Kimkim Trip Reviews for Guatemala

Honestly dealing with Alex (the travel agent) is what made us decide to go to Guatemala. He made us feel safe and worked very well with us. We even got to meet him and his beautiful family while we were there. What I also really appreciated is him always being available on WhatsApp for questions and addressed any concerns that I had. He had us working with our favorite tour guide Christa who me and my wife got close to and learned to love Guatemala and the people of Guatemala because of her.

Seriously the whole team that we had was amazing from our agent Alex, our guide Christa, and our driver David.

Activity Reviews

Antigua Walking Tour

Guatemala

It was good but we would’ve liked to do it with our guide who was also with us on it.

Day Hike to Pacaya Volcano

Guatemala

Kayaking & Hiking Lake Atitlán

Guatemala

Our favorite place!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Christa was awesome

Transport

Explore Tikal National Park

Guatemala

Best trip ever thanks to Catherina, Esteban, Mario and David. Our Guatemala trip was flawless, beautiful, and had so many once in a lifetime memories. Thanks to kimkim and Columbus Travel for your kindness, the care we felt every step of the trip, and for sharing your beautiful country with us. Mario, thanks for showing us the amazing Mayan culture right in Guatemala City. David, you are a philosopher and we appreciated all we learned from you about the Mayan and Guatemala. Esteban, thanks for taking us to Lake Atitlan and spending part of Semana Santa with us away from your family. We will never forget the Mayan Good Friday processions we saw on the way to Antigua.. and of course sharing your hometown with us! Much appreciation. We wish we could stay another week. Guatemala is one of the most beautiful places we have traveled, the history, nature and people are special.

Hotel Review

El Convento Boutique Hotel

Antigua Guatemala

Beautiful hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Gorgeous room, location and character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Yaxhá Sunset

Guatemala

David is so knowledgeable and was an amazing guide to the Mayan sites. We appreciated his humor, his deep thoughts, and his willingness to share his knowledge with us. Great guide to to an out of this world place.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kaminal Juyu Pre-Columbian Archaeological Site

Guatemala City

Mario and Esteban took us from the airport to see the Serpent Mound and then the Kaminaljuya a pre classic Mayan site right in Guatemala City. Mario was so knowledgeable about the site and city.. we got to see a Mayan ritual while there. We then went to the site museum. So many amazing artifacts! Was a great first introduction to Guatemala. Mario and Esteban were so kind and welcoming!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Top notch kind and friendly.. both Mario and Esteban.

Transport

Villages Around Lake Atitlán by Boat

Guatemala

Lake Atitlan is stunning ringed with mountains, birds and gorgeous green forests and flowers. Esteban took us across the Lake in a wave cutter boat.. and to San Pedro. We got to go see a colonial church and the floats ready for Good Friday. Also the market while the city was built into the cliff surrounding the Lake. Stunning! We then too a tuk tuk to San Juan.. and to a few women’s cooperatives.. one for hand dyed clothes. They use natural dyes and the women on the coop are supported through their craft. Beautiful textiles! Then to a medical coop.. where we learned about Mayan medicinal practices. And finally to a chocolate factory.. and an amazing art gallery. Was such a beautiful place with amazing people. What an amazing memory. Appreciate Esteban.. who knows everyone in these cities 😊 taking us to meet these incredible people.

Quality of Experience

Esteban!!!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Esteban made each moment special!

Transport

Boat ride was an adventure

Catherina and the Columbus Guatemala Travel team were not only extremely helpful and informative, but kind and welcoming. They checked up on myself and my fellow traveler on a daily basis to ensure we got where we needed to be, and be there on time. The activities that were booked for us were also outstanding, with the Acatenango hike being the highlight. Each driver and guide for all activities were terrific. Furthermore, Guatemala is a beautiful country with friendly people and amazing culture. Antigua quickly became one of my favorite cities I’ve ever visited. Overall, the Kim Kim and Columbus Travel team, along with the local guides all did their part in making an amazing trip. So far, I’m 2 for 2 with great booking experiences on Kim Kim.

Activity Reviews

Villages Around Lake Atitlán by Boat

Guatemala

Great guides and the like is beautiful. Lots of amazing history and culture to see. San Juan is an awesome little village.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bike Through Villages Of Itzapa And Calderas.

