On a quiet street, about five minutes from the Zocala. Huge cavernous lobby, painted Pompeian red, with a sprinkling of palm trees to liven it up. With a massive marble double staircase sweeping up to the higher floors, it looks a bit like a Victorian government office, but was formerly an Augustinian monastery, before they were all privatized during the last revolution. Next door is the former church, a superb building, which is marked on the maps as the Biblioteca Nacional, but is now chained up and unused.
The rooms are grouped around two sunny courtyards, with potted flowers. Mine was scruffy and comfortable, with carpets, curtains, and pictures, as well as TV (only local programmes), phone, table, chairs, and efficient en suite bathroom. There is even a small garage at the back, in one of the spare rooms – just drive straight through the middle of reception.
Good value at $18 with bathroom, or $16 without. Go for a window - the windowless rooms are a bit stuffy. D.H.Lawrence stayed here in the thirties, and it hasn’t changed much since, apart from losing the restaurant.