Nanajuana Río Dulce

We enjoyed the room, which was cleaned every day, and the staff can bring ordered food up to your room. The on-site restaurant charges separately for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also offer boats with captains, but $6000 quetzales for a day from 8am to 5pm seemed like too much for just the two of us. It might make sense for a family or a group of up to 12, but we passed and made other plans. We had a beautiful stay, though there were a couple of oddities: when we arrived, they said only a king suite was available, even though several rooms looked unoccupied, so that’s what we got, lol. We wanted to leave a day early to reach the city on time, but they said their system wouldn’t let them change the booking. Make sure your dates are settled.

The evening meal at the resort restaurant was great, and a menu in English would help since not everyone in our group speaks Spanish. We had a lovely night at Nanajuana during our trip around Guatemala and woke to birds singing. A boat trip is a must, though we didn’t have enough time to try all the resort activities. We arrived too late to use the pool, which looked stunning at night and in the daytime. The only thing we didn’t like was the door between rooms in our bungalow, secured only with a latch. At one point it opened and we saw another guest with his pants down, and later we could hear a couple snoring.

I’ve stayed here many times and usually had good experiences, so this visit was a real letdown. Staff were generally pleasant and the facilities looked clean, but our bathroom was leaking sewer gas. We woke to a septic-tank smell and both had bad headaches. We reported it around 7:00 a.m. and waited more than an hour and a half for someone to inspect the room. Nobody came, so we checked out early, around 8:30, because the smell was unbearable. Staff said there would be no compensation or price reduction because “that’s the room you chose.” That was their exact wording. Nobody would knowingly pick a room full of sewer gas, especially at over Q600 per night. This isn’t a small inconvenience. It points to a serious plumbing problem, possibly sewer gas coming through the shower drain or a toilet that isn’t sealed properly. At this price, that’s completely unacceptable. I also asked to speak with the owner, whom I’d had positive interactions with before, but was told she wasn’t available and there was no one else to talk to. Very disappointing after my previous stays. I hope management takes this seriously. This isn’t acceptable at any hotel, let alone one charging these rates.

The pool and waterside restaurant were both nice, and the resort felt high-end without charging high-end prices. Our room was about $110 on a Tuesday. It’s just beyond the bridge, and I’d stay again.