Antigua

Although I genuinely enjoyed this activity, I would be lying if I didn’t admit how difficult this activity is. Being in the military and an active gym goer, I figured this activity would be a breeze but I was very wrong. This was still very fun and the guide, Willy, was amazing and helpful. However, I wouldn’t suggest this activity to anybody that isn’t used to mountain biking, EXTREME cardiovascular activity, or at least high altitudes.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Acatenango overnight

Guatemala

My favorite part of the trip. Albeit quite challenging, it was well worth it. Between the volcanic eruptions and the sunset and sunrise views are some of the most spectacular things I’ve ever witnessed.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Some of the hotels were substandard ... In particular Coban, Lake Atitlan and Antigua.. Rooms were dirty and internet was poor. We indicated that 3-4 star was acceptable but these hotels were more like 2 star by international standards.

Our first time in Guatemala was amazing and disappointing at the same time. The beauty of Guatemala surprised us with its mesmerizing volcanoes and lake Atitlan. The logistics left us puzzled at best. This is the first time a guide does not receive us at the airport. The only time with the trip planner Eduardo was the night before we departed after we had voiced repeatedly our concerns. We did not feel well informed of the plan. In fact the printout given to us by the driver upon arrival was not accurate or thorough. The culmination of the concerns was reached when a vehicle we were riding broke down and we could not complete our day of excursion. We wasted an entire day. For that we were reimbursed $287. We gave Eduardo a list of 12 points that we think will help improve his business. We are experienced travelers and we feel that amount we paid for this trip was not worth it at all.

Alex did an exceptional job creating our Guatemala and Belize itinerary. He was very responsive, had great suggestions, was patient and polite throughout the process. Our trip started with pick up from the airport. The driver patiently waited a couple of hours for two different flights to arrive so our whole party could depart together. We spent the first 3 nights in San Ignacio. It was a great introduction to Belize and Guatemala - with a clean, safe hotel, amazing food, and really fun (and informative) trips to two different Mayan ruins.

I really enjoyed the water tubing excursion we took while transitioning from interior Belize to the coast in the middle of our trip. We had the same drive as before - and he was friendly, punctual, and ensured a safe delivery.

On the coast, we stayed in San Pedro. The scenery is like a postcard. Alex selected an ideal snorkeling excursion that totally made our trip.

Overall, I cannot wait to return to Belize and Guatemala and will definitely enlist Alex's help to plan our next adventure.

Activity Reviews

Explore Tikal National Park

San Ignacio

William (I think), the guide was friendly and knowledgeable. He paced the tour so a range of fitness levels could learn, explore, and adventure. I really enjoyed walking to each structure, checking out nature, and glimpsing a few fun animals. It was an active but not exhausting day - the perfect amount of time. Also, the restaurant we went to for lunch at the end was fantastic!!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

On time, safe, polite.

Horse Riding Tour of the Xunantunich Maya Ruins

San Ignacio

I really appreciated the knowledge of the tour operators at St. Leonards tours. And, the gentleman who rode horses with us was outstanding - he stopped to check in on everyone, kept conversation going, and ensured a safe ride.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer from San Ignacio to Belize City with Cave Tubing Tour en Route

Belize

Derrick, our driver, was so nice and helpful. He waited with our belongings the whole time we were tubing. Tubing was wonderful - perfect temperature (air and water), right amount of time, our guide was great and I especially liked just floating outside of the tube to look at the trees, etc. The lunch, on premise, was delicious!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day Snorkeling at Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley from Caribe Resort

Belize

This was a perfect adventure. The boat transport was fun, our captain/dive leader was funny, the water was ideal. We say plenty of fish and sea life.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Loved the authenticity of Coban.
Semuc Champey was great but we would have liked more warning/info about what the "water cave" experience was going to involve. This was complicated by the fact that the guide's English was inadequate.
Flores was lovely.
LOVED Yaxha - Guide Oliveiro was superb. Tikal also great.
Really enjoyed Rio Dulce, the hotel we stayed at (Tixal?) and the whole river experience. Livingston was very interesting. Great guide too - Fernando.
Best was the hot springs!! Great experience!
Chichicastanango was absolutely fantastic - the market! and the cemetary.
Lake Atitlan was beautiful. We loved the kayaking & hiking experience. The towns we visited were tourist-y (San Juan, San Pedro, Santiago) but the things we visited (chocolate factory, weaving cooperative, shaman house) were really! interesting.
We really, really enjoyed this trip - it exceeded our expectations.

