Crowne Plaza Managua Review

Leaving Calala Island, we could have gone straight to the airport. Instead, we deliberately added a night in Managua. Nicaragua is more than a private island and a transit stop, and after making the effort to get there we wanted at least a brief look at the city itself before heading home.

Crowne Plaza Managua became the base for that final day.

This was a straightforward IHG redemption, although one that we managed to improve in the lead-up.

I’d originally booked at 20,000 IHG points per night. During research for my Amex Offers article, I checked again and found award pricing had fallen. The stay was rebooked at 19,000 points per night, which after the 10% rebate from the old IHG Select Card effectively reduced the cost to 17,100 points per night.

Importantly, this is not the sort of booking where I would look to burn an IHG Free Night Certificate.

The cash rate was well below the value I place on a 40,000-point certificate. Even if I had certificates approaching expiration, this would have been a difficult use to justify. Paying with points was the cleaner solution.

One unexpected benefit of staying in the city rather than near the airport was that it created a natural opportunity to explore Managua.

Claudia, one of the managers at Calala, arranged a guide and driver to meet us at the airport. Since Crowne Plaza’s official check-in time was 3pm, the suggestion was simple: spend the afternoon touring the city before heading to the hotel.

That decision ultimately became the basis for the separate While We Were There: Managua piece.

We spotted the hotel well before we arrived at the property.

During our stop at Loma de Tiscapa, overlooking the city, I noticed a distinctive white pyramid-shaped building sitting below the hill. I’d seen enough photos on the IHG app to recognize it immediately.

Our guide confirmed it was indeed the Crowne Plaza Managua.

We finished our touring well before 3pm and decided to head to the hotel anyway.

The lobby was busy. A large Spanish-speaking group appeared to be gathering, perhaps a school or university event. We fully expected to spend an hour or two sitting in the air conditioning waiting for our room.

Instead, the front desk took one look at the reservation.

“Thank you for being a Platinum member.”

A few moments later we were checked in. So much for the supposedly immovable 3pm check-in barrier.

English wasn’t universal at the front desk, although there was always somebody available who was comfortable helping. Throughout the stay, the staff were friendly and eager to assist even when language occasionally required a little patience from both sides.

The lobby itself was pleasant enough. Beyond the reception area sat a bar with televisions showing sports and music videos, while corridors branched off towards the various restaurants and the pool area.

After spending the morning in Managua’s heat, the infused water dispensers in the lobby were particularly welcome.

The building itself is probably the hotel’s most distinctive feature.

Crowne Plaza Managua occupies the former InterContinental Managua, and the pyramid design remains one of the city’s most recognizable buildings.

The architecture alone gives the property more personality than most Crowne Plazas. The public areas reinforce that impression. This feels less like a modern select-service hotel and more like an older full-service flagship that has evolved over time.

There are conference spaces, multiple restaurants, extensive common areas and a pleasant pool area behind the main restaurant. Nothing felt especially luxurious, but the hotel felt like a serious full-service property.

The room itself was spacious and somewhat quirky.

Entering the room, the first thing encountered is a large desk area opposite the wardrobes before the sleeping space opens up beyond. It was more like the workspace of a business suite than a typical hotel room.

There was a coffee machine, bottled water and plenty of room to spread out. The initial water allocation wasn’t really enough for both drinking and using the coffee machine, but an additional request was quickly fulfilled while we left the room for a late lunch.

The bathroom seems to have been updated more recently than some other parts of the room, with a modern walk-in shower and an unusual layout with one sink inside the bathroom and another outside.

The daytime view from the room was pleasant enough, offering a reminder of how sprawling and low-rise Managua is compared with many capital cities. The same view became more interesting after dark as lights appeared across the city and the skyline took on a little more energy.

The was spacious, comfortable and easy to spend time in. After several flights, a boat transfer, and four nights on a private island, it was a welcome place to slow down for a night.

In many ways it reflected the wider property: practical, comfortable and designed during an era when rooms were generally larger.

One of the bigger surprises of the stay was the food. After four days on Calala Island, logic suggested we should probably have taken a break from seafood.

Instead, we doubled down. At lunch we ordered ceviche, octopus and a shrimp dish, making one final push on seafood before leaving Nicaragua.

Despite having spent the previous four days on Calala Island eating seafood at virtually every meal, we had no regrets. The food was excellent, service was good, and lunch ended up being one of the more pleasant surprises of the stay.

The restaurant opens onto the pool area, creating a more relaxed atmosphere than the business-oriented spaces elsewhere in the hotel. Service was attentive and the whole experience exceeded expectations.

That evening we decided to try the hotel’s Chinese restaurant.

Reaching it required walking through the pool area, and it soon became apparent that it operated somewhat independently from the main hotel restaurants. Unlike lunch, dinner could not be charged back to the room.

The menu was mostly built around familiar international Chinese dishes rather than anything particularly regional or adventurous.

Still, the food was well prepared and portions were generous. Generous enough, in fact, that we ended up taking leftovers back to the room.

After the substantial lunch, that was a useful option to have.

By evening the city had changed character.

The daytime views from our room weren’t especially dramatic, dominated by low-rise development and sprawling urban geography. After dark, the lights gave Managua more energy and more personality.

We had already seen what we wanted to see in Managua earlier that day. The evening was spent slowing down, repacking bags, catching up on a few things and preparing for the Miami and London flights the following day.

That was part of what this stop was designed to accomplish. It gave us a chance to see a little of Nicaragua beyond Calala itself, without turning the final day into another rushed itinerary.

Crowne Plaza Managua met its mandate: It provided a comfortable base for exploring Managua, good food, helpful service and a distinctive setting overlooking the city.

The pyramid architecture and expansive public spaces still reflect the building’s InterContinental origins. The room was comfortable, the dining was better than expected, and the building itself is much more memorable than most chain hotels.

If I needed another night in Managua, I would happily stay here again. More importantly, adding a day in Managua was the right decision. It turned this particular journey from just a private-island jaunt into a broader Nicaragua trip.

While We Were There: Managua

Calala Island: Committing to the Rebate

Best Western Las Mercedes Managua Airport Review

When Amex Offers Beat Points

The Hidden Challenge of Legacy Credit Cards

IHG & Me