| This hotel was first built in 1843 as a family mansion, but by 1914 it had been transformed into a cafeteria, cake shop, guest house and meeting place for the main landowners in the central region of the country. The premises were reopened in 1996, after have been entirely rebuilt in such a way that all the former colonial style features of the building were returned to it via pieces of art work, sculptures, paintings, indoor plants, gardens, period furnishings and ceramic tile work along the walls. The acquisition of numerous pieces of fine arts by the hotel means that it is now recognized Center of Art, considered to be a City Symbol on account of its architectural and cultural historical values. The Plaza is located in the old quarter of the city, adjacent to the park that has made the site into a popular meeting place for local people and the scene of local customs and traditions. It is an ideal spot from which to set out on a visit to nearby historical, cultural and architectural sites such as the Museum of Colonial Art (the house of a hundred doors), the Main Parish Church (National Monument), the bridge over the Yayabo river and the Rubén Martínez Villena library. |