Our trip was terrific and exceeded our expectations. With the itinerary that was created for us, we saw many different areas of the country. What we hope to have, on a trip like this, is a wide variety of activities and experiences. This trip delivered. We were in cities and villages; we saw nightlife and wildlife; we were on lakes, in mountains and in jungles; we hiked, walked, swam, motor-boated and kayaked ; we visited wide open plazas and packed markets; we explored centuries-old pyramids and temples and modern churches; we learned ancient customs and current practices. Our local guides, lined up by Eduardo, were knowledgeable, personable and flexible. And the people of Guatemala were friendly and welcoming. Definitely a great trip overall.

My wife and I had a great ten day trip in Guatemala. We told kimkim the kinds of things we were interested in and wanted to do (Antigua, hiking, shopping, markets, maybe a cooking class, Tikal, Lake Atitlan), and they put us in touch with Matt at Old Town Outfitters in Antigua, who helped us come up with an ideal itinerary, using local guides and drivers. We especially enjoyed our four days with guide Lucas, whose skill and knowledge and patience and joy of life and spirit of adventure captivated us. Matt was responsive to our questions and needs, and added a last-minute coffee tour that was one of the highlights. He choreographed all the details of the trip - transportation, local guides, plane tickets to Tikal, and lodging, and everything worked out perfectly. So much easier than trying to figure it all out ourselves!

Our first foray to Central America was a fantastic experience, made more so by the enthusiastic, knowledgeable and kind guides and travel planners in Guatemala. The trip was well planned, with one glitch involving an overbooked hotel. The folks from the local tour agency went above and beyond to remedy the matter, with refunds, extra guide time and a dinner thrown in. They were flexible and anxious to see that our every whim was satisfied. Special thanks to JJ and Catherine-great job both. And Carlos' personal connection to Tikal enriched our magical experience in that mystical place.

Activity Reviews

Sunrise in Tikal

Guatemala

Absolutely out of this world. If the weather cooperates, an experience with no parallel.

Tikal Maya Ruin

Guatemala

Magical experience. Mysterious ruins in a jungle setting, no mobs of tourist busses, it does not disappoint.

Villages Around Antigua By Chicken Bus (Special)

Antigua

Sounds silly but was actually great fun Learned a ton about Guatemalan home industries and agriculture.

Caty , Esteban and JJ with Columbus Guatemala Travel were amazing!

They made us feel so welcome and shared so much knowledge of Guatemala. All the tours that they arranged were excellent, with great accommodations and transportation and wonderfully knowledgeable and friendly guides.

Our lunch and private tour of Uaxactún with Danilo was a particularly memorable tour they arranged for us.

The whole experience from reaching out, going back and forth with ideas and dates, to landing and communicating on the ground was a pleasure.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Biltmore

Ciudad de Guatemala

Exactly the right hotel to transit between flights. Nice and clean, super helpful staff and close to so much (including the airport(.

Authenticity & Character

Great travel hotel... all you needed

Location

we had a quick (early morning) flight turn around so this hotel was perfect

Staff

Very easy to communicate with and always there to assist

Cleanliness & Comfort

Jungle Lodge Tikal

Peten

What a location! Right in the national park with all the explorations of the area within walking distance. The rooms, food, service and amenities were top notch! My only complaint is we didnt stay long enough!

Authenticity & Character

A lovely "rustic/natural" feeling without feeling like you are ruffing it.

Location

A beautiful lodge in the jungle! what else is there to say

Staff

Always willing to help. From holding baggage while you explore to getting you great food and drinks

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and comfortable

Isla de Flores

Ciudad Flores Petén-Flores

Very cosy hotel that has a lot to offer!

Authenticity & Character

A wonderful ambiance. Just know that there are stairs

Location

Right in the center of things close to shopping and dinner. Or you can just hang out in the bar, restaurant or pool on site

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Welcome to Guatemala

Guatemala

Whats to say? We arrived around midnight and were quickly met and ushered to our hotel for the night.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

JJ was a wonderful guide who shared a lot of information.

