Casa Palopo

Absolutely amazing – everything was perfect. This is probably the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in and truly deserves five stars for staff friendliness, food, décor, rooms, spa and pool areas. The views from the hotel are spectacular, looking across the lake towards San Pedro and the three volcanoes. Palopó 6.8 had a great menu and overlooked the volcanoes. The continental breakfast was lovely, with fresh fruit, a warm bread basket and homemade jam. One morning, I collected eggs from the chicken coop, so we enjoyed freshly made scrambled and poached eggs. The infinity pool at the top of the hotel, complete with hot tubs, is not to be missed. We spent a day there and had a massage in the spa. Make sure you ask reception to show you where it is! We had dinner at Kinnik on our first night – a fantastic steak restaurant accessed by a little cliff lift, which was so cool. Each evening, the staff turned down the beds and left us a small handmade Maya gift. They also brought herbal tea to our room. Every night we played cards in front of the open fire and relaxed after dinner. There was honestly no downside to this hotel. To visit the other villages, you need to take a tuk-tuk to Panajachel (about 15 minutes), and then boats run regularly from the public dock.

Stunning location with views of Lake Atitlan. Our Master Suite had its own private veranda with views of the lake. Staff throughout were superb - helpful, friendly, attentive and accommodating. Breakfast was excellent, dinners were good but could have been better - lacking consistency in quality from day to day. Accommodation was clean but there is a need for refurbishment e.g. the toilet flush did not work properly, the hot water tap for the wash basin was too tight so we asked for it to be fixed and once it was it did not work, the USB charging port did not work. Minor things but for a luxurious hotel these little things matter and need to be dealt with.

While this hotel sits in a beautiful position overlooking Lake Atitlan and at least three classic volcanoes, it has to do a lot to live up to its advertised billing of $663 per night plus breakfast. The staff were attentive and the breakfast was very good, as well as the setting with beautiful gardens that were delightful, as long as you can manage the 180 plus steps up to the room that we had at the top of the property. They seem to have overlooked a few details, no air-conditioning, only one lounger on our balcony, a safe that you needed a degree to set, no iron and ironing board, very good coffee in the room but no tea or milk, certain aspects of the room being grubby, the shower area and window, the coffee cups, the bed cover, the luggage rack etc etc. The balcony floor needed a good scrub and the outside bath was laden with ants. Then all of the mini-bar and goodies etc were chargeable extras! Not to mention the two restaurants that were priced to match the inflated room rate. We did enjoy our stay here, even though it was tempered by the prospect of being charged extra for breathing in too much air!

Stunning hotel with amazing views of the Lake Attitlan. We upgraded as not all rooms have the view. It’s definitely worth it however all social / communal spaces have this too. Food was excellent however we were unable to use the second restaurant as it did not have any vegetarian options for my partner. Breakfasts were excellent however were charged as extra. Contintental option included was basic and in comparison to other hotels of this calibre dissapointing.

Amazing views, the food is spectacular, I truly enjoyed mu stay there. The staff is really courteous, there is a lot of security in the place so we enjoyed it there.