Hotel Living

 There's something enchanting and yes, exotic, about the idea of hotel living in a foreign country. I'm sure that with a different title, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel would not have been such a huge hit.

When Bruce and I began our expat journey twelve years ago, it was because of a hotel. Our son-in-law had this property that had been in his family for years, although no one had done anything with it. 

He and my daughter invested their resources, he did the work and finally it was ready. They only lacked a trusted manager. Enter her dad, the most trusted manager imaginable. The full story of this enterprising adventure is told in my book, We Burned Our Boats.

This is the hotel. Who would not want to live here? Located near Lake Atitlan in the Guatemala highlands, where tourists come from all over the world, the area is known for its perfect weather year-round.

This photo shows the second and third floor, where the rooms are. The first floor is entry, lobby, and a small kitchen at the back.

We lived in the hotel for a couple months. My husband didn't enjoy it since he hated living where he worked, feeling unable to get away and relax. Also, the rooms were quite small for a big guy accustomed to a large family home in America. He liked working in his little office up front but not living upstairs.

He was not enchanted by this exotic opportunity.