Transport

Uaxactún

Guatemala

This experience was by far the hilight of our visit. An incredible private tour of pre-classic Mayan site with an excellent and knowledgeable guide PLUS a wonderful and delicious lunch on site prepared by local village. It was only our guide and the two of use the whole time we were exploring! (Not counting the monkeys)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Danilo and his driver were fantastic. All the people at the village were very warm and inviting.

Transport

A great driver on a bumpy road. He knew the best way to get there!

Tikal Maya Ruin

Guatemala

What a place! so much to see and explore. This was a group tour and everyone was super!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Flores Island

Guatemala

A very lovely boat ride to the nature preserve and a wonderful look out over the lake.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guatemala City Tour

Guatemala

The tour and guide were great. Esteban showed as much of Guatemala as time and traffic would allow.

Quality of Experience

Traffic and time constraints impacted the enjoyment of this tour.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All of our tours and guides were amazing!!

Activity Reviews

Half day Snorkeling at Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley from Caribe Resort

Guatemala

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Tikal National Park

San Ignacio

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer from San Ignacio to Belize City with Cave Tubing Tour en Route

Guatemala

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Horse Riding Tour of the Xunantunich Maya Ruins

San Ignacio

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We recently got back from a 2 week trip to Guatemala. This was my second time using KimKim to help plan a trip and I honestly feel like I will use them for all my future international trips. Eduardo was our Local Expert and he and I chatted on the KimKim platform for months planning the trip. There were several activities and places I wanted to go on the trip and based on what my partner and I like to do and the specifics that I discussed with Eduardo, he recommended several additional activities/tours that we enjoyed immensely. When I wanted to add a trip to Altamira and Hobbitenango he helped figure that out. He was very responsive overall. He also took care of the domestic flight that we took to/from Flores. The hotels he selected (based on our style/preference) were all fine. I enjoyed the Tikal Jungle lodge and both tours we did of ruins (Tikal and Yaxha) were wonderful. We learned a lot from Oliverio, our guide. He was pleasant and knowledgeable. He took us to an animal sanctuary place when we were in Flores and that was unexpected and cool. Overall, I wish we'd stayed one more day at the Tikal Lodge and been able to do another day at Tikal. By far the best place we stayed was Casa Del Mundo at Lake Atitlan. I remain incredibly blown away by that place. We could have spent half a day or more just exploring all the nooks and crannies at that place and it was just incredibly beautiful. I am so glad we stayed there. Unfortunately, my partner got food poisoning at one of the "regular" lunch places in Pana and that had later ramifications for our trip. While he was recovering at Casa Del Mundo (there are far worse places to be sick for sure), I was able to go kayaking and hiking with our guide, Willy. We thoroughly enjoyed Willy. He was with us from our pick up at GC after Flores until we went on the Acatenango Double Fuego trek. We wish Willy had been with us for that too. He was our favorite guide by a long margin; we were also with him the longest so that's not entirely surprising. He was down to earth and humble and very fun to be around. We had a great time with him at the Lake, hiking the Mayan Nose, seeing various villages around the lake etc. We also had a local guide, Joel, for the Mayan Nose hike and village visiting day. Joel was fantastic, a young man with a good heart and really good energy. I ended up hiking with him and my partner with Willy that day. We also made a change to our Lake Atitlan itinerary on short notice, opting to go to La Reserva Natural near Pana rather than go to the big Chichicastenango market. After the long drive from GC to Pana, we just weren't at all interested in another drive, even a shorter one. So we changed that entire day. I'm very glad we did, La Reserva was so fun, we did an awesome "ultra" ziplines which were great (I only wish they had had someone taking photos/videos b/c I would definitely have purchased some). And the butterfly area was for me, totally worth the price of admission. I could have stayed at that place for hours. Loved it. In retrospect, I might have stayed an additional day at the Lake so I could visit more of the villages and also just to stay another day at Casa Del Mundo. Lake Atitlan is definitely one of the most beautiful places i've visited. I would absolutely go back there. Then we headed to Antigua (again, with Willy). With our first day with Willy in Antigua, we did the Valley Ride Biking tour which was totally fun and worth it. We visited a chocolate factory, macademia nut farm and a jade jewelry making place. and we saw a lot of little villages and churches. B/c of the food poisoning, I was worried that my partner wouldn't be recovered enough to do the volcano hiking so I contacted eduardo and he was able to help with all that. B/c we had Eduardo and b/c we had booked a private hiking tour, we were able to change the date we left for the trek. Eduardo make all of those changes for us with the guides and also helped secure our hotel room b/c of the change. Later, we also ended up adding a day to our trip and Eduardo, again, was super helpful in securing our hotel room for that. So before the trek we ended up going up to Altamira and Hobbitenango. I thoroughly enjoyed both of those places. The creative photo ops and surrounding beauty, views of the volcanoes. Just a really fun day overall. We ate lunch at Hobbitenango and it was excellent. We also did the bike zip lines at Altamira which were terrifying but so fun at the same time. The trek itself was amazing. Our guide, David, was good. He was nice, encouraging and attentive but again, he wasn't Willy. We have done a lot of hiking and I rated the Double Fuego trek as maybe a 7 on the difficulty scale. One of the most challenging parts of the hike is the footing. Hiking on a volcano is like hiking up sand/gravel. The traction was nil. it was incredibly slow going. BUT totally worth it. I was pretty tired by the 2nd day on the trek and wasn't sure if I would make the additional trek over to Fuego but I am REALLY glad that I did. the views at the base camp, views at fuego and sunrise on Acatenango were all extraordinary. Just a really cool, but challenging experience for sure. I was very happy when we were off the volcano and headed back to Antigua. On our additional day in Antigua, my partner and I visited a ton of the ruins throughout the city and we got to see an interesting religious procession (the first sunday after Ash Wednesday) throughout the city. Our hotel in Antigua (Meson de Maria) I have somewhat mixed views on. The beds were comfortable and the hotel interior is beautiful. I enjoyed the views from the upper terrace. There was one person there that was particularly friendly and helpful. The others, not so much. They weren't mean or anything, but not particularly welcoming or friendly which is very unlike all the other places I've travelled in S. America. The breakfast was not great either which was disappointing. The rooms were quite small. That said, they helped get our laundry done one day while we were out and about and I loved the location. They also accommodated our schedule changes and we were able to stay at the same place, just in different rooms, which made things easier.
I got interested in Guatemala b/c I wanted to hike volcanoes. But was really happy with the entire trip. It is more Americanized than places we've gone in S. Am (Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Argentina) but that was okay with me. I had no interest in Guatemala City and glad we didn't spend any time there. For me, using KimKim is so worth it; as is booking private tours b/c it allows you to change your schedule with ease which we did twice. I should add that we mostly had one driver, Ivan, and he was SO AWESOME. he was super friendly and a GREAT driver. he ruled. Thank you so much Eduardo for all your help with this trip. You were great to work with.

Hotel Reviews

Jungle Lodge Tikal

Peten

no complaints about this place at all. Breakfast good. howler monkeys, LOUD :)

Authenticity & Character

Location

super location for a tour of Tikal Ruins

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Casa Amelia

flores

breakfast was good, but no included with rate. good location. nothing spectacular but nothing to complain about either

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa del Mundo

Lake Atitlán

literally one of the best and most beautiful hotels I've stayed at or seen anywhere

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Meson de Maria

Antigua Guatemala

Rooms very small, breakfast not great. One very friendly and helpful employee; others weren't unfriendly but did not go out of their way to be helpful/friendly/welcoming. Thank goodness they had a small floor fan or else I would have been very warm at night. Interior is beautiful, upstairs roof terrace very nice. Good location but area was very loud on weekends.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hike Acatenango Volcano & Camp Overnight

Guatemala

Loved this experience! We opted for 2-night in the camp on the volcano, and I would recommend it because you have much more time to enjoy the experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hobbitenango/Altamira Visits

Antigua

Hobbitenango was nice, but Altamira was the highlight of the visit. It was so much fun to be there, and there were plenty of photo spots!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guatemala: The guides were knowledgeable and shared much that I didn’t know about the Mayan culture. I especially enjoyed going to the mountain indigenous villages and interacting with the people. The home stays and visits were insightful to seeing the integrity of family life, which seems to be very strong. The artistic cratsmanship of the weavers, was colorful and impressive. I would have like to learn more specifically about the different weavings and traditional dress from each of the villages that we visited. I bought a few weavings which I don’t know their origin. The Guatemalan people are very friendly, and sometimes wanted to take pictures with and of us. The extreme cold at night in the mountains was unexpected. I had to buy an extra layer at the Mipaca thrift store in Toto. This part of the trip overall was jam-packed, sometimes we had to skip lunch to make it through each day’s activities.

