Carli
Carli
The Hotel Villa Santa Catarina is a quiet, upscale option for staying along Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. This review shares the pros and cons of the hotel.
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Hotel Villa Santa Catarina: Where is it?
The Hotel Villa Santa Catarina is located in the small hillside village of Santa Catarina Palopo. The town is a 15 minute drive south of Panajachel, the largest city along the lake.
The hotel itself is centrally located in the heart of the village with breathtaking views of the lake and Volcón San Pedro. While not directly on the lake, it is a short walk to the lake and dock.
How to get to the Hotel Villa Santa Catarina
Travel to Lake Atitlan requires driving from either Guatemala City, Antigua or another city, as there are no commercial flights available. Driving from Guatemala City can take anywhere from 2.5-4 hours depending on traffic.
How to get from Guatemala City to Lake Atitlan
If you are taking a shuttle or chicken bus, you will likely get dropped off in Panajachel. From there you’ll need to find a taxi, tuk tuk, or a taxi truck (where you hop in the back) to take you to the hotel. Tuk Tuks typically cost 25 Quetzal per person and fit 2 people, or 3 small people without any personal items.
If you are coming from Guatemala City or the Aurora International Airport, you may be able to get an Uber to take you. A taxi one way will cost around $130 USD, but will take you directly to the hotel. Uber is not active in Lake Atitlan, but you can organize a private taxi with the hotel. Prepare to pay in cash.
What to do in Santa Catarina Palopo
To be honest, while cute, this is a very sleepy little town. There are beautiful murals painted on throughout the center of the village, but you will not find a lot of restaurants or bars.
Shopping
Outside the hotel you’ll find a number of vendors with small shops set up along the street. Here you’ll find Mayan women weaving textiles to sell.
Aguas Termales Natural
Along the northern side of the small bay are thermal hot springs. These are said to be more shallow pools. However, these are not necessary to visit if you are staying at the hotel as they have their own thermal pool.
How to get around from Hotel Villa Santa Catarina
While you could certainly spend hours relaxing by the hotel pool, enjoying views of the volcanos, the reason to visit Lake Atitlan is to explore the different cities.
Tuk Tuks and Trucks
Don’t expect to find Uber or even taxis in Santa Catarina, but there is cheap transportation available in town. That said, since this is such a small town, you may need to wait 5-10 minutes for someone to come by.
Walk up the alley from the hotel to the main square. If you don’t see a Tuk Tuk waiting, then stand in front of the church to wait. You have two options, a Tuk Tuk or a pick up truck where you hop in the back with multiple people. No matter which option you take, always ask the price per person.
Tuk Tuks
If you get a Tuk Tuk the price will run 25-30Q per person ($3-4) during the day. However, if you are staying in Pana later to enjoy the nightlife, it can cost 60-70Q per person. Negotiate with them! We started at 150Q and got down to 120Q. Make sure to have cash on hand, there are a number of ATMs available in Pana along the street with restaurants and bars.
Pick-up Trucks
The trucks can have the same cost, especially if there is no one else in the truck. We paid 25Q one day for just the two of us, and 5Q the next day in a truck full of people. Again, be sure to ask the price upfront so there are no surprises. The trucks will not take you to a specific location, they have designated drop off spots. One spot is right across the bridge entering Pana, and another is next to the large Catholic church near the municipal market. If you need to get to the ferry docks, ask if they have a drop location near there.
Side note: if you have any experience speaking Spanish, brush up on basic phrases and numbers, it will help you immensely when negotiating prices.
Boat to other cities
Just outside the Hotel Villa Santa Catarina is the boat dock for the town. There are no public ferries available to Santa Catarina Polopo. To get a public ferry to one of the surrounding cities you will need to go to Panajachel.
At the Santa Catarina docks there are vendors selling private boat trips and tours to see some of the other cities around the lake. These are typically a day long excursion going to 2-3 cities along the lake. These vendors were selling this for 900Q ($115) for 2 people and all in cash. However for half the price you can get a tour for $36 per person using a credit card (plus cost of the Tuk Tuks) out of Panajachel via Get Your Guide.
Personally, I’d rather save the hassle of getting more cash from the ATM and use a reputable tour company with positive reviews, even if it’s less convenient.
Hotel Villa Santa Catarina: Cons
Overall there are not a lot of things that we didn’t like about the property, but there is room for improvement.
