Just came back 03/16/2009
Loved Haiti. The room was nice, old, the bathroom fixtures were dated but everything was clean and worked. The staff is excellent. The food was good and served well but there is a taste in the food at the hotel and everywhere I didn't care for. Not their fault just their custom. Security was tight. I often went and stood at the front door at night and watched the people on the street and it took a day or two to realize that when the panhandlers suddenly went away it wasn't because I convinced them I had had enough, it was because security came up behind me and indicated I should be left alone for a while. The street people didn't bother me because I recognize my role there was as a 'rich' American tourist who needed to be fleeced of all that money.
The hotel is an oasis in the middle of total choas. It's like a walled fortress and inside it it beautiful. The courtyard is lush with tropical trees and plants and the swimming pool is unbelievable, I wondered where they got all that clean water in the midst of Port au Prince. I visited the Montana Hotel about a 1/2 hour up the road and it is the cream of the crop but for my tastes it is too far out of touch with the people and isolated from everything.
When I return, I will feel enboldened and will look for a less expensive guesthouse to stay so I can stay longer. If i could get the Plaza for about $50/day I'd be there forever more. I'd rather pay less at another place and stay longer because I didn't use the room that much other than for sleeping and washing up, I'd still go to the Plaza for meals and drinks because there isn't any place else to go. I shouldn't say that, I didn't find any other place to go. But I only stayed 3 days. Next time I hope to spend about six days and will get to know a lot more about the city.
The people are simply fantastic! I was in some horrible looking situations but everyone was polite, friendly, just wonderful people. Never saw one cross look, never! And considering what these people go through everyday that's outstanding.
Go to Haiti, they need us and you'll love it.