Tikal was spectacular and Flores Island was pleasantly relaxing and had good restaurants, bakeries, and cafes.

Belize: was a new and delightful experience for me. The nature we visited was awesome, from cave canoeing, the hike and waterfall massage at the Jaguar preserve, and the snorkeling in the reefs near Hopkins. It was great to relax after the busy first part of the tour.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Casa Blanca Inn

Guatemala City

There was -a miscommunication on where to meet the taxi driver from the hotel, so that was a bit stressful. Hotel was Adequate. No hot water after midnight. The staff was attentive and helpful. The young man helped me with a problem I had with my suitcase.

Authenticity & Character

Fie

Location

Close to airport. Gated and secure.

Staff

See above.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Muchá

Quetzaltenango

Beds comfortable. Shower amazing! Very cold at night.

Authenticity & Character

Adobe made it very cold.

Location

Convenient

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cold—bring warm clothes for sleeping.

Totonicapán Homestay!

Totonicapán

Family was wonderful, kind, and very attentive. Very cold at night, I didn’t take a shower because it was too cold to get undressed.

Authenticity & Character

Carolina, Heidi, Melvin and Carlos were sweet and helpful in explaining home life and studies. It was very interesting to see Carolina’s jaspe dying process and Carlos’ sewing piecework. Carlo’s also demonstrated taking corn from the cob and grinding it.

Location

The walk around the property and hearing about the planting and processing of the corn for tortilla, and fresh beans, was absolutely wonderful.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room and Beds were clean, but communal bathroom was rustic, toilet need to be flushed with a bucket.

Casa Antigua El Chalet

Santa Cruz Del Quiché

Everything comfortable. Less cold at nights. I enjoyed sitting in the outdoor living room.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Enjoyed the town.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hacienda Mil Amores

Cobán

Beds were comfortable. Showers were a bit hot and cold the first night, but they arranged alternate shower the next night.

Authenticity & Character

Dining room for dinners and breakfast was lovely and rustic. It was nice to meet and chat with other visitors one night.

Location

Beautiful setting. However, we decided to take rooms away from the stable, since the cow smell was strong.

Staff

Accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Homestay in Chichicastenanago, Casa Diego Ignacio, EN.

Chichicastenango

Great to spend time with Miguel , Juana, Patricia and Sandra and their children. Food was homemade and very delicious. We saw how difficult it is to make tortillas, when we tried to make them. Miguel is a leader in his community and has a lot to share with visitors. Their store had wonderful weavings and masks for purchase at decent prices. If you intend to buy weavings, don’t buy elsewhere. I had already bought a lot before Chichicastenango, so I couldn’t buy much there though I was tempted.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Peten

Flores

Comfortable, but small rooms. Our room was facing the street where a bar had loud reggaton music. It made it hard to sleep.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Beautiful view of the lake, convenient location. See comment about the loud music above.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Midas Belize

Cayo District

Room was large, but mattresses were too soft. Loved the pool. Great for swimming laps. Breakfast was great!

Authenticity & Character

Location

A bit of a walk to town.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Parrot Cove Lodge

Placencia

Wonderful rooms, great restaurant, good breakfast. Beachfront very comfortable. Dock where they picked us up for the snorkeling. Great to have a pool as well as the beach.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right on the water, but a bit far from the village.

Staff

Very helpful when my companion was not feeling well. Maritza was great in rescheduling our snorkeling.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Coningsby Inn

Belize City

Adequate.

Authenticity & Character

Historical landmark.

Location

Staff

Helpful in suggesting an excellent restaurant.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Small room, but adequate to be close to the airport.

