Antigua and Hobbitenango- WHERE AM I?
Country #25 was a traumatic experience for me and almost ended my passion/love for traveling. We will get into WHY later. This country definitely had some picturesque views- Guess where??
GUATEMALA
Air Tea:
We went to Guatemala in August which was their rainy season(Ughhh). We stayed for 4 nights/5 days. We fly to Guatemala City from Miami as American Airlines has a sale for $350 Roundtrip. I love a sale! It is cheaper to fly from Miami to most countries in Latin American. My sister and I have points via Southwest and used those points to fly to/from Miami.
Accommodations Tea:
There are several cities in Guatemala to travel to, but we chose Antigua and Lake Atitlan. There wasn’t much to see do in Guatemala City so we opted out of staying there.
Antigua- We stayed at the Good Hotel in the Mezzanine Room. The Good Hotel is a boutique hotel that only has about 20 rooms. The Mezzanine Room is a loft style room with the living space and bathroom at the bottom and a King bed on the 2nd floor. The hotel was super clean. The rate we chose came from a breakfast which was served next door at Saul. The breakfast was realllyyy good. The hotel is in walking distance of all of the main sites in Antigua. This was one of my first trips experiencing a boutique hotel as I am a Marriott girl, but I would recommend the Good Hotel. SN: None of the hotels have air condition. We didn’t need it as the ceiling fan was enough for us.
Lake Atitlan has several villages(towns) to choose to stay in:
Panajachel: This the main town and the biggest town. This is one of the few towns were cars drive and the town where the main boat dock in located.
San Juan La Laguna: This town is known for their coffee plantain, artists doing oil paintings and working on fabrics with dyed yarn material. This is a very authentic town. Most of the restaurants here only take cash
San Pedro La Laguna: This town had a lot of restaurants, hostels, colorful murals and nightlife.
Santa Catarina Palapo: This town is very colorful. It is the only one that has houses painted with the designs of the typical fabric of the town.
Santa Cruz La Laguna: This town known for its nature- from hiking to paragliding to bird watching. This is the relaxation village.
We choose to stay at Casa Prana which is one of Lake Atitlan very few luxury hotels in Santa Cruz La Laguna. There are only 8 rooms at the boutique hotel.
Fun Fact: This hotel was once an architect’s home. He and his family still own the property, but it now a hotel. There are 4 different room types: Junior Suite, Master Suite, Prana Suite and Luxury Suite. We stayed in a Junior Suite and paid $354 per night. Although, Casa Prana is a 5 star hotel, we had a few issues.
Pros:
The hotel grounds are stunning and super clean. The have a hotel dog named Malia. She is quite big, but friendly.
The staff is so accommodating and nice
The rooms are very spacious and bathroom was huge
The food was super fresh
Cons: Our first room at had a really really bad ant problem. The ants were everywhere and even got in our purses. The groundsman sprayed outside and inside our room, but that didn’t help. Since the hotel was not fully occupied, the manager allowed us to move to another Junior Suite. This suite did not have any ants. SN: Ants and gnats are the 2 insects that scare me. The new room was really clean except for the comforter. There were several stains on the inside of the comforter. This didn’t bother me as much as the ants and we just threw the comforter off the bed and used our own blankets.
I would recommend this hotel for couples as it was super secluded and just what a couple would need to re-energize their relationship. Since it was my sister and I, it was too secluded for us and we had to share a bed (The hotel only has King beds).
Other good hotel options per my research are:
La Fortuna in Santa Cruz La Laguna: This is an eco friendly hotel and books up very quickly especially for the nice rooms
Tzampoc Resort in Santa Catarina Palopo: This hotel has the best view of the Lake and the volcanos
Lush Atitlan in San Marcos La Laguna: This hotel is surrounded by nature and has great views of the volcanos.
Transportation Tea:
Since Antigua is nearly 90 mins from the airport in Guatemala City, we hired a private driver to take us from Guatemala City to Antigua, from Antigua to Lake Atitlan and from Lake Atitlan to the airport in Guatemala City. The prices are as follows:
Airport to Antigua- 300 Queztals($39)
Antigua to Lake Atitlan- 750 Queztals($98)
Lake Atitlan to the Airport – 900 Queztals($117)
Please look at my Guatemala Highlights on my Instagram, Lala_Gilly, for our driver’s contact information.
Antigua- All of our transportation in Antigua was by foot or Uber. We walked everywhere except for to Hobbitenango which is a 30 min driver away. The Uber to Hobbitenango says it will only be 50 Queztals, but it is exactly 100 Queztals($13). Be prepared to pay the driver in cash.
Lake Atitlan- To get from the main town, Panajachel, to the other villages, you will need to take a boat. Yes, a small boat. They are kind of like their version of a city bus. You can get on the public boat which is about 25 Queztals($3) per person each way and it runs from 730am-530pm or rent a private boat which is about 500-750 Queztals($60-$90) each way no matter the number of people. The boat drivers only take cash. Once you get to the village, you can take a Tuk Tuk or walk. We did a mix of both. The Tuk Tuks only seats 2 people and they were no more than 10 Quezatals per person per way. They also only except cash.
