I Booked My Ripoff Shithole Hotel Through Expedia

Unfortunately, for my first night in Antigua Guatemala, the beautiful Hotel Aurora (where I am now) was fully booked, so I ended up booking one night at Posada Don Valentino through Expedia, for a rate of $75. I'll post photos of the Aurora later, but for about the same price it's about ten times better. Luckily I didn't spend much time at the Don Valentino. I arrived last night at about 9:30 from Copan and checked in. The night clerk told me they needed payment up front. I handed him a credit card and he told me (in Spanish; he spoke no English) that they had a 10% surcharge for credit cards. I told him it was unacceptable, but that I had no cash. He told me I could pay in the morning.

He showed me down a dark, gloomy hallway to my room (it was almost too dark to find the keyhole). The room was spacious enough but had an overpowering moth ball smell, threadbare towels, and plenty of noise from adjoining rooms. It's been a long time since I've been in a room as unappealing, and the rate would almost seem high in New York

The next morning there were a couple of very nice women at reception who spoke perfect English. I complained about the credit card surcharge. I understand a 4 or 5% surcharge to cover costs, but 10% is usury. The woman told me that there was a note about the surcharge in the fine print on my confirmation, and indeed there was, but it didn't mention the criminal percentage. "I hope there's no extra charge for the moth ball smell," I told her. I told her I thought she should waive the surcharge, but she said it wasn't possible. I paid with a credit card anyway and told her, "There's a saying in English: Penny wise and pound foolish." I said that after I was through reviewing their shithole fleabag on every internet forum they'd lose a lot more than $7.50 in revenue.