Activity Reviews

Welcome to Guatemala

Guatemala

Hot water after midnight.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Pick up from airport was confusing.

Visit Cantel and its Women's Textile Cooperative

Quetzaltenango

We walked around the town. Happened to coincide with a funeral. Nice walk around the town. We did not go to the textile collective.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Luis was always early for pick, knowledgeable, and a safe driver

San Francisco el Alto

Guatemala

Saw a tradtional market. Few tourists.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Georginas Hot Springs

Guatemala

We got there late so we didn’t have much time to enjoy the hot springs. Met interesting people there. Hot springs temperature could have been hotter.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Totonicapán Handicraft Workshops

Guatemala

I wasn’t feeling well so I didn’t attend weaving demo.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santa Cruz del Quiche.

Santa Cruz Del Quiche

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore and Learn About Santa Cruz Education

Santa Cruz Del Quiche

Private relifgios school was very accommodating, giving us a tour of the school, classrooms, and a brief opportunity to speak with the teachers.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chajul, El Quiche.

Acul

Interesting meeting the backstrap weaver family

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

San Andrés Sajcabajá

Guatemala

Long drive to get there. Not sure it was worth the time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Chichicastenango Mayan Market

Guatemala

The family and market were the highlights of this experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tikal Maya Ruin

Guatemala

Guide was excellent. Impressive temples. Interesting to know about 25% has been excavate so far. Good lunch.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Xunantunich

Guatemala

Not as incredible as Tikal. The excavation was at time reconstructed, with facsimiles, rather than real ruins. Tremendous vistas.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Enjoy Barton Creek

Guatemala

Loved it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Maya Cacao Belizean Experience

Guatemala

Seeing a cacao plantation that is struggling due to not having the right conditions shows the difficulty of producing a healthy crop of cacao beans. Chocolate making workshop w,as interesting.; Nice to meet Hob’s father.

Quality of Experience

I had seen this demo in Costa Rica so. It wasn’t that new for me.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Leisure Day

Guatemala

Rest, eating well.

Quality of Experience

Jaguar Preserve

Guatemala

Hiking was great. We learned a lot about flora and fauna, waterfall swimming was great!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Barrier Reef Snorkeling

Guatemala

Safety was primary in postponing the day we went. Water was so clear. Great to see fish, corals.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat ride was GREAT!

Belize City Tour

Guatemala

It was short since we arrived late.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Short and sweet!

Transport

Thank you!

Guatemala

We had the most incredible trip to Guatemala! This tiny country has so much to offer and we only experienced a fraction of it.

Eduardo was amazing, he listened and arranged everything we wanted and more. I said “Acatenango Atitlan Antigua Chichicastenango and Semuc Champey”! Then in a fun tongue in cheek way said, “it would be nice to see a Quetzel!”

Guess what????
He delivered every request including the rare bird! It’s hard to pick a favorite as all were awesome but we all agreed that volcano Fuego erupting and seeing a Quetzel will be the most memorable parts of trip.

Our driver David was wonderful… knowledgeable attentive and we felt safe being driven around the narrow busy hilly roads.

Our guide Rudy was fantastic! He is young but so mature and responsible. He was kind, thoughtful, paid much attention to detail and his sense of humor was very much appreciated.

We have to say that a big part of this trip was not the destination itself but the journey and people we shared it with. Eduardo, David and Rudy and all the beautiful friendly people of Guatemala will be as much a part of our memories as the volcanoes and birds.

Will be recommending this trip to family members and friends!

We spent most of our time with the best guide ever, Lucas, who took great care of us and helped us get the most out of everything. The drivers were great and our Guide, Mario, at Tikal was very knowledgeable and interesting. Overall, a great trip in spite of landslides on the highway and illness because our guides and drivers were in the ball.

Our 8-day tour in Guatemala was wonderful. Each site we visited was beautiful, interesting, and fun. Our guide, Lukas, was patient, kind, knowledgeable, helpful, and really a fantastic person overall. The lodgings were also lovely-not fancy, but well- cared for, comfortable, and with great breakfasts! Our drivers were skilled in some difficult terrains, and all of our transitions went smoothly. Home now and smiling to think about all our great experiences!