Enjoyable Tea
Antigua
Normally, I like to pay for a tour guide around the city, but I opted to create my own tour around Antigua. We visited the below cultural sites:
Cathedral de San Jose – FREE
San Jose El Viejo Ruins- 10 Quezatals($3)
Museum of National Art- FREE
Choco Museum(cacao and sugar make chocolate) Making Class- 100 Quezatals($13) per person
We had an amazing photo shoot was a great photographer named Fer around Antigua and in Hobbittnango. The entry to Hobbitnango was 50 Quezatals. Hobbitnango has several photo ops. It is a travel blogger’s photo dream. Please look at my Guatemala Highlights on my Instagram(Lala_Gilly) for our photographer’s contact information.
We took a private salsa lesson at New Sensations. The cost was 185 Quezatals for the both of us. This was a really cool experience. They also offer a free group class on Wednesdays. We met a lot of US citizens there who now live in Antigua and they love New Sensations.
Restaurant and Bar Recommendations:
Saul Antigua: This is the breakfast place located next to Good Antigua. The breakfast was amazing. Food-10/10, Vibe- 10/10
Tacorazon: This place was sooo good. It was like the Chipotle of Guatemala. They had 2 for 1 margaritas the day we went. Food-10/10, Vibe- 8/10
Los Tres Tiempos: This is a traditional Guatemalan restaurant. Food-8/10, Vibe- 7/10
Angie Angie: This is an Italian restaurant. The food was ok, but the vibe was great and the restaurant is beautiful. There was a Jazz singer performing the night we went. Food-5/10, Vibe- 10/10
Ulew Cocktail Bar: This is a speak-easy(hidden bar). You have to go through another bar and then through a telephone Drinks-10/10, Vibe- 10/10
Starbucks: This is the biggest Starbucks in Latin America and the most beautiful Starbucks I have ever seen
Lake Atitlan
Lake Atitlan is all about relaxation, photos ops. We went to Sababa Resort in San Pedro La Laguna to get a photo op. This resort is a hostel. The entry was 50 Quezatals($6 per person). My favorite photo opp was at the Infinity Pool at Tzampoc Resort in Santa Catarina Palopo. The entry was 190 Quezatals($25 per person). We had a massage at the Casa Prana which was super relaxing. The price was $80 for a Deep Tissue massage. We wanted to take a cooking class to learn how to make some authentic dishes influenced by Mayan culture and the Spanish colonial era, but we didn’t have time. I didn’t really get to try the food in Lake Atitlan as I got sick the first day there.
Before I get to All the Tea You Need, I want to let you in on the traumatic experience I had in Lake Atitlan.
I was really sick on Day 1 of Lake Atitlan, but I tried to push through as it was sister’s birthday. That night I was feeling light-headed, dizzy, nauseous, my heart was racing, and I had diarrhea. I thought I was dehydrated so I drank lots of water and Ginger Ale. I could barely sleep that night. Day 2 was worse than Day 1 so by early evening, my sister found a hospital that was in a village nearby. Remember I said Lake Atitlan is essentially a secluded place so there are only 2 hospitals on the entire lake: the main one is in Panajachel and there is a smaller one in San Pedro. We were one village over from San Pedro so I opted to go that hospital. By this time, I was so sick I could barely walk. We took 2 Tuk Tuks to get the hospital. Neither one of Tuk Tuk drivers spoke English so we had to rely on Google Translate. We didn’t even know if the nurses or the doctors spoke English, but I had to take that chance. We get to the hospital that looked more like a gymnasium with beds and there was one doctor and one nurse. The check in process and the testing was so different from what we experience in the United States. Thankful the nurse and the doctor spoke English. I explained to the doctor what was happening in my body. He did an ultrasound of all my organs and found my gallbladder was enlarged. He then had me take a test that is too TMI for the blog(Ekkkk). I was beyond nervous and was scared I was going to die in a country that I was not a resident of. The doctor took the test to the microscope and found that I had parasites in my gallbladder. PARASITES, YALL- in a foreign country. He suggested I stay overnight to run more tests until I told him that I was flying back to the US the next day. Based on that, he gave me 2 prescriptions and said it was best to get care back in the US then to stay overnight at the hospital there and that the prescriptions should help me until then. Thankful, he was right- the prescriptions helped me until I landed back home. To get back to the hotel, we had to flag down a Tuk Tuk and then call the hotel manager to send us a private boat. Remember I told yall the public boats stop running at 530pm--- we didn’t get out of the hospital until 900pm so that transportation back is another story that you
All the Tea You Need:
As for most international trips, WhatsApp will be your BFF when it comes to getting in contact with your driver and most establishments you will visit especially if you have to make reservations prior to arriving.
Food is super cheap in Guatemala
The rainy season is from May-October, but the rain is super unpredictable
Exchange your $$ for Quezatals before you arrive to Guatemala. Most transportation in Lake Atitlan only take cash.
Most accommodations are boutique hotels and do not have AC
Public boat prices aren’t negotiable, but most of the boat drivers speak a little English
Be prepared to do lots of walking in Antigua and lots of boat riding in Lake Atitlan. Bring motion sickness medicine.
Plan out your photo ops if that is your thing
Always purchase travel insurance
Well, that’s your Travel Tea on Guatemala.
If you have any questions, feel free to DM on Instagram @Lala_Gilly. And don't forgot to subscribe to my YouTube channel, Travel Tea.
