Since Alf never posted how his stay went, here's my report on my nearly monthlong PB stay.

At the time of my stay, the exchange rate was about 4900 Gua. to 1 USD. Local water is safe to drink. I've heard of some people saying they got sick from eating local food, but I had no problems whatsoever here.

The hotel is in the Centro district. The area is a mix of business and residential properties. I'd say that the hotel is mainly a convention and event property, as every week there was all sorts of stuff going on here. It has free wifi that works most of the time.

I arrived from the airport in a taxi (90k), took about half an hour. Quick check-in. Was given an Executive Room on the 5th floor, but not the bed type that I had chosen. Had a view of the river, and a bathroom with shower, tub and toilet with a spray hose on the side (similar to what you see in Asia frequently).

I booked many of my nights in 1-7 night blocks, since I wasn't sure if I would like the property, and this way I could bail if it wasn't satisfactory.

They thought I was just staying the one night, but I called downstairs to ask about getting a room with the correct bed type the next morning. I was told that it was double beds or nothing. The desk agent then saw my status, and said he'd check, and call me back.

He then said he had 'found' a room for me with a king bed. He sent up a bellman who escorted me down to the 2nd floor. This is one of the main floors that has exhibition/party space. The design is pretty bad, as you have to go up a flight of stairs, and use your key to gain entry to the hallway where the rooms are located. Later on, I found out that there is another elevator in the back of this wing, that you can enter from off the lobby, and don't have to deal with stairs.

I had a basic room, with king bed. Shower only, and toilet without hose attachment. iPod docking station by the bed, and flat screen tv. The AC control was a little weird, I would set it at 22c, and then somehow it would change to 20 or 21.

Breakfast is free, and is a quite nice buffet. Open for 4 hours, 6:30-10:30am. Each day it had runny scrambled eggs, and little hot dog/sausages and bacon/ham in the same container. They also often had a third item which rotated between ham/cheese sandwich, another type of sandwich, I think they called a Beirut, which was ham, cheese, tomatoes on a tortilla like bread, and another local breadlike thing that I didn't much like.

I'm a big fruit guy, and this place had 6 different sliced fruits, plus another 3-4 whole fruits (apple, pear, plum and bananas most days). Great orange juice plus a second rotating juice (papaya, tutti-frutti, lemonade).

A wide selection of breads, including some cookies, brownies, rolls and such. They have 4-5 different cereals, plus yogurt, but the types they serve are super runny, so not interesting to me. They also have sliced ham, and a couple of different kind of cheeses.

You can also get coffee, hot chocolate made up for you. Griselda is a great server, and was always happy to help out during my stay.

A few days in, I tried to order room service at midnight, but they didn't answer the phone. I tried the front desk. No answer. Finally, I tried later, and the front desk told me they only had a few items available (instead of the 7-8 shown on the menu). They recommended a bar across the street, 904 Asuncion that was open.

I got dressed, and checked it out. It's a bar, but luckily does have an inside non-smoking section. Some very nice food, I got an appetizer platter for 45k. Talk about full! I ate here 3-4 times a week for the rest of my stay. Usually open 5pm until 2am, Mon-Sat. I think they open later on Saturday night, 7pm or so. Closed Sunday.

Excellent woodfired pizzas here, and I never had a bad selection with any food. Great servers in Tori and Fabian. You have to pay when you order your food in most bars in Asuncion. Locals do not seem to tip. Tuesday is Masa day, which gets you any pizza and a draft beer for 18k.

I also at the Brittania Pub up the street on Sundays when 904 was closed. This is more common low quality bar food, with no real service. Prices are low, but you get what you pay for here.

Another night, I actually did get room service to deliver something, but they were out of the normal hamburger bun, so sent in on regular bread, cut in 4 pieces. Also, no ham/bacon and double cheese as advertised. I didn't complain. 44k, and it included fries.

I ate at their lunch buffet (78k, I think) once, and it was decent, but nothing to write home about. Also, one lunch where they had a set menu for about 70k. Reasonable quality, but a bit expensive for Asuncion, where most stuff is a bargain.

Staff here was generally quite good. I had problem with noise a few times, from a weekend party in their banquet/salon area that played loud music until 3am on a Saturday, to a bunch of kids running up and down the hall just before I left.

There were 5 or 6 conventions while I was there. Everything from a UN function, to a Secretary/Assistant conference to a High Fashion show. The staff was pretty nice about this, but know that there will be a lot of traffic through the hotel and noise when they're having these functions. Perhaps the 2nd floor isn't the best place to be if this stuff annoys you.

They even gave free access to some events like the fashion show, although it wasn't anything that I was interested in. After complaining about the running kids, they also invited me to the Swiss Autistic kid concert upstairs, which I passed on.

The hotel will change dollars for local currency. 4700 to 1 usd, although you can easily do better at the banks and exchange houses. Usually 4900 or better while I was there. Still, not as bad as a lot of hotel rates.

Taxis are the most expensive things here. The meter starts out at 5000 ($1), and is about $1 per kilometer, plus waiting time. After 10pm, and on Sundays/Holidays they add on another 30% to the bill.

For even the mildly curious, I'd recommend trying the buses out. Fares are 2100 (42 cents). The front desk can often help you out with which routes to take. I went to a nice Brazilian Rodizio Buffet in Villa Mora called Paulista Grill on a Sunday. It would have cost $20 roundtrip on a Sunday, but instead just 84 cents. (Bus 31, get off on corner of St Martin/Mcal Lopez where the bus turns). About $14 for a great buffet with great meat, salad bar and desserts.

For laundry service the hotel is expensive, but there is a lavanderia across the street, called Yami, I think. Costs are about 25 cents per item, usually by the dozen. They'll also bring the items back to the hotel for free. I usually spent $6-7 a week getting laundry done here, with return the next day.

The hotel has massage available for $30. Or you can pay $10 an hour for a great massage at a local place at 533 Estados Unidos with Ana. Green door, next to the optometrist.

Asuncion is a little boring, but a pretty safe place. When walking around you need to check the sidewalk, as it's not real safe, and often has holes for water meters and such.

Bolsi and La Preferida were great restaurants in the Centro area. Bolsi at Alberdi and Estrella (I think), has both a coffee shop and restaurant. I preferred the restaurant, as the prices were the same, and service was much more elegant. Best deal here the the Chicken Cordon Bleu at $6. Free wifi too.

Checkout went fine, and they gave a USD payment option that was actually better than the exchanges. Minibar charges accurate, too. They have an airport car that they charge you 100k for, or 110k, if you want it charged on your bill. I think you could get a normal taxi for 90k.

I would recommend this hotel. Looking back, I probably would have tried to get a higher floor room away from the noise early on. I hate changing rooms, and don't usually complain much. The beds here were of very good quality, and had 4 nice pillows. Electricity is 220v, but have sockets that you can put a normal 2 plug US version into.

This has been my longest single hotel and Pointbreak stay. I think the hotel staff here tries pretty hard, and other than the noise conventions, wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

For a locals experience check out Mercado 4. Great fruit, and bargains galore. You can get a haircut for $2, or near the hotel, there's a nice salon for $5.