Breakfast
Our stay included breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant as part of the cost of the stay. While this was nice as there wasn’t much open nearby to eat at, but the food was limited.
Instead of a breakfast buffet like most hotels, they had a menu of options, but only the one available as part of the stay was the “Americano”. The Americano breakfast is eggs (scrambled or fried), a basket of heavily toasted baguette slices with butter and marmalade, potatoes, and either fresh fruit or juice. There was also a mystery bowl of what might have been oatmeal, but was very watery.
Other food
Due to rain on our first night and the lack of other nearby restaurants we ate dinner at the hotel. We each ordered a Pepián but it was just okay. Not as good as what we had in Antigua, but also outside of Guatemala it’s not a dish I would continue to order.
The best thing we ate while there were the tacos chapines, which are basically taquitos. If you stay here, be sure to order these.
The pool
Generally the pools were great however there were two things that disappointed me. The first being that the pool closes at 8pm even though the restaurant (next to the pool) is open until 10. It seems odd to have the pool close at such an early hour.
The second is that there was no service for food or drinks at the pool. The main pool is directly next to the open air restaurant. During the day, and even into late afternoon there was almost no one at the restaurant. So if the restaurant isn’t busy, the wait staff could easily check in on the guests to order drinks or snacks, rather than have wet people wander through the restaurant to order more drinks.
The rooms
Our room was generally very nice, and since I reserved the junior suite it was quite spacious. The main issue, and this was consistent with our stay in Antigua, the rooms get quite warm. There’s no air conditioning but also no ceiling fans. The windows were small, and only on one side of the room, so there wasn’t much breeze coming through.
My other personal complaint is that the beds were pretty firm. However, this was also the issue in Antigua so may just be the norm for hotels in Guatemala.
The location
The location of the hotel is both a pro and a con. The scenery and setting is beautiful but the town is very quiet and requires Tuk Tuks to get anywhere. If you want to be closer to more shops as well as bars and restaurants you may be better suited in Panajachel or San Pedro La Laguna. However, if you are looking for a low key stay then it’s a great place to go.
Hotel Villa Santa Catarina: Pros
There’s so many positive things I can say about the hotel.
The views
You’ll have a hard time finding a hotel along Lake Atitlan that is as easily accessible (i.e. does not require getting there by boat) and has fantastic views of beautiful Lake Atitlan and nearby volcanoes.
Most rooms are located along the pool and the rooms feature views of the property and lake from the furnished balcony.
We booked the junior suite which was in a separate smaller building, so while we didn’t have views or a balcony, we did have a larger space.
The pools
There are two outdoor pools on site, one larger pool that is not heated, and a second smaller geothermal pool. The main pool sits right outside of the reception and restaurant. While not heated, the water is comfortable when the weather is warm. There are a small number of lounge chairs available next to the pool.
The second pool is smaller and sits behind the main pool next to a trellis looking out to the lake beyond. This is heated by the geothermal water located nearby. The pool is not as hot as a hot tub, but still warmer than most heated pools. The space is large enough to comfortably fit 10+ people without feeling crowded.
Game Room
There is a small game room next to the reception. This space has a ping pong table and foosball. It’s a great space to keep kids entertained, especially in the rainy months.
The staff
The staff alone are the reason I would rate this a 10/10 and recommend the hotel. The servers we had at the restaurant were very friendly and after some language barriers were able to get us a bucket of ice for the drinks in our room on multiple nights.
The true test of their service was during our check out. Our rental car failed to start when we went to pack up the car. The hotel staff tried to help jump start the car, with no luck. After calling the roadside assistance and getting no support from our rental company, the hotel organized a taxi for us to return to Guatemala City. They were more than accommodating while we were stuck there for over three extra hours prior to getting a taxi.
You can read more about why you should never rent a car in Guatemala, Why Renting A Car in Guatemala City is the Best Way to Ruin a Vacation.
Parking
If you choose to go against better judgment and rent a car, Hotel Villa Santa Catarina offers free parking. At night the hotel locks the gates around the parking lot for additional security.
Hotel Villa Santa Catarina Review
This hotel offers incredible scenery and large rooms at a very affordable price. I will never forget the level of service we received from the hotel staff. The Hotel Villa Santa Catarina offers a higher end stay at an affordable price. If you don’t mind being away from the action of the larger towns, then this is a fantastic place to stay.
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