This trip was extremely well-planned by Columbus Travel in Antigua. Catherina and her team worked hard to understand exactly what our goals were and why we were coming to Guatemala. We had very specific requests and they listened intently to us, making sure we would have the experiences we were seeking. Many of the villages we visited had few to no tourists, and we really were able to see up close and personal the way the Maya K'iche' and Ixil people live their daily lives. We had many, many conversations one-on-one and were able to ask and answer questions, take photos, and dive deeper into the culture than any other type of travel could have provided for us. There were, of course, changes in schedule and plans due to unexpected opportunities or weather shifts, but Columbus Travel was always there to accommodate our needs and make it work for us on the spot. The guides and drivers were always in communication with Catherina and she with them, making managing the trip very smooth for us. The second part of our trip was the fun, more touristy, part, but even during that part, Catherina made sure we kept our cultural focus and were always met and guided by Mayans and visited Mayan sites. It was a true pleasure to work with such travel professionals who were also quite personal with us and got to know us well. I highly recommend this organization and this mode of travel planning. Kim Kim is lucky to partner with Columbus Travel!
GUIDES
Our primary driver and guide for the first half of the trip was Luis Medina. He was absolutely the best choice for our trip! He was informed, open, helpful, patient, and fun to be with. We had many speed bumps (literal and figurative) along the way and his mild temperament always came shining through. On many occasions, he saw opportunities for us to have unique experiences and he always moved forward to make them happen for us. The success of our trip was largely due to his on the spot, professional trip management skills.
Our K'iche' guide, Carlos Chaclan, also provided us with a homestay in Totonicapan and was a gracious host. We so enjoyed spending time with him and his family. They were all so sweet and relaxed with us and made us feel at home. On the road, Carlos never failed to connect us with our mission - to get to know the Maya K'iche' of Guatemala. He helped us engage with them; he taught me useful phrases so that I could begin speaking directly with them; he made suggestions about what we might want to do and experience that was authentic; and he was informative in providing history and meaning when we asked him about specific places and historical markers along our route.

In reviewing my travels in Guatemala, I want to give the following backdrop.... Solo male traveler, age 71, 1st timer in Guatemala with only a little command of the language. Despite these limitations I left Guatemala having an appreciation of the culture and the peoples in various locations. From Mayan ruins both popular and off the beaten path, the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Guatemala City, a River Dulce experience that was mind blowing to even a hot springs experience in two different locations... to a cultural festival that was an explosion of dancing/music and food the care and attention to detail by my in country coordinator Chris was amazing. I always felt he had my back and whenever I reached out (multiple times) he responded and always made me feel safe!
The lodging was a really great mix of up-scale eco camps, to high end hotel rooms to a boutique hotel in Flores right in the heart of the festival. I give each place the highest of ratings!!!
My guides ranged from good to outstanding. Oliver my guide to Tikal changed his whole approach when he heard birding was my passion. I saw 21 taxa in addition to exploring the ruins. Capitan Otilio Morales my guide on the Rio Dulce to Livingston changed his tour and put me on some bird nesting spots that only a seasoned captain could find.
Other guides were ok but my lack of knowing the language was a negative and took away from the experience, but hey that's on me!
The people made the experience and I certainly met many native Guatemalans and have a little understanding of their lives and the struggles they face. One funny experience was getting of the small boat in Livingstone and the ladies were braidng hair extensions and could not believe my braids were real hair and all wanted to rebraid with beads very funny.
Also was able to see 4 churches and attend mass and receive communion in Flores very very special! Also was able to light a candle and place by the statue of Nuestra Senora in Guatemala City in the Cathedral.
Have some real good pictures and could expand but am out of time for now.
Great job to all and a humble thanks to Chris!!!!!

Really good trip. Chris did an excellent job organizing

Hotel Reviews

Ramon's Village Resort

San Pedro

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Try greeting guests

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mayan Princess Beach & Dive Resort

Roatan

Very good staff. Poor facilities

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Falling Leaves Lodge

San Ignacio

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Encantada

Antiigua

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Day Hike to Pacaya Volcano

Guatemala

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) caves day tour

San Ignacio

Wow, amazing, awesome

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hol Chan/Shark Ray Alley - from Ramon's Village

Guatemala

It was okay

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport