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| Outside Charly's Bar and guesthouse with Charly and Maria Helena |
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| Tastefully decorated bar and dining room with great food! |
Granada and surrounding areas don't offer a campground and the hostels in town don't offer secure parking for 3 motorbikes. We spend quite a bit of time looking for a place to stay the night and then found a sign for Charly's Bar and Guesthouse. The sign says it all… Charly is German. Not that this bothered us in the least, I'm just painting the picture. It's the first time in 18 months we didn't camp but stayed in a guesthouse!
In our post about Granada you can read that there are a couple of rogue coordinates showing up on the internet about a place called 'George's summerhouse'. Either George is no longer there or the coordinates are seriously inaccurate as we couldn't find it anywhere. We asked several locals, who called long resident family members but no-one had even heard of George. With the benefit of hindsight I'm glad he wasn't there as Charly can hardly be beaten by George.
Charly's Bar and Guesthouse is owned and operated by Charly and Maria Helena. As you can read below, they offer a very good service and we are thus happy to spread the word!
Wherever we stay, the most important thing for us is 'can we park the bikes safely and secure'. Some people find our priorities somewhat odd perhaps but to us they are perfectly sane. If our bikes get stolen, or our stuff stolen, our trip ends. It's as simple as that. Bike safety and security is priority number one. When camping, the bikes are between our two tents and always directly visible. In a guesthouse that isn't an option but Charly understands bike security perfectly as he is a motorcyclist himself. The bikes were parked in his private garage which is as secure as can be. Problem solved!
Next on our priorities list is a good night sleep. Charly's Guesthouse offers individual rooms with private bathrooms and air-conditioned. A short walk or a 1 dollar taxi ride will get you to the hustle and bustle of the centre of Granada and yet you can sleep in comfort and solitude! The best of both worlds.
Charly is originally from Germany while his wife, Maria Elena, is from Nicaragua. Both are very friendly people. As Charly's is a bar and guesthouse he also offers breakfast and evening meals. As you can expect the meals offered are a mix of traditional German and Nicaraguan. Having been in Australia for 9 years and being on this trip for 18 months now, I hadn't had the pleasure of a real Wiener Schnitzel for more than 10 years. So guess what I ordered :-) Expectations were high but Charly didn't disappoint! Far from it. Actually all the meals we had were good!
Even when it was the kitchen staff's day off, Charly just opened the kitchen himself and cooked us a meal. How's that for hospitality? There are 4 variations of breakfast too and all for more than reasonable prices.
We had planned to stay for a night but ended up staying three. It's the perfect base to explore Granada. Charly's Bar and Guesthouse comes highly recommended!
