Nicaragua’s Granada will sport new hotel

The Grand France Hotel, hubbed in the Nicaraguan city of Granada that was founded in 1524 and is now considered the oldest village in the American mainland, will have its grand opening tomorrow. Caribbean News Digital has learned the 20-room deluxe establishment will be outfitted with a couple of bars, a restaurant and banquet service.

The hotel is housed in an old building some 30 miles south of the nation’s capital in a city that treasures a glamorous history and culture that was virtually burned down to a crisp in the 19th century by American filibuster William Walker.

The Archangel Restaurant will offer a blend of the finest French cuisine and the best Nicaraguan food in town, while The Balcony Restaurant lodged in the upper floor features a bar with a great view of the city’s Central Park.

The Bartolina Bar is the right spot to spend the night away having fun and doing Karaoke stunts.

The brand-new facility also offers grand tours around downtown Granada, to the 360 islets offshore, to the Mombacho Volcano (responsible for the creation of the aforesaid islets following a huge blast) or round the folkloric city of Masaya.

The building is penciled in as an architectural gem that was probably built as far back as 300 years ago.

In the beginning, the Grand France Hotel was a two-story house riddled with legends woven by local residents’ imagination.

Some dwellers swear William Walker was once detained there. However, the Bartolina Bar still preserves the steel bars that once served as a small dungeon in the past.

Another story goes that Duke Jorge Choisseul Praslin fled France and landed in Nicaragua to kill his young wife there. Shortly after that, he poisoned himself to death with plenty of arsenic.

The clay roof tiles, the small light poles and the wrought-iron balconies make up a colonial combination in a resort that laid the groundbreaking foundations for the country’s leisure industry.