One of the most charming aspects of Antigua is that you never know what you will discover behind the door when you enter from these colonial streets. Many of the accommodations are old mansions, once deemed worthless when the capital was moved to Guatemala City. Since the rise of tourism over the past few decades, these beautiful buildings have become the darlings of the Guatemalan real estate industry, some worth millions. Typically these old houses have several rooms surrounding a large central courtyard with a smaller, hidden courtyard in the back that was once used to hang laundry out of the view of guests and passersby.