming threw the money for the night on the desk and
told me that I was not going to stay at the hotel that he did not care that
I had a reservation and that I was to leave the place at once. He did not
care that I said that he was not going to do that to us and after demanding
for my room key he completely ignored us and kicked us out of the hotel. Our
luggage was kept from us locked in the truck until they decided to give it
back to us. I want to stress that no local let alone a tourist would walk
around in this neighborhood at night. When I asked to be brought back to the
airport he said that he did "enough" by bringing us here (The slums) for
free. So we where left in this seedy neighborhood on our own with no phone,
no way to contact a taxi at 11:00 pm to fend for ourselves. Fortunately and
to the owner's obvious discontent a taxi was dropping off some unfortunate
souls and we were lucky enough to get in this vehicle and out of this place.
I find this place's service and the owner's and personnel's conduct
completely immoral. We could have been mugged and hurt in this neighborhood
and he did not care about that for a minute. I plead you to post this email
because I would not want anybody to go through what we went through. Our
time in Margarita Island was wonderful but marred by this awful experience!


George, USA

September, 2006

We stayed twice at Hotel Catimar before and after our holiday in August/September 2006. The bedrooms are adequate but down market by western standards, though everything worked. The restaurant is more up market than the bedrooms, and we had some good meals there at reasonable prices. In fact it seems to be the best place in town to eat. We asked for a total of 3 airport transfers, and each time it worked perfectly, they were very reliable. In such a potentially hazardous country, this counts for a lot. The district in which the hotel is situated is run down. True, there is a beach opposite the hotel, which is small, but the shopping area's most interesting shop was probably McDonalds.The staff did not speak much English, but were always helpful. I would recommend this hotel for overnight stays near the hotel, though for longer stays there must be nicer districts elsewhere.

Barry, UK

Dec. 2006

I found Hotel La Parada on your website and stayed there on Dec 23, 2006.
My experience was not positive.
On the good side, the hotel is 5 minutes from the airport.
On the bad side: when I arrived at the airport the driver from the hotel was present, but he wanted to wait another 45 minutes for another flight to arrive so he didn't have to come back to pick up another passenger. Fortunately my companion, who spoke Spanish, convinced him to bring us directly to the hotel, since it was midnight.
We checked into the hotel without event, but noticed that there was construction work going on at that late hour in the hotel courtyard.
We got to our rooms and into bed and the construction continued; loud hammering making it impossible to rest. It was now 1 am. We called downstairs to complain and the response was "We are putting together some beds".
Thinking the matter settled, we returned to bed. The pounding continued, and now the noise increased with loud talking and laughing in the corridor by those working in the hotel.
We called down again, this time with anger. "It is 1 in the morning, and we cannot sleep! This is the second time we have called! We have to get up in 6 hours and cannot sleep!"
Finally the hammering stopped.
The whole incident showed me that the proprieters of the hotel DO NOT CARE ONE BIT about the comfort or the need to sleep of their guests!
It was an incredibly bad experience. We paid $75 for barely 4 hours of rest. I would not reccomend this place to anyone!
Mark

Feb. 2007

We stayed at Ole'Caribe this past Saturday (Feb. 10, 2007) and it was wonderful. As a matter of fact, we wished that we had another day there. It took exactly 15 minutes to get to/from the Airport. It is located in the mountains off the main road with a spectacular view of the ocean. The people were very friendly and the main desk people spoke English, along with the bartenders. The pool area, which is part of the dining/bar area was very nice. As soon as you walked toward the pool, a person came out of nowhere with a beach towel and walked you to a lounge chair, with cushions! We had lunch, dinner and drinks and all was good. The cost of the room was higher than most but I believe that you get what you pay for and it was definitely worth the money. For an additional charge, they offer airport transfers in a Towncar which was very nice. The price was no more than what it would cost to take a cab. The rooms were nice, clean and had complimentary shampoo, lotion, etc. I highly recommend this hotel and trust me, it was definitely worth the money.

Marla, USA

For addresses and phone numbers of these Caracas airport hotels - visit our Caracas, Venezuela airport page.

We would really appreciate anybody else who has passed 
through one of these hotels to add to this list.

To find the phone & FAX numbers of these Caracas Airport Hotels just click the link below.

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