Matt Hartell

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!

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!

A bit more spendy than I expected but lots due to traveling solo. Some of the excursions were cancelled due to weather, no one’s fault. One excursion actually encompassed what a second excursion was so cancelled that…no interest in doing it twice. The hotels were great. There was some confusion about day trip stuff or taxi not being paid so I was reimbursed after the trip. The jaguar did not last as long as indicated. I was back in 3 hours and the cooking class was only about an hour. Nothing about the Carifuna culture or drumming/dancing like I thought.

Hotel Reviews

Jan's Hotel

Caye Caulker

Great location. Super nice staff.

Authenticity & Character

Local operated

Location

Beachfront. Walkable

Staff

Everyone was super helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mata Rocks Resort

San Pedro

Great views

Authenticity & Character

Location

Beachfront

Staff

Super helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Lodge at Jaguar Reef

Hopkins

Absolutely gorgeous!

Authenticity & Character

Decor was lovely

Location

Staff

Very attentive

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless

Activity Reviews

Hol Chan/Shark Ray Alley - from Caye Caulker

Belize

Very nice. Also included Manitee and coral reef.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very knowledgeable

Transport

Blue Hole Snorkeling Day Tour

Belize

This was canceled twice due to weather. Sounded great though. Only rated it to continue this survey.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Caye Caulker Manatee Experience from Ramon's Village

San Pedro

It was a repeat itinerary of what I already did so I canceled it. Don’t think I was reimbursed for that one but unsure.

Garifuna Cultural Immersion and Culinary Tour

Hopkins Village

I just helped cook a dish which was good and fun but that was it. Only lasted about an hour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cockscomb Wildlife Sanctuary

Hopkins Village

Really nice but just a quick trip. Only 3 hours. Not what I expected.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Matt and his team did a fantastic job organizing our entire trip to Guatemala and Belize spanning four weeks. They took perfect care of every single transportation need from the time we landed in Guatemala City to the time we took off from Belize City. All the vehicles, transportation logistics and the drivers they provided were excellent, not a single glitch anywhere. Every activity that we planned was executed perfectly. All arrangements for each of the tours and activities were done perfectly, with excellent guides who were very friendly and knowledgeable. Due to various situations, we had to change plans and re-arrange activities and all these changes were handled by Matt's team with great patience and efficiency. Matt assigned one of his office managers, Liceth, to handle our entire trip. Liceth is an absolute gem of a person who organized everything and made everything work like clockwork. She responded to every query and request literally 24x7 and made the entire trip perfect. Every single one of the drivers and guides provided were extremely friendly and efficient, they went out of their way to make us feel welcome and make our trip enjoyable. Matt and his entire team are the best resources we could possibly have found to help us with our trip. Absolutely a delight to work with this team and would highly recommend them. Will definitely use this team again if the opportunity arises.

Hotel Review

Acatenango Campsite

The guide for this trip, Joseus, is an absolutely wonderful person, who took care of everything including food and hike guidance. The campsite is well organized and Matt's team has everything well setup for the overnight Acatenango hike.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hike Acatenango Volcano & Camp Overnight

Guatemala

Our guide, Joseus, is an absolutely wonderful person. Throughout the hike, he was not only a guide, but our chef and friend, he took care of us like family. Joseus and the Old Towne Outfitters team took care of all arrangements for the overnight camping trip and made it a seamless and unforgettable experience.

Quality of Experience

Joseus and his guidance and organizational skills

Food

Joseus made sure we were well fed at the right times, including taking care of our specific dietary restrictions

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The patience and skill with which Joseus made all the arrangements

Transport

Guatemala City Tour

Guatemala

Our guide, Esmeralda, is truly a wonderful person. She picked the right places for us to visit given our time constraints, and did a fantastic job of guiding us through the most interesting aspects of each place she chose. She was a true friend on this tour, we had a great time and we truly enjoyed her company.

Quality of Experience

The expertise, friendliness and professionalism of Esmeralda

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The patience and friendliness of our guide, Esmeralda and our driver, Antony

Transport

Antony did a very skillful job navigating us through the city safely.

Visit the Iximché Maya Ruins

Guatemala

Our guide Melvin gave us a great tour of Iximché, he knows every detail about the site, explained everything to us in detail, we learnt a lot about Mayan history and culture from him. Can't thank Melvin enough for the time he spent with us.

Quality of Experience

The pace at which Melvin conducted the tour and the details he pointed out

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our driver Manuel did a great job getting us to Iximché and on to Chichicastenango, very skillful and safe driving

Transport

Our driver Manuel did a great job getting us to Iximché and on to Chichicastenango, very skillful and safe driving. The vehicle provided by Old Towne Outfitters was perfect

Sunrise on Acatenango & Descent

Guatemala

Our guide, Joseus, is an absolutely wonderful person. He helped and guided us through this trip and made it a seamless and unforgettable experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Tikal National Park

Guatemala

Our driver Fernando and our guide Oliverio, were outstanding. Oliverio knew everything about the jungles of Tikal and the history, culture of the site. We learnt so much from him and he explained so many nuances of Tikal, the jungles, and the Mayan history and culture. It was an enlightening and memorable experience.

Quality of Experience

Fernando's drive from Flores to Tikal ad back, and Oliverio's friendly and patient guidance throughout the visit.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fernando is an absolutely wonderful navigator, patience, skilled and thorough.

Most of our trip was absolutely amazing, Francisco was an amazing guide who took us on a bike tour of Antigua and Pacaya Volcano (I do not recommended doing the bike tour unless you are an experienced biker). Francisco even sought out last minute accommodations when we had an unexpected emergency.

Lake Atitlan was also an amazing experience at Isla Verde with our guide Sebastian. It was a beautiful place, and many travellers told us that they visit once a year.

Things did get a little rocky when we left Lake Atitlan, we left at the time arranged by Matt with our driver, but we missed our flight to Flores. Matt tried to make us pay for a hotel in Guatemala City as well as pay for a new plane ticket, even though each step of the trip had been planned by him and missing the flight wasn't our fault.

Once we did get to Flores, we explored Tikal which was definitely worth the flight and long car ride into the park.

My only other complaint was that some of the meals that we pre-paid for with the tour, we ended up having to pay for twice which was a pretty frustrating.

The trip was amazing. Matt help set us up with great tour guides, they definitely helped make the trip much more enjoyable with their knowledge of the history in Gautemala. Highly recommend Wily from old town outfitters was great! I would say we traveled with comfort and we should have opted for luxury since we did spend 8 days there. Some hotel locations were a bit suspicious . I recommend the hike to Pacaya, the tours to lake atitlan and Tikal. I personally wouldn’t recommend the bike tour unless you are an avid biker! The kayaking portion is a bit tough but manageable with a partner. In all it was a great experience.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Casa Blanca Inn

Guatemala City

Poor maintenance and plumbing. The workers weren’t very welcoming.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Isla Verde

Santa Cruz la Laguna

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Jungle Lodge Tikal

Peten

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel San Jorge

Antigua

Great staff and front desk. Just no fan ventilation

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Valley Ride - Bicycle Tour of Antigua's Villages, Farms, and Ruins

Antigua

It was fun but it’s definitely something where you need to be an avid bike rider. You’re going through Main Streets and a lot of uphills to reach destinations

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Hike to Pacaya Volcano

Guatemala

Great hike, very beautiful hikes

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat Tour of Lake Atitlán Villages

Guatemala

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking & Hiking Lake Atitlán

Guatemala

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Tikal National Park

San Ignacio

I absolutely loved this experience. We went early morning at 7 to avid heavy tourism. The animals tend to get frightened by crowds of people

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport