4 Best Hotels in Coban, Las Verapaces

The owners of El Bistro also run a small, clean, and exceptionally inexpensive hostel next door. Lining a long first-floor corridor, the rooms have either double or bunk beds; all have shared baths.

If your tastes run toward the simple, then this modestly furnished backpackers' hostel near the center of Cobán makes for a good budget find. Three of the six rooms are for one or two people; the other three have bunk beds and can sleep up to four; bathrooms are shared. Plenty of hammocks are hanging out in the garden and are nice to come back to at the end of a long day. The proprietors also run Cobán Travels tour company.

The rustic Doña Victoria was built as a convent more than 400 years ago. It's filled with charming antiques; rocking chairs and overstuffed couches line the wide stone porch encircling the patio, which is also graced with an old stone well. Rooms are spacious and have beds piled high with blankets for the cold Cobán nights.

This centrally located hotel is popular with Guatemalan business travelers, who appreciate its unusual combination of convenience and tranquillity, thanks to its position on a quiet street one (uphill) block away from the main square. The spotless rooms are simply furnished, with one double bed. Next door is a small coffee roasting plant (owned by the same family), which fills the air with